ã€ŠThe Iron Veilã€‹


 Prologue

    The last hour of Iniya Kintala¡¯s life went like this.

    <hr>

    Her party had recently finished clearing the third and final level of the Temple of Xyurn, which was supposed to house a significant clue to the location of the artifact The Fellowship of Wood and Silence had been seeking for the past three months, the object of the world quest: the Shadow Lance. This last chamber was the throne room, and the clue should have been here, according to her sage Tolman.

    But there was no sign of any clues. None at all. No scrolls, no journals, nothing etched into a wall, not even a gargoyle with a riddle.

    ¡°Check again,¡± Iniya said.

    Tolman shook his head. ¡°I checked my notes three times. This is the spot. It has to be. This is the only freaking throne room in here.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking to you. I was talking to Wainwright.¡±

    The scout had been wiping his short sword clean on a tapestry. But now he looked up. ¡°You want me to inspect the whole room again?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°That will take another hour,¡± he whined.

    ¡°You have someplace else you¡¯d rather be?¡±

    ¡°Matter of fact, yes. The Scarlet Pig is supposed to unveil its new brew tonight.¡±

    Iniya sighed. ¡°You guys think this is another dead end?¡±

    ¡°Seems like it.¡± Andi prodded the corpse of the gigantic centaur boss they had just dispatched. Black blood pooled around the corpse and reflected the light of their torches.

    ¡°What about the rest of you?¡± Iniya looked over at Callum, her enchanter, and Mariel, her healer who were lounging around, sitting on their backpacks. ¡°Are we wasting our time here?¡±

    They didn¡¯t respond, and Iniya wondered if she was coming off as too much of a bitch. The memory of her last performance review from Lazarus was still fresh. He hadn¡¯t described it as ¡®bitchiness¡¯ per se, but still¡­

    ¡°I never said we were wasting our time,¡± Wainwright muttered. ¡°I just think your information might be wrong.¡±

    Tolman¡¯s eyes flashed. ¡°It¡¯s not. And I¡¯m not. There should be something here. A treasure room with the next clues. My lore¡¯s at 211.¡±

    ¡°So you keep reminding us,¡± Wainwright said.

    ¡°You have any skill over 200, bro? Huh?¡±

    Andi walked over to the sage. Iniya knew she and Wainwright were pretty close and the big warrior was kind of protective. She gave Tolman a playful shove. ¡°My asshole detection is at 250 and it¡¯s pinging like hell right now.¡±

    ¡°Knock it off, guys,¡± Iniya said. ¡°Executive decision. We search for thirty more minutes. All of us.¡±

    Everyone grumbled, but they all reluctantly got to their feet.

    The throne room was made of carved stone and was easily forty feet by forty feet. The only way in or out was through the double doors to the south. Close to the north wall was a dais upon which stood the throne itself, a blocky oversized seat made of metal that looked like it had come from a meteorite. It was square and tall with all sorts of sharp angles.

    Andi called over to Callum. ¡°Yo, perhaps you could light us up, so we¡¯re not having to juggle torches while we look.¡±

    ¡°Uh, sure.¡± The enchanter looked around the room for a suitable target for his illumination spell. ¡°What about on that pillar?¡±

    ¡°Whatever, dude.¡±

    Callum spoke the incantation and gestured at the top of one of the half dozen floor-to-ceiling carved stone pillars that ringed the dais. A glowing sphere of light the size of a softball winked into existence and then floated through the air and attached itself to the top of one of the pillars. Callum spoke another word and glowing sphere grew to the size of a basketball and became so bright it was hard to look at.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°Better,¡± Andi said.

    Everyone extinguished their torches and Mariel collected them all and wrapped them in a leather bundle. In addition to being their healer, she was the party¡¯s torch-bearer, a job that no one ever wanted.

    ¡°Uh, do we want to keep these?¡± Mariel asked in her low, gravelly voice which never ceased to irritate Iniya. Vocal fry, it was called. Ugh. How could anyone talk like that?

    Now that there was some better light, they all spread out to search the room properly, although Iniya knew that Wainwright was the only one who had a decent inspect skill. The chances of anyone else finding anything were slim.

    Suddenly, Iniya felt the floor rumble beneath her. A deep muffled sound echoed throughout the throne room, like some ancient creaking machinery set in motion.

    ¡°I just touched it¡­¡± Mariel said. She was backing away from the throne which trembled, shedding dust and shards of black stone. The rumbling got louder as the throne sunk into the ground.

    They all crowded around the hole in the middle of the dais. It was more of a pit or a shaft, six feet wide, and pitch black inside. Callum¡¯s illumination spell didn¡¯t light up more than a few feet down.

    ¡°Good one, Mariel,¡± Iniya said.

    Wainwright got down on his hands and knees and felt around the perimeter of the pit.

    ¡°I¡¯m not detecting any traps. This could be it.¡± He looked up at Tolman.

    The sage just shrugged. ¡°I told you guys.¡±

    ¡°Callum, throw some light down there,¡± Iniya said. ¡°We¡¯re going down, kids.¡±

    The enchanter cast another illumination spell. This time the glowing ball floated down the shaft.

    Wainwright squinted, following the orb¡¯s progress. Iniya knew that he had the best vision of all of them.

    ¡°Twenty five¡­ thirty five¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one deep mo-fo,¡± Andi said.

    ¡°I think I see spikes,¡± Wainwright said. ¡°Yeah. Definitely spikes. At the bottom.¡±

    ¡°Makes sense,¡± Tolman said. ¡°Typical argish construction.¡±

    ¡°Where did the throne go?¡± asked Mariel.

    Wainwright said, ¡°There¡¯s a passage down there. The throne must have slid to one side.¡±

    ¡°Pretty intricate,¡± Callum said. ¡°I can float you down if you want. I¡¯ve got a little spell power left.¡±

    Wainwright looked over at Iniya for his orders.

    She shrugged at him. ¡°Go ahead take a look. But rope up. Just in case there¡¯s an anti-magic plate down there. I don¡¯t want to have to pick your guts off of those spikes.¡±

    ¡°That makes two of us.¡±

    ¡°And don¡¯t touch anything.¡±

    ¡°I never do. Not in my job description.¡±

    Andi helped secure a hundred-foot silken line around Wainwright¡¯s waist and then she tied the other end around one of the pillars.

    ¡°I¡¯ll feed your line,¡± she said.

    ¡°Ready?¡± Callum asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this,¡± Wainwright said.

    As Iniya watched, the enchanter cast his float spell on Wainwright who grinned like an idiot, saluted her, then stepped off the edge of the shaft. The spell allowed the scout to drift down into the shaft at a safe rate, like he was falling in slow motion.

    ¡°Wuss,¡± Andi called after him. ¡°In the old days you would have climbed down yourself. Blindfolded.¡± She fed out the line as he sunk lower into the shaft.

    A minute later, Wainwright called up. ¡°I¡¯m in!¡±

    ¡°What do you see?¡± Iniya called.

    ¡°Just as I thought. East/west passage. Throne¡¯s blocking the west. East is clear for as far as I can see¡ªwhich isn¡¯t far.¡±

    ¡°Ok. Don¡¯t move. We¡¯re all coming down.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll spike the rope.¡±

    The sound of clanging and banging echoed up from the depths of the shaft. It went on for what seemed like ten minutes. Finally, Wainwright announced that the rope was secure at his end.

    ¡°Do I have to go?¡± Mariel asked, in her Mariel voice. ¡°My climbing skill, uh, sucks.¡±

    ¡°I have enough for one more float,¡± Callum said. ¡°But then I¡¯ll be totally tapped out. How long are we going to be hanging out here?¡±

    Iniya glared at him. ¡°Until we find the freaking clue, Callum. You okay with that?¡±

    ¡°Just asking.¡±

    ¡°No floating. Mariel you stay. But keep your eyes open for wanderers.¡±

    ¡°What about me?¡± Tolman asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have great climbing either.¡±

    ¡°Well, then be careful. We need you down there to identify crap.¡±

    Andi said, ¡°You can follow me. That way if you fall I can grab you. Maybe.¡± She laughed.

    One by one they roped up and made their way down the shaft. Iniya first, then Andi, Tolman, and then finally Callum.

    They all huddled in the passage way while Wainwright fished in his bag for some glowstones. Stupidly, they forgot to bring down the torches. The scout offered to climb back up, but Iniya was eager to get going. She could tell everyone was kind of worn out.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this. Standard order,¡± Iniya said.

    They all got in position. Wainwright up front, checking for traps. Iniya next with a few glowstones looped to her staff for light. Then Callum, Tolman, and Andi bringing up the rear.

    The passage was narrower than all the other ones in this dungeon, maybe just six feet wide and six feet tall, but the walls and floor and ceiling were perfectly smooth, like they had been polished. It reminded Iniya of something, but she didn¡¯t know what.

    Tolman ran his fingers along the wall. He noticed something too.

    ¡°Good thing we don¡¯t have torches,¡± he said. ¡°I think this is oil.¡±

    ¡°Fire trap?¡± she asked Wainwright.

    The scout took a few tentative steps forward. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. There would be more combustibles.¡±

    ¡°Are we moving or what?¡± Andi called from the back. ¡°I¡¯m getting claustrophobic.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, hang on a sec¡­¡± Something was definitely off here, Iniya thought.

    And then she felt the rumbling again. And an image popped into her head: the barrel of her father¡¯s shotgun.

    ¡°Run!¡± she screamed.

    She didn¡¯t get more than a few steps before the massive metal throne slammed into her like a locomotive.

    And then everything went black.

 Chapter 1

    Justin Boone woke up.

    Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly right. He was still asleep; he knew that. Dreaming.

    But now he was conscious. Consciously dreaming.

    He saw the ceiling above his head. White. Textured paint. It smelled freshly painted.

    He heard the low hum of air conditioning. Felt the sheets against his skin. They were cool and smooth. Expensive, probably.

    But simulated.

    That¡¯s something else he knew. Everything here was simulated. The room, the sheets, the air conditioning, the new paint smell, even he himself was simulated by a building full of OmniWorld¡¯s computers.

    It was a bizarre feeling to know that. Really bizarre.

    Slowly, gradually, Justin sat up in the bed.

    In the real world, he might have experienced some dizziness sitting up too quickly. That had happened a bunch of times with him. Could they simulate that? A momentary loss of blood pressure? He had read that the BerylBlue mega-qubit processors OmniWorld ran on could simulate just about anything. Why not body sensations?

    He looked around.

    He was sitting in a bed in what looked like your generic hotel room. Nothing too fancy. There was one window with the curtains drawn. A loveseat, a coffee table, and a nightstand. Carpeting on the floor and some unremarkable paintings on the wall. All in all, pretty underwhelming in real life.

    But this wasn¡¯t real life.

    At least, he didn¡¯t think it was.

    For one thing, the last thing he remembered was leaving his room at the Loneskum-Alexander campus and being escorted to a hospital room where he got his first glimpse of the stim-pod that he¡¯d be spending the next year of his life in. There were nearly two hours of final tests and calibration and then they sealed him in.

    When he awoke he was here. Inside OmniWorld. Or a janky hotel room. He wasn¡¯t sure which yet.

    A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Without thinking, Justin swung his legs out of the bed and got up.

    Then he realized that he was standing in the simulation. For the first time. He also noticed that he was wearing soft cotton shorts and a blank t-shirt. Beneath his feet he felt the low-pile carpet, and he scrunched his toes up, taking in all the sensations.

    This was pretty incredible.

    Another polite knock.

    Maybe it was room service.

    He walked to the door and noticed that, unlike old school hotel doors, there was no peephole or video screen. And no lock.

    So he pulled the door open.

    Standing in the hallway was a guy about his own age. He had a pleasant face and was dressed in jeans and an untucked button-down shirt.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± The guy smiled at him. ¡°You acclimated yet?¡±

    ¡°I just woke up,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°Cool. Well, my name is Wyatt and I¡¯m supposed to take you down to the testing lounge.¡±

    ¡°Wait, we¡¯re inside OmniWorld, right?¡±

    ¡°We are.¡±

    ¡°And are you, like, an NPC?¡±

    Wyatt made a face. ¡°Rule #1. Don¡¯t refer to anyone as an NPC. I work here.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re an NPC?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an intern.¡±

    ¡°Are you human? A player?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re getting kind of personal, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Justin felt a flush of anger. ¡°I command you to answer me!¡±

    Wyatt laughed. ¡°Take it easy. It doesn¡¯t work like that. Remember your briefing sessions?¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. That¡¯s what the testing lounge is for.¡±

    Wyatt led him down the corridor and into an elevator. Then he told it to take them to the lobby.

    ¡°Are we the only ones in this hotel?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s not really a hotel, although everyone calls it that. Its official name is the ¡®transition zone.¡¯ It¡¯s supposed to make you feel like you¡¯re in a familiar environment. We didn¡¯t want you waking up in a starship or a saloon or on in a foxhole. Too jarring.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to Greystrand,¡± Justin said.

    He had the choice to spend his first OmniWorld life in one of several game worlds: Star Rim Empire, Spurshot, Eagle¡¯s Bridge, Highland Moor, Mosaica, and a few others he couldn¡¯t remember. Each one was a different milieu, from sci-fi to superhero to western. There was even an old school cyberpunk world and a 18<sup>th</sup> century Scottish world. But he would choose Greystrand, the medieval fantasy world.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one most people go for,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°But I heard that Spurshot¡¯s pretty cool. Old West. Gunfights. They¡¯ve been doing a lot of work on the story lines there and their putting in an old steam train.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not really into cowboys and Indians.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re more of a knights and dragons type, huh? That¡¯s cool.¡±

    Justin had read that Loneskum-Alexander bought the IP for the old Caves & Beasts pen and paper role-playing game from the 1970s and based Greystrand on that.

    His dad had played C&B in high school and at various times when Justin was growing up, his dad had tried to get Justin into it, but the game seemed way too complex and boring.

    Now he kind of wished that he had given C&B a try. Might have given him a leg up here.

    The elevator arrived at its destination and they walked out into another corridor which looked similar to the one where Justin¡¯s room was.

    ¡°Slight detour,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°I didn¡¯t have breakfast this morning.¡±

    He led Justin through a pair of double doors into a small lounge set up with tables and chairs and a counter with breakfast stuff.

    ¡°Continental breakfast is included?¡± Justin smirked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t laugh. The cinnamon buns are awesome. And this might just be the last decent food you get for a while. I hope you like gruel.¡±

    Wyatt got himself a coffee and a cinnamon bun, but Justin chose a banana instead.

    ¡°So we have a sense of taste here?¡± Justin asked. ¡°I was wondering about that.¡±

    ¡°Give it a try.¡±

    Justin peeled the banana part way and held it up to his nose. It certainly smelled real. He broke off a bit and popped it into his mouth. It tasted just like a normal banana although one that was perfectly ripe.

    ¡°Amazing,¡± he said.

    ¡°You like?¡±

    ¡°How does it simulate all those thousands of taste buds?¡±

    Wyatt shook his head. ¡°You forget. This is all you.¡±

    He was right, of course. Justin had forgotten for a second. The breakthrough Loneskum-Alexander had made was being able to stimulate the brain¡¯s sensory areas and then orchestrate those sensations between different players. That¡¯s what the quantum computers were for. And the stim-pods: brain-to-computer interfaces. So really, it was Justin¡¯s own brain that was interpreting the taste of the banana.

    ¡°Mind blown,¡± he said.

    Wyatt laughed. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t try to think about it too much. The good news is that we¡¯re almost done with the testing.¡±

    ¡°What? I thought we were supposed to be going to some ¡®testing lounge,¡¯ right?¡±

    ¡°I kind of lied. This whole thing has been the testing lounge. And calibration of all your senses. We just did taste, so there¡¯s only two more tests.¡±

    Justin thought about it. Since he woke up, he had seen, heard, felt, smelled, and now tasted. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what the other tests might be.

    ¡°This one is actually another mind blower,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°So in the paracosm there¡¯s one more sense. They told you about this, right?¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    ¡°Game sense?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we call it ¡®the data overlay¡¯ or just ¡®overlay¡¯ for short. It¡¯s the additional sense that enables the gaming aspect of OmniWorld. Ready to check it out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do this.¡±

    ¡°So what you want to do is focus on something¡ªlike the banana¡­¡±

    ¡°Just stare at it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you can stare but you can also say the name of the thing to yourself. That kind of helps when you¡¯re learning how to overlay.¡±

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m staring at the banana and thinking about it. Nothing¡¯s happening.¡±

    ¡°Now kind of roll your eyes up without moving your head. I know it sounds weird, but that¡¯s the trigger they came up with.¡±

    Justin stared at the banana, said the word ¡®banana¡¯ to himself, and tried to roll his eyes up.

    ¡°Still nothing.¡±

    ¡°Keep focusing on the banana. And the eye roll thing is real gentle¡ª¡±

    All of a sudden a translucent panel appeared over the banana¡ªkind of like a dialog bubble in a comic book. It read:

    :::::. Banana (fruit). Edible .:::::

    ¡°I see it!¡±

    ¡°You do? Cool. Now blink to get rid of it.¡±

    Justin blinked, and the overlay faded away.

    ¡°Now let¡¯s try something a bit more fun,¡± Wyatt said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something the size of a walnut. When he placed it on the counter, Justin saw that it was a some sort of necklace, a piece of crystal with a hole bored into it. The crystal was strung on to a length of leather cord.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°You tell me.¡±

    Justin nodded. He stared at the crystal and told himself ¡®crystal¡¯ and then did the little eye roll thing. The overlay popped up:

    :::::. Glowstone (magical item). Provides a glow of light in a 10¡¯ radius. Usable .:::::

    This was amazing!

    ¡°Glowstone!¡± Justin said.

    ¡°Your first magic item.¡±

    ¡°Can I keep it?¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, no. Everything here is for demonstration purposes only. Except the banana. You can actually eat that.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±

    ¡°Well, you were curious about me, right? Overlay me. I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    Justin focused on Wyatt and triggered the overlay. This was getting easier.

    :::::. Wyatt. (NPC-Admin). Friendly .:::::

    ¡°I knew it! You are an NPC.¡±

    ¡°Busted.¡±

    They both laughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s freaking awesome.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is. Now if I was a player, you¡¯d see some more info and if we were grouped, you could see even more. Health. Spell effects. Stuff like that.¡±

    ¡°Cool.¡±

    ¡°Okay, last one. This time do yourself.¡±

    ¡°How do I do that?¡±

    ¡°Same way. Just focus on yourself and trigger. You can say ¡®me¡¯ if you want. Easy.¡±

    Justin thought about himself, rolled his eyes, and then found himself staring at a new overlay:

    :::::. Justin Boone. (Undefined). Level: undefined. Profession: undefined. Health: undefined. Combat action: undefined. Combat opposition: undefined. Magic action: undefined. Magic opposition: undefined. Experience: undefined .:::::

    ¡°It all says ¡®undefined¡¯¡ª¡±

    ¡°Yup. Working as intended. According to the game, you¡¯re undefined. But we¡¯ll take care of that in a bit.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also not crazy about the UI. It¡¯s just a big list.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there are a lot of fields for player records. But you can filter the display once you get more up to speed on overlaying. For example, you could just filter for skills and then the overlay would just show your skills. If you had any, of course. That make sense?¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of time to practice. We¡¯ve got one last test here and then we¡¯ll go discover which profession you are. Cool?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Wyatt walked closer and looked Justin right in the eye. ¡°This is actually my favorite test. Pain calibration.¡±

    ¡°Pain, what¡ª?¡±

    Before Justin could finish his thought, Wyatt¡¯s fist smashed into his face. He felt his nose crunch and a sharp pain exploded between his eyes.

    Then he blacked out.

    <hr>

    When he woke up, he was sprawled on a cool stone floor in some sort of large chamber. He sat up and felt his face. Sucker-punched by that asshole Wyatt.

    But his face wasn¡¯t sore at all. He gingerly touched his nose. No pain. No broken bones. Okay. Not bad.

    Justin stood up and looked around. This was some sort of ceremonial hall with statues and pillars and tapestries. It almost looked like a medieval cathedral in here.

    ¡°Behold the Hall of Choosing!¡± a deep voice called from behind him.

    Justin whipped around to see an old man wearing robes, and a cloak, and a satin skullcap. The man had long white hair and a long white beard. It was all a bit much.

    ¡°Who are you supposed to be? Dumbledore? Gandalf? Obi-Wan?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just learn how to overlay?¡± the old man asked.

    Justin stared at him. Old man. Eye roll. Boom.

    :::::. Wyatt, Magister of the Choosing (NPC). Friendly .:::::

    ¡°Wyatt? That you?¡± Justin moved closer and examined the man¡¯s face. It looked like Wyatt¡¯s face, but about fifty years older.

    ¡°Freaky, huh? I get to play the Magister sometimes. Hey, sorry about the pain test. They make me do that. No hard feelings, huh?¡±

    Justin felt his jaw tighten. Time for a little payback.

    ¡°Nope. None at all¡ª¡±

    Then Justin launched himself at Wyatt, slamming his fist into the old man¡¯s furry face.

    But it didn¡¯t work.

    Justin¡¯s fist passed right through Wyatt¡¯s face. It was like trying to punch a ghost.

    Wyatt cackled, ¡°Yeah, you can¡¯t be doing that. No attacking of friendlies. The controller doesn¡¯t allow it. We can spar if you want, but it has to be mutual.¡±

    ¡°Is that like duelling?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but no dying and no real damage.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll initiate,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°It¡¯s a voice command. The trigger word is ¡®spar¡¯ and you just say the person¡¯s name afterwards. Then you have to agree. Ready?¡±

    Justin nodded.

    Wyatt said, ¡°Spar with Justin.¡±

    Immediately an overlay popped up:

    :::::. Wyatt has invited you to spar (first hit). Accept? .:::::

    ¡°It¡¯s asking me if I want to accept,¡± Justin said. ¡°How do I respond?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all voice. Just say ¡®yes.¡¯ Unless you¡¯ve chickened out.¡±

    ¡°What does ¡®first hit¡¯ mean?¡±

    ¡°It means the first one to land a hit wins.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Justin said. Then a bit louder he said, ¡°I accept the challenge.¡±

    A glowing circle of light appeared on the ground. It was fifteen or twenty feet in diameter. Then Justin heard a disembodied voice count down ¡°5¡­4¡­3¡­2¡­1¡­ Begin!¡±

    Wyatt stepped into the circle, his hands raised like a boxer. He was grinning like an old madman.

    Justin couldn¡¯t help smiling himself. This was super fun. He darted in and swung at Wyatt¡¯s jaw.

    In a blur of speed, Wyatt pivoted, evading Justin¡¯s punch. He then spun and slammed his elbow into Justin¡¯s temple. There was a blinding flash of pain and everything went black.

    <hr>

    Some time later, Justin woke up. He was sprawled on the stone floor, in the same large chamber. Old man Wyatt was standing above him, reaching out to help him up.

    ¡°You¡¯re oh for two, bro,¡± Wyatt said.

    ¡°Tell me about it.¡±

    Wyatt clapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It was kind of a cheat. You¡¯re still an undefined character, so you don¡¯t have any combat skill.¡±

    ¡°Gee, thanks for that.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to remedy that right now. It¡¯s time to figure out what your profession is.¡± Wyatt led him to the far end of the hall where a line of seven marble statues stood.

    ¡°You¡¯re still wanting to go to Greystrand, right?¡± Wyatt asked. ¡°Because these are all keyed to that world.¡±

    Justin nodded and moved closer to the first statue. It was of a brawny young man holding a battle axe and a shield. A polished gold plaque at the base of the statue read ¡°guardian knight.¡±

    Wyatt said, ¡°You can overlay it if you want. There¡¯s some basic info, but not a ton.¡±

    Justin focused on the statue:

    :::::. Guardian knight. Role: defense. Domain: combat .:::::

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that either combat classes will pop for you. No offense, but no one¡¯s going to mistake you for a linebacker, right?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Wyatt hesitated for a moment. ¡°Didn¡¯t they brief you on professions?¡±

    Justin shook his head. He couldn¡¯t remember any special briefing on professions. He knew that there were different character classes, of course. But not much beyond that. He told Wyatt so.

    ¡°Okay. Here¡¯s the crash course. OmniWorld is a CGE. You know what that is?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°It stands for ¡®Cooperative Gaming Environment¡¯ and it basically means that all the game worlds¡ªnot just Greystrand¡ªare designed to promote the idea of players all working together. It¡¯s all kind of touchy-feely: cooperation, not competition. But that¡¯s what the psychologists believe works best.¡±

    ¡°But you can still solo, right?¡±

    ¡°Technically, every player has agency, so you can do whatever you want, but the reality of it is that the game controller wants players to work together. If you solo, you advance slower, have less fun, and are more likely to die. They did tell you about the death clause, right?¡±

    Justin certainly remembered the death clause. They made a big deal of it during the briefings. Every player knew that they had unlimited deaths until they hit level five. Once you reached level five, it was three strikes and you¡¯re out. Contract terminated. No million dollar payout. Plus every one of those three deaths after level five meant a character wipe. You had to start from scratch with no memories.

    ¡°Okay, so I get the whole cooperative gaming thing,¡± Justin said. ¡°But what does it have to do with choosing my character class?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the thing. You don¡¯t get to choose.¡±

    ¡°Well, that sucks!¡± Justin really wanted to be a battle mage, not some stupid cleric or thief.

    ¡°The game controller assigns you a profession¡ªbased on a bunch of things, including your physical and mental aptitude, your personality and psychological profiles, and profession supply and demand within the game world.¡±

    Now that Wyatt explained that all, Justin had a vague recollection of hearing something about that. But the briefing sessions hadn¡¯t been game-specific, so the whole idea about being assigned a character class hadn¡¯t sunk in.

    He sighed. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get this over with then. What do I have to do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing really. Just step in front of each statue and see which one pops for you.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    The next statue in the line was an enchanter.

    :::::. Enchanter. Role: defense/utility. Domain: magic .:::::

    He stood in front of it for a moment, but nothing happened.

    ¡°Keep going. If it pops, you¡¯ll know it right away,¡± Wyatt said.

    Another brawny-looking statue was next. This one had a longsword. The plaque read simply ¡°warrior.¡± Pretty generic.

    :::::. Warrior. Role: offense. Domain: combat .:::::

    When Justin stepped in front of it, nothing happened. Probably for the best.

    ¡°Three down, four to go,¡± said Wyatt.

    Glancing over at the next statue, Justin saw that it was obviously a magic-user, but not the typical lanky wizard type. The statue was of a tall, buff guy with an aggressive stance. He glared down at Justin like he was just about to blast him with a fireball. This is the class Justin wanted to be:

    :::::. Battle mage. Role: offense. Domain: magic .:::::

    Heart pounding, Justin forced himself to walk in front of the statue of the battle mage. He held his breath and¡­ nothing.

    ¡°Crap!¡±

    ¡°You wanted battle mage?¡±

    ¡°Of course I wanted battle mage. Who wouldn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°Professions aren¡¯t a real big deal in the long run.¡±

    ¡°I have a hard time believing that.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll let you in on a little behind-the-scenes secret. You want to hear it now or once we¡¯re done here?¡±

    ¡°Is this secret a hack that will let me be a battle mage?¡±

    ¡°No, something better.¡±

    ¡°Whatever, then. Tell me now.¡±

    ¡°Well, now I¡¯m not so sure that I should. You have a lot of anger in you¡­¡±

    ¡°Wyatt!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll tell you right after you step in front of the next statue. It¡¯s the healer, and I have a good feeling about this.¡±

    ¡°No freaking way! I do not want to be a healer. I¡¯ll commit suicide and re-roll.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t matter. The controller would probably assign you healer again. Unless, of course, we had a glut of healers for some reason.¡±

    ¡°This sucks. Have I mentioned that?¡±

    Justin stomped over to the statue of the healer and didn¡¯t even bother to overlay it. Thankfully, nothing happened. He was spared. Whew.

    ¡°Well, I guess I was wrong,¡± Wyatt said. ¡°Funny, I would have bet my life that you were destined to be a healer.¡±

    ¡°Thank god for small miracles. Now tell me this behind-the-scenes secret. You promised.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. So here¡¯s the thing. The game controller wants you to be happy and have a good experience in the game world. Makes sense, right?¡±

    ¡°I guess so.¡± Everyone who applied to this first public beta of OmniWorld¡ªall two million¡ªhad super high expectations. If there was bad word-of-mouth about the whole thing after this first group of a thousand beta testers got out, it could really hurt Loneskum-Alexander.

    ¡°So the little secret is that 99.9% of players end up loving the profession that¡¯s chosen for them. That¡¯s actual data, by the way. I¡¯m not exaggerating.¡±

    Justin sniffed. ¡°I¡¯m having a hard time believing that.¡±

    ¡°Believe what you want, but you¡¯ll see. It might take a couple of weeks.¡±

    ¡°Everyone wants to decide their own fate,¡± Justin said. ¡°It¡¯s human nature.¡±

    ¡°You do get to decide your own fate, believe me. This is all about helping you realize your potential. But enough yakking. You¡¯ve got two more possibilities.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound like Russian roulette,¡± Justin said. Then he stepped in front of the next statue.

    There was a flash of light and a loud whooshing sound and Justin found himself on top of the pedestal.

 Chapter 2

    He had taken the place of the statue.

    ¡°Congratulations, you¡¯re a sage!¡± Wyatt said.

    ¡°A what?¡±

    ¡°Focus on yourself.¡±

    For a second, Justin thought Wyatt meant for him to check himself out, so he looked down and saw that he was dressed in some sort of medieval costume with leggings and a tunic and short leather boots. From a thick leather belt hung various pouches and a scabbard with a short sword. He also wore some sort of cross-body belt. A baldric, it was called. Although he wasn¡¯t exactly sure how he knew that.

    Then he brought up his own overlay:

    :::::. Justin Boone. (Player). Level: 1. Profession: sage. Health: 7. Combat action: 1. Combat opposition: 1. Magic action: 0. Magic opposition: 2. Lore: 5, Knowledge: 10. Experience: 0 .:::::

    ¡°Well?¡± Wyatt asked. ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Justin stepped off the pedestal. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m kind of wimpy. My health is only 7. Combat scores are all ones. My highest skill is ¡®knowledge¡¯ at 10.¡±

    ¡°Newsflash. Warriors and battle mages are a dime a dozen. Anyone can kill monsters. But not everyone knows the deep background info that connects everything. That gives you amazing perspective. You may end up leading your own party¡ªor even a fellowship.¡±

    This was still a bummer, no matter how Wyatt tried to spin it.

    ¡°What now?¡± Justin asked.

    Wyatt said, ¡°Now it¡¯s time for you and I to part ways.¡± He gave Justin an awkward fist-bump, then pointed to the door at the end of the hall.

    ¡°Next stop: Greystrand.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Thanks for everything, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Oh. There may be some sort of customer satisfaction survey when we¡¯re done. I¡¯d appreciate if you gave me a good rating.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    Wyatt grinned. ¡°No, I¡¯m not serious. Have fun out there.¡±

    And then he vanished.

    At first Justin was shocked. He had never seen anyone vanish right in front of his eyes. This was wild. He found himself staring at the empty space where Wyatt had stood. But then it dawned on him that Wyatt might be an enchanter and could have used a teleport spell to exit the room. Or he might still be here, but just turned invisible.

    Squatting down, Justin ran his hands along the surface of the stone floor. Darn. Not that much dust. If Wyatt was invisible, he still might leave tracks in the dust. Unless he was able to levitate. That would be a whole different story.

    Okay, he wasjust spinning hiswheels. Better figure out how to get out of here instead.

    He walked over to the door at the end of the hall. It looked solid enough. Wood construction¡ªmaybe oak¡ªwith heavy iron hinges and heavy iron bands reinforcing the planks. No lock, though.

    He probably should listen at the door and see if he could determine what was on the other side. But, realistically, he knew he had little chance of detecting anything. He wasn¡¯t a scout after all.

    What the hell, might as well get this over with. If I die, I die.

    It wouldn¡¯t really matter until he hit level 5. And that was a long way away.

    Justin pushed the door open and found himself in some sort of library. He walked down a narrow dark hallway lined with shelves of books. But then the hallway opened into an atrium with an ornate mosaic floor of concentric circles.

    As he looked up, Justin saw hundreds of floating globes, made of all different materials in all different colors, and ranging in size from a couple of inches to one that was as tall as he was.

    It was an incredible sight.

    The library itself rose three stories, all open to the atrium, which was topped by a latticed glass dome. Rays of light streamed through the dome, illuminating the globes.

    Justin just gaped, turning slowly to take everything in.

    ¡°Come hither, boy, you¡¯re late enough as it is!¡± A gruff voice echoed throughout the library.

    For a moment, Justin couldn¡¯t tell where the voice was coming from, but then he spotted a short man leaning over the third floor balcony. The man had sharp features and looked to be in his late 50s or early 60s. He was clad in a thick black fur coat and a thick black fur cap that seemed more appropriate for an Eskimo, not a medieval librarian.

    ¡°Stop your dawdling, boy and attend me at once!¡±

    Justin focused on the man and popped up the overlay:

    :::::. Master Desiderius. (Sage Trainer). Friendly .:::::

    Well, that made sense. Might as well get going with some training.

    If Greystrand was like other RPGs he had played, he knew that the first few levels would probably be kind of a grind. The sooner he got them over with, the better.

    He spotted a circular metal staircase at the far end of the library and followed it up to the third floor. Then he made his way to the trainer.

    Master Desiderius looked him up and down for the briefest moment then motioned for Justin to follow him. As they walked, the trainer muttered, ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for a week for a proper acolyte and this is what they send me.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Justin asked. He couldn¡¯t believe this little man¡¯s attitude.

    ¡°You will spoke only when spoken to, acolyte!¡±

    ¡°And what if I don¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Then you will find yourself polishing globes for the next six months, your only view being the inside of this library.¡±

    Was this an idle threat? Or could Master Desiderius really tie him up with nuisance work? He decided he didn¡¯t want to find out, so he played along.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°Yes, Master. My sincerest apologies.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±

    They wound their way through the various stacks and up another flight of stairs leading to a landing and a delicate wrought-iron interior bridge that crossed the atrium. It didn¡¯t look very sturdy, but Master Desiderius waddled quickly across the bridge, not even checking to see if Justin was keeping up.

    On the other side of the bridge was landing which led to a cluttered office, with bookcases stuffed with books and tables piled high with notebooks, scroll cases, maps, globes, and more stacks of books.

    Master Desiderius shooed a gray cat off his chair and sat down. He didn¡¯t offer Justin a seat¡ªmaybe because there weren¡¯t any other chairs in the room that didn¡¯t have books on them.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a busy man, boy, so I¡¯ll make this quick. You¡¯re familiar with the world quest, aren¡¯t you? What am I saying? Everyone knows about the world quest.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve never heard of that. They didn¡¯t tell us anything about any world quest during the briefing¡ª¡±

    But as the words came out of his mouth, Justin realized that he actually did know what the world quest was. It was the entire point of the game. Every single player in Greystrand was trying to find an ancient artifact known as the Shadow Lance. It was the only weapon capable of destroying Dynark, the demon lord who had been inadvertently released from a tomb in the deepest reaches of an ancient delving known as Hell¡¯s Gate. Dynark was now plotting the destruction of the free people of Greystrand and had to be stopped. And only those wielding the Lance had any chance of stopping the demon.

    Justin shook his head. Where the hell had all that info come from? He didn¡¯t remember reading up on the lore¡­ And then he got it. His lore skill. Maybe it was actually good for something.

    ¡°Will you stop your infernal gaping? Your rudeness knows no bounds.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Desiderius. I did remember what the world quest was. Locate the Shadow Lance and¡ª¡±

    ¡°Wrong!¡± the trainer bellowed.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure¡ª¡±

    ¡°Wrong!¡± Desiderius shouted again. ¡°If you don¡¯t know the answer to something, don¡¯t just make things up. It¡¯s insulting.¡±

    ¡°But I wasn¡¯t making anything up. The Shadow Lance¡ª¡±

    Desiderius cut him off. ¡°There is no such thing as a Shadow Lance and even if there were, it certainly has nothing to do with the world quest. Now if you are done with your foolishness, perhaps I could impart what I am obligated to tell you and then you might do me the small kindness of leaving my sight forever. How does that sound, boy?¡±

    ¡°Whatever.¡±

    Master Desiderius took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. His face was drained of color and he twitched oddly. Justin wondered if the little man was about to have a heart attack.

    But then he twitched again and continued to spout off as if nothing was amiss.

    ¡°The good adventurers of Greystrand seek something known as the Iron Veil. No one knows the nature of this Veil, or whether it be a weapon or magical artifact. Your mission, like everyone else¡¯s, is to locate the Iron Veil, but unlike nearly everyone else, you have a considerable advantage.¡±

    He fished an object from the folds of his ridiculous fur coat and placed it on the desk. ¡°This¡­¡±

    Justin leaned over to get a better look. The object was a jeweled metal scroll case, maybe six inches long. The metal appeared to be brass or bronze embellished with ornate metal swirls and other adornments and inlaid with an array of small jewels.

    ¡°Go ahead, take it. It¡¯s meant for you, after all.¡±

    Justin picked up the scroll case. It felt way too light to be made of metal, but it obviously was. As he turned the case over and inspected it further, he noticed a decorative plate upon which was engraved his name: Justin Boone. This was weird. Very weird.

    ¡°What is it?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s your blood clue, of course.¡±

    Justin opened his mouth to ask what a blood clue was, but then the answer popped into his head.

    A blood clue was something that would help you successfully complete the world quest. But it was just for the person whose name was engraved on its case. And whatever was on the scroll inside the case was just for him. No one else could even read it.

    Finally something cool.

    Master Desiderius stared at him with a strange look on his face. Not quite disdain. This was something different.

    ¡°You are to open that scroll case at the proper time and avail yourself of your blood clue.¡±

    ¡°How will I know when the proper time is?¡±

    ¡°You will know.¡±

    ¡°But how?¡±

    Master Desiderius sighed loudly. ¡°But how?¡± he mimicked. ¡°You are like a child, assaulting me with useless questions.¡±

    Justin was about to respond, but Master Desiderius cut him off with an angry huff.

    ¡°No one can tell you the proper time to avail yourself of your blood clue! It is your clue after all, divinely bestowed, if one believes in that sort of thing.¡±

    Justin shrugged. ¡°Okay, I think I get it.¡±

    ¡°Oh you do?¡± Desiderius asked sarcastically. ¡°Good. Then it seems that I have fulfilled my duty here, acolyte. I have no doubt that your odious demeanor coupled with your palpable stupidity will all but guarantee your imminent demise, but that is not of my concern. Go in peace.¡±

    He waved his hand dismissively and turned to examine one of the many tomes on his desk.

    Justin just stood there, not exactly sure what to do.

    ¡°You are dismissed, acolyte. Off with you, now.¡± Master Desiderius shooed at him again.

    ¡°Um, excuse me, Master Desiderius. But aren¡¯t you supposed to train me?¡±

    Desiderius looked up with a sneer on his face. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to do anything. I keep my own counsel about who I choose to train or not. And you, boy, fall squarely into the latter category. Now begone!¡±

    This was weird. Usually games had a pretty clear chain of quests. Especially starting out. Maybe this one was bugged. He glanced over at Master Desiderius, but the little man remained intent on ignoring him.

    ¡°Is there another trainer I should seek out?¡±

    Desiderius said nothing.

    Well, screw it then.

    Justin slipped his blood clue into one of his belt pouches and left the office. He crossed back over the bridge and made his way down the various staircases until he reached the bottom of the atrium.

    Out of curiosity he removed one of the books from a shelf near the staircase. It was a heavy leather-bound volume that looked about a thousand years old. There was no title on the spine, just some numbers, but when he opened it up to the title page, he saw that the book was written in English:

    Marlric the Wise; of the chieftain¡¯s last folly.

    He thumbed through it and quickly came to the conclusion that it was a dry history of some tribal chieftain in some land called Cloud Reach.

    He dropped the book on the floor with a loud thud and looked around. How do you like that, Master Desiderius?

    The next book was titled The Origin of Drammachs; containing some interesting observations thereon, together with the causes of its present scarcity. It was similarly boring and worthy of being tossed. Thunk!

    Desiderius had to have heard that. Justin waited for a few moments and glanced up at the bridge over his head, but there was no sign of the trainer. He was probably in his office with his fingers stuck in his ears. Well, he can go to hell.

    He pulled out a succession of books, one after another, glancing at their titles and then tossing them: The Collected Poems of Sabine the Younger, The Early History of Camdrum and Its Environs, The Record of the Third Eadine Rebellion, A Complete Guide to the Sculpted Arches of Aune. There was nothing interesting in any of them, but it was kind of weird that they were all printed in English.

    Justin left the pile of books and walked towards the same door from which he originally entered the library. He should just head back to the hall of statues and see if Wyatt was anywhere to be found. Aside from the sucker punching, Wyatt was a lot more helpful than Master Desiderius. Maybe the intern could tell him how to get going with some starter quests.

    But when Justin opened the door, there was no hall on the other side. The was no room there at all. The door opened to the outside, to a town square.

    He walked down a few steps and on to a narrow dirt lane. This was freaking amazing!

    The town square was lined with one and two-story wattle-and-daub buildings with grass-thatched roofs and it was crowded with people, all dressed in medieval garb. Some were vendors with makeshift stalls, others were workers with two-wheeled carts the size of a wheelbarrow, moving various piles of cloth or wood or other merchandise.

    Holgate. That¡¯s where he was. It was a town of around three or four hundred inhabitants located on the edge of the Dark Tree forest, northeast of Rathenhall and south of Marby.

    Boom! Thank you, lore skill!

    Justin wandered into the square proper. There were kids and dogs and goats and all kinds of commotion. Peddlers and shopkeepers shouted announcements about their wares. Customers loudly bartered. People called for their children. The smell of grilled meat and freshly baked flatbread wafted through the square.

    Justin went from stall to stall, taking it all in: the leather crafters hawking bags, pouches, and different kinds of belts and scabbards, the weapon smiths showing off their blades. It was incredible. Almost like a medieval Disneyland.

    He randomly focused on a few people and popped up their overlays. Nearly all were NPCs, however he did see a handful of players¡ªall level 1s like him. But the cool things was¡ªjust standing there in Holgate¡¯s town square, people-watching¡ªhe really couldn¡¯t tell the NPCs from the players.

 Chapter 3

    Recruiting duty sucked. There was no way around it.

    Pari Kintala knew that would have to spend the next couple of days wandering around Holgate, chatting up newbies, and trying to get the right ones interested in The Fellowship of Wood and Silence. She really didn¡¯t want to hang out in a starter town, and she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to concentrate on her job¡ªnot while she was thinking about Iniya.

    She rode her horse along the forest road on autopilot, not even registering the low-level wolves and boars and mountain lions stalking through the groves of trees that surrounded her.

    Of course she knew why Lazarus decided to send her to Holgate. It was supposed to be a distraction. Something to take her mind off the fact that her sister was dead. Not in real life, but dead here in Greystrand.

    She couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Iniya. For the next year she wouldn¡¯t be able to see her or talk to her. Which was horrible and unfair. So unfair.

    Deep down Pari was well aware that she and Iniya had been exceptionally lucky to be accepted into the OmniWorld beta at the same time. As far as she could tell, they were the only siblings in the game. Most players started without knowing a soul, but for some reason Loneskum-Alexander had allowed the sisters in together. So at least they had two months to be with each other in Greystrand. And that had been really fun.

    But now Iniya had gotten herself killed. And it sucked. It doubly sucked because it wasn¡¯t even Iniya¡¯s fault. Mariel said it was Wainwright who got everyone killed by not detecting the trap.

    While Pari was recruiting, the remaining members of the fellowship would be back at the Temple of Xyurn looking for the next clue in their world quest. Lazarus hadn¡¯t wanted Pari there; it would have been too painful.

    A wolf crossed the forest path, pretty close to her, but it was so low-level that it didn¡¯t even bother aggroing. Then she rode across a bridge with an NPC guard who waved at her.

    ¡°Nice morning, isn¡¯t it?¡± he called.

    ¡°Not really. My sister got killed yesterday.¡±

    His face fell. ¡°Sorry to here that. Was it the Red Hand args? They¡¯ve been marauding around Tashon¡¯s Gate.¡±

    ¡°No, she was in a dungeon.¡±

    The guard nodded knowingly.

    Unlike some other players, Pari didn¡¯t mind talking to NPCs. She was continually amazed at how good their AI was. They all had their own programmed personalities, of course, but many of them seemed like better people than the actual humans.

    ¡°Can you tell me anything to cheer me up?¡± she asked.

    He thought for a moment. ¡°Probably not. I mean, I could say something dumb like ¡®she¡¯s in a better place¡¯ but I¡¯m not entirely sure she is.¡±

    ¡°Well, I appreciate your honesty, sir.¡±

    ¡°Be careful out there.¡±

    As she rode away, Pari thought about what the guard had said about Iniya. Was she in a better place? Pari knew that if you died after you hit level 5¡ªlike Iniya had¡ªyou¡¯d resurrect back in the hotel. But your in-game memory would be wiped clean, and you¡¯d have to start from scratch. That meant that Iniya wouldn¡¯t remember anything about Greystrand or Wood and Silence or even Pari.

    Sure, Iniya would remember that she had a sister, but she wouldn¡¯t know that Pari was in OmniWorld. In fact, there was a good chance that Iniya might not even choose Greystrand; she had always talked about wanting to play SRE so she might be on Nemea right now.

    But who knew for sure?

    As she rode farther north, the forest grew darker, forming a tunnel of crowded beech and elms which arched over the road like clasping hands, and blocked out the morning sun. The air was cooler here, and it seemed like the all birds had abandoned the forest. But there was plenty of other types of wildlife here, including thick-legged spiders the size of a hot tub, murderous kobolds, and green haggoths who would drop from ivy-bound trees and snap the spine of your horse if you didn¡¯t dispatch them in time.

    But she wasn¡¯t really worried. Pari had ridden back and forth between Rathenhall and Holgate dozens of times. Even as a healer, she could handle the mobs here¡ªas long as she kept her wits about her and didn¡¯t get swarmed. And, honestly, would it be so bad to die today? Maybe she would end up at the hotel with Iniya. Maybe they¡¯d let the two of them start again together. She¡¯d even play Star Rim Empire if it meant that she could be with her sister.

    She sighed to herself. She couldn¡¯t do that; she¡¯d be letting everyone down. She¡¯d be a failure. And it was stupid to think that she¡¯d be able to reroll with Iniya. Even putting aside the responsibility she had to Lazarus and the gang, the timing wouldn¡¯t work at all. No, Iniya was already on her way to whatever game she chose next. And maybe it was Greystrand. There was a chance that they¡¯d see each other again. But it was a long shot.

    After another hour, the Dark Tree started to thin, and the countryside opened up to gentle rolling hills and fields dotted with spring wildflowers. The road wound out of the forest and northeast along the banks of the Erslo River. Pari passed an old mill and waved to some men who were loading sacks of grain on to their cart beneath a gigantic willow which shaded the mill¡¯s yard.

    She road past more cultivated fields bordered by hedgerows with cottages and farmhouses in the distance and before long, caught a glimpse of the sight that greeted all travelers coming in from the south: the gilded dome of Holgate¡¯s Library of Globes.

    The town huddled next to the river; it wasn¡¯t more than four narrow streets and a couple of dozen buildings, most of which were much less grand than the Library of Globes. But Holgate was buzzing with activity¡ªespecially today which was the first Monday of the month and the day when the newbies arrived.

    They didn¡¯t all arrive in Holgate. Out of the 250 or so new players that entered the game every month, some would show up here, others in Cotter¡¯s Mill, and still others in Skelheim.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Ideally, Lazarus would have sent team members to the other starter towns to recruit, but there just wasn¡¯t anyone left. The fellowship was down to the six of them: Pari and Mariel who were healers, Benet, a warrior, Sato, a guardian knight, Celia, a scout, Donagher, a battle mage, and Lazarus who was an enchanter as well as the leader of their fellowship. And today, everyone but her was at the Temple of Xyurn trying to find Tolman¡¯s journal and next clue.

    Normally, Celia and Benet did the recruiting for Wood and Silence. Celia was tall and beautiful with white-blonde hair and newbie guys would fall over themselves to talk to her. Likewise, Benet with his quarterback bod and French accent never failed to reel in the girls. He would strut around town in his high-end armor, looking like a real-life Lancelot, chatting happily to everyone he saw. He was definitely a natural.

    Talking to strangers came a lot harder to Pari. Except NPCs, of course. But she was working on it. Maybe Lazarus was right; maybe this would be good for her.

    Pari rode through Holgate, looking around. It seems like the newbies were starting to arrive already, which was a bit surprising because they normally started to appear at around noon.

    She saw a bunch wandering around the town square, looking like lost children. Some were doing the typical stuff you do when you first enter a game world: jump off a building to see what it¡¯s like to die, try to kill NPCs or steal from them, try to burn down a building. Basically, act like an asshole.

    Lazarus called it ¡°the first phase of immersion.¡± He said that even though the hotel was supposed to acclimate players to the paracosm, they didn¡¯t really start to immerse until they arrived in Greystrand. And then they would test the boundaries. Just like a small child.

    According to Lazarus, after a few hours of goofing around, most newbies would then enter the second phase of immersion. They¡¯d embrace the fact that they were actually in a fantasy world, so they¡¯d start acting like a part of this new world. But they¡¯d also realize that they¡¯re free of the restrictions of their old world. Kind of like when you leave home to go college and spend the whole first week partying and getting into trouble.

    In fact, Lazarus had told her that the game designers anticipated this and actually removed a lot of the normal interpersonal restrictions on players¡ªbut just for the first night. So basically all the newbies would spend their first night in Holgate getting drunk and having experimental sex with each other. Kind of like a frat party.

    Pari didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with that, so she avoided the inn altogether and rode through town to its northern outskirts. She made her way down a narrow country lane to a cute little two-story farmhouse with a brightly painted fence and a pristine front garden.

    She dismounted and called out, ¡°Lena?¡±

    The door opened and a plump villager twice Pari¡¯s age peeked her head out. Lena broke into a big grin at the sight of Pari.

    ¡°Pari, for heaven¡¯s sake, I haven¡¯t seen you for weeks.¡±

    The two women hugged on the doorstep. Even though Lena was an NPC, she was also kind of a friend and Pari would try to stop by for a visit whenever she was in the area. Plus, Lena was a weaver and would often help Pari raise her textile crafting skill up a few points by showing her new techniques.

    ¡°Come in, come in,¡± Lena said. ¡°I was just making some dandelion tea. May I offer you some?¡±

    ¡°That would be nice, thank you. But I can¡¯t stay long. I¡¯m here recruiting.¡±

    ¡°Oh yes, I¡¯ve seen the newcomers already,¡± Lena said disapprovingly. ¡°A bunch of troublemakers if you ask me. I had to lock all the sheep in the barn.¡±

    Pari nodded. ¡°Yes, it seems like each new group gets rowdier and rowdier. So I definitely don¡¯t want to stay at the inn tonight and I was wondering if I could rent one of your upstairs rooms.¡±

    ¡°Of course, dear. Happy to have you. Go ahead and bring your horse down to the stables and by the time you get back, I¡¯ll have our tea ready.¡±

    As she tended to her horse, Pari decided not to tell Lena about Iniya¡¯s death. She just didn¡¯t feel like talking about it any more¡ªeven to a well-meaning NPC.

    She lugged her heavy saddlebags up to the room and stowed them behind the bed. They should be safe enough here. Lazarus had given her all sorts of gear she could use to bribe any suitable recruits to join the fellowship. She did make sure to fill her belt pouches with gems¡ªjust in case she needed some this afternoon. Most of the ordinary monetary transactions in the game were conducted with a magical ¡®money bag,¡¯ but everyone was impressed with gems¡ªespecially newbies.

    Pari fixed her hair in the big oak-framed mirror in the upstairs hallway. She didn¡¯t have to do much. Everyone¡¯s appearance in the game was tweaked a little so you looked like the best version of yourself pretty much all the time. She wished she had that in the real world. It would save her a lot of time in the morning.

    When Pari returned downstairs to Lena¡¯s sitting room, she saw that the older woman was standing in front of hearth and sipping a mug of herbal tea.

    ¡°How¡¯s the arthritis?¡± Pari asked.

    Lena unconsciously rubbed the elbow of the arm holding her mug. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine I guess. Acts up in the mornings a bit when it¡¯s damp out.¡±

    ¡°Let me take a look.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to bother, dear. I know you¡¯re busy with your recruiting and such.¡±

    ¡°No bother at all.¡± Pari moved closer to Lena and laid her hands upon her. She closed her eyes and focused on casting the treat disease spell. When she opened her eyes again Pari saw the little magical shimmer effect and heard the chime that indicated the spell was successful.

    Lena smiled and flexed her arm. ¡°You are a miracle worker, dear! It feels as good as new.¡±

    ¡°Keep eating that kale you grow. It¡¯s good for inflammation,¡± Pari said. It was interesting how healing worked in Greystrand. Her treat disease spell would completely cure another player for good, but NPCs could only be cured for a few days, then their affliction would recur. Maybe it was because their ailments were programmed as part of their personalities.

    She smiled to herself. It was ironic that after years of butting heads with her parents about becoming an engineer instead of a doctor, here she was in a fantasy world as a healer. Maybe they¡¯d be proud, after all.

    After a half hour of visiting with Lena, drinking tea, and chatting about everything under the sun (except what had happened to Iniya), Pari said goodbye and set off for town.

    She got within a hundred yards or so of the town square before encountering her first newbie.

    :::::. Dieter has invited you to spar (to the death). Accept? .:::::

    He was a baby battle mage, and he was pulling a typical dumb newbie move: just throwing out a sparring invitation without bothering to talk to the person he wanted to spar with.

    ¡°No thanks,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, why not?¡± he whined.

    ¡°I said, ¡®no thanks.¡¯¡± She glared at him.

    ¡°Well, about a screw then? Make love not war, right?¡±

    ¡°Beat it, you little perv!¡±

    The newbie laughed and ran away.

    Ugh. It was starting already.

    She made her way into the square proper and started looking around. New characters would spawn in buildings all over town, but most would appear in the Keep if they were warriors¡ªor the Henge if they were mages. That¡¯s probably where she should start. As she walked across the square she randomly inspected the newbies she saw: warrior, guardian knight, guardian knight, healer, scout, healer, battle mage, enchanter, and...

    :::::. Justin Boone. (Sage). Player, Level 1 .:::::

    A sage!

    He was a guy about her own age and not much taller than her. Tousled sandy colored hair and an intense expression on his face. Serious.

    That was good. Serious was good. And a serious sage was even better. They had lost Tolman and his clue and now they didn¡¯t have any sage¡ªwhich was a big problem. Until another sage joined the fellowship, it would be almost impossible to make progress in finding the next clue to the Lance.

    Lazarus had told her that finding a sage was her highest priority, but she didn¡¯t actually think she¡¯d see one here in Holgate. Only one out of a hundred players were assigned to be a sage, so every month only two or three max entered the game. And they were usually snapped up like candy by the fellowships. She needed to get on this.

 Chapter 4

    The beautiful Indian girl was staring at him. Justin was sure of it.

    He had been standing at a weapon vendor¡¯s stall, perusing an array of daggers laid out on a wooden plank that served as a countertop. When he glanced up, he had seen her looking at him. Now she was coming over.

    Wow. She had long blue-black hair and full, lush lips. She had to be a player. From what he had heard of the game, Greystrand wasn¡¯t supposed to be very culturally diverse. It had been designed as a fantasy medieval version of England, and the game designers thought they were being authentic, so no people of color. Except players.

    ¡°Don¡¯t buy any weapons yet,¡± she said in a hushed voice that was kind of deep and husky.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You get much better weapons as quest rewards. Save your money. Trust me.¡± The corners of her mouth turned up in a half smile.

    ¡°Uh, okay.¡±

    ¡°Madame, I don¡¯t appreciate you interfering with the customers!¡± the shop keeper complained.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± the girl said.

    She motioned for him to follow and led him to a side street off the town square.

    ¡°I¡¯m Pari, by the way.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Justin.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Justin.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean ¡®well met?¡¯¡±

    ¡°Ha, ha. No one really role-plays, so don¡¯t worry about getting the lingo down.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a relief. I don¡¯t mean to be rude or anything, but are you an NPC or a player?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they tell you how to check for that?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah, but¡ª¡±

    ¡°Then go for it. Nothing rude about inspecting someone. Besides, only you can see the overlay.¡±

    ¡°Good to know.¡±

    He popped up an overlay on her.

    :::::. Pari Kintala. (Healer). Player, Level 5 .:::::

    ¡°Whoah, you¡¯re level 5,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s like halfway to max level.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be too impressed. I¡¯m a brand new level 5. Just dinged last Friday. And I¡¯m a February, so¡­¡±

    ¡°A what?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what they call our group. I¡¯ve been playing since February. You¡¯re an April.¡±

    Justin wasn¡¯t exactly sure what she was talking about, but then she explained further.

    ¡°Most of us Februarys are level 5 now. The Januarys will hit level 6 next month. Lazarus is a January. He¡¯s the leader of our fellowship.¡±

    ¡°Is that like a guild?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what they call them in Greystrand. We¡¯re The Fellowship of Wood and Silence.¡±

    ¡°Wood and Silence? What does that mean?¡±

    Pari shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think Lazarus just thought it sounded cool. What about you? How do you like your first day in the game?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s more like my first hour. And I think I pissed off my trainer really bad. He refused to give me any quests.¡±

    She laughed. ¡°Wow. I haven¡¯t heard of that before. Did you try to kill him or something?¡±

    ¡°No. I didn¡¯t do anything to him. He was giving me attitude the second I walked into the library.¡±

    ¡°You came from the Library of Globes?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Impressive. And you¡¯re a sage. That¡¯s cool.¡±

    ¡°Is it? I really wanted to be a battle mage.¡±

    ¡°No way. Much better to be a sage. You guys are rare.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re going to be the most popular guy in this entire town. Everyone¡¯s going to want to hang with you.¡±

    Was she serious? He still didn¡¯t get what the big deal was.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± she said. ¡°Your quest chain is going to start with Marshal Swart. You know where he is?¡±

    Justin shook his head. ¡°No clue. I told you, the library guy just shut me down.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll show you. He¡¯s at the training grounds. That¡¯s where most people go after they¡¯re done exploring the town. It¡¯s not far. See that big building there? It¡¯s on the south side.¡± Pari pointed down the street towards a massive stone structure that looked like a low castle.

    Without even thinking about it, Justin somehow knew that the structure was called ¡®the Keep,¡¯ and it was an old fortress built upon the ruins of an even older Pycerian citadel. The Holgate town guard kept a small garrison there. Marshal Swart was the commander of the garrison.

    ¡°This is so freaky,¡± he said.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Things just pop into my head. Information. Like the names of things. Or where they came from. Does that ever happen to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s either your knowledge or lore skill kicking in. My knowledge is pretty low, but sometimes I¡¯ll be out in the forest and I¡¯ll see some random berry and I¡¯ll instantly know it¡¯s good for menstrual cramps or something.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so weird.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯ll get used to it. Every profession has some special abilities. Yours is knowing stuff. It¡¯s a big one.¡±

    They walked along the road to the Keep which had a fair number of other players on it. Justin didn¡¯t feel so bad about inspecting people now that he knew he could do it without them knowing. Pari was right. Lots of mages and warriors, but not a single other sage.

    ¡°That¡¯s Marshal Swart.¡± Pari pointed to a tall man in his 40s wearing armor and sporting an eye-patch.

    ¡°He certainly looks the part.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll see that the game designers pay a lot of attention to detail here. C¡¯mon.¡±

    They walked over to the grizzled old soldier, who stared at Justin with his one good eye.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°You have?¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t mind Desiderius. He hasn¡¯t been himself since his top student was lost in Hell¡¯s Gate. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. We could use your help, son.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Follow me, then.¡±

    Justin looked at Pari questioningly.

    She said, ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll be hanging around here. Find me when you¡¯re done, okay?¡± She smiled at him.

    ¡°Definitely,¡± he said.

    ¡°Have fun!¡±

    As they walked, Marshal Swart asked, ¡°What weapons do you wield? Just the sword?¡±

    Justin had forgotten he even had a weapon. He patted the scabbard and wrapped his hand around the hilt.

    ¡°This is what I have.¡± He drew the sword and held it out in front of him. It was a plain-looking straight blade around two feel long, sharpened at both edges.

    Swart nodded. ¡°Training blade. That¡¯s do fine for now, but we have much better in the armory.¡±

    About a hundred yards behind the Keep, on the edge of the forest, were a series of rocky mounds ten feet tall and overgrown with weeds.

    ¡°Hold,¡± Swart said. ¡°That¡¯s their lair.¡±

    ¡°Whose lair?¡±

    ¡°Ratkins. A bloody nest of them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with ratkins¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen them in your travels, son. Little buggers. Half man, half rat. Vile creatures, dripping with disease. No?¡±

    Justin had expected his knowledge skill would kick in, but it didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Uh, we don¡¯t have anything like that where I¡¯m from.¡±

    ¡°Count yourself lucky, then. At night they get into the grain silos. Infect our foodstuffs with disease and pestilence. We have no idea where they¡¯re coming from, but they need to be taken care of and you¡¯re just the man for the job.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°So I just go over there and kill some rats, is that it?¡±

    ¡°Ratkins,¡± Marshal Swart corrected. ¡°Bring me back six tails. I¡¯ll see that you¡¯re well rewarded.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    :::::. Quest accepted: slay 6 ratkins and bring their tails back to Marshal Swart .:::::

    Marshal Swart clapped Justin on the shoulder. ¡°Just don¡¯t get bitten. It¡¯s not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.¡±

    With that, he turned on his heel and strode away.

    Justin held his sword straight out in front of him and made his way towards the mounds. As he got closer, he could hear faint, muffled squeaking sounds. His heart began to pound, but still he moved closer. How bad could it be? They were little rat people, for god¡¯s sake. Level one monsters, or maybe even level zero. This would be cake.

    And then he saw one, grubbing through the weeds.

    Swart had described it well. It looked like a pudgy eighteen-inch-tall midget with a rat¡¯s face, mottled gray fur, and a stubby naked tail. It didn¡¯t have any weapons or anything, but it did have sharp looking claws on its hands and feet and was pretty gross looking. He popped up its overlay:

    :::::. Ratkin. (Humanoid). Hostile. .:::::

    Hmm. Hostile. That was the first time he had seen that. But no stats about creature¡¯s health or level or anything. That was weird.

    He moved closer. Here we go. It¡¯s really happening.

    ¡°Die!¡± Justin lunged forward with his sword and impaled the ratkin right though its side. The creature screeched in pain, but quickly convulsed and died.

    :::::. Victory! +10 Experience .:::::

    He did it! His first kill in Greystrand. Woo-hoo! Justin cut off the ratkin¡¯s tail, stuffed it into one of his pouches, and moved around the mound, looking for more movement in the grass.

    The next ratkin he saw was poking out of a hole in the side of the mound. Its nose wrinkled, and it sniffed the air. Maybe it had smelled him, but it was looking the wrong way. Justin whipped his blade down and hacked the vermin¡¯s head clean off.

    :::::. Victory! +10 Experience .:::::

    Easy peasy! He was one-shotting these critters. Maybe he wasn¡¯t as wimpy as he had feared.

    After collecting the tail, he moved on to the next mound. There were two here and as soon as he slashed at one, the other leaped on his leg. Tiny claws ripped through his pants and his leg burned in pain. He was hit. Ugh, his first hit. It hurt like hell.

    ¡°Get off!¡± He kicked his leg out, dislodging the creature. But now the first one was coming at him. Its fur was matted down with blood, but its red eyes burned with hatred.

    Justin lunged forward and skewered it. Boom! Dead!

    :::::. Victory! +10 Experience .:::::

    He didn¡¯t have time to celebrate, because the one who had scratched up his leg was trying to sneak up behind him.

    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± He spun around, leading with his blade, and used all his strength to slice the ratkin¡¯s abdomen open like a gutted fish.

    :::::. Victory! +10 Experience .:::::

    Yes! Four down. Just two to go. But now it looked like the whole hive had been alerted. At least dozen ratkin swarmed out of their burrows and they were all scurrying at him. This wasn¡¯t good.

    Justin quickly backed up, trying to put some distance between himself and the ratkin, but they kept coming. And then his foot caught on something and he tumbled backwards. He landed hard and his sword flew out of his hand.

    Damn it!

    He just lay there for a fraction of a second. The wind knocked out of him.

    But then they were on him, a swarm of ratkin. Clawing, scratching, biting. He was being eaten alive!

    He tried to roll over and protect his stomach, but there were too many of them. One sunk its teeth into his wrist and he felt another gnawing his ear off. A shooting pain shot up the side of his leg as a ratkin tore at him. Blood was everywhere and all of it was his. He thrashed for a bit more but then started to get woozy. Then the darkness took him¡­

    <hr>

    Justin awoke on a hillside overlooking the town. He was very groggy, but he could tell that he was sitting upright, his back against a huge tree which towered over him.

    A Life Tree.

    As his head cleared, he realized that this is what happened when you died here in Greystrand. You came back to life under a Life Tree. Supposedly Life Trees had a connection to the life force of this world and that¡¯s why they could bring you back to life.

    Justin stood up and examined himself for injuries. His clothes were torn up but he wasn¡¯t wounded. And he still had both of his ears.

    That was intense. He had never died before. What a horrible experience.

    He looked up at the massive tree. It had white bark and big reddish leaves and stretched up a good hundred feet over his head.

    A voice called from in back of him, ¡°I thought I might find you here.¡±

    It was Pari. ¡°Were you swarmed?¡± she asked.

    ¡°How d''you know?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s pretty much the only way to get killed by ratkin. Individually, they¡¯re pretty wimpy.¡±

    ¡°Individually, I¡¯m pretty wimpy.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Happened to me too. How many tails did you get?¡±

    ¡°I killed four, but I only was able to pick up two tails.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back. I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    It turns out that they were only a five minute walk from the mounds. Justin cautiously approached, looking for signs of the ratkins.

    ¡°The bodies should still be there,¡± Pari said.

    She was right. He collected two more tails, but he still needed one more in order to complete the quest.

    ¡°It looks like I¡¯m going hunting again.¡±

    ¡°Just try to keep the mobs spread out,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Justin took a deep breath. With his blade out, he carefully moved over to the next mound, watching for telltale signs of movement in the weeds. His heart started revving up again.

    Pari stayed back, but she called out to him. ¡°Remember what you know about these guys. Use the lore.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about them. That¡¯s the thing.¡± He continued to move forward, slowly but surely, winding his way between the mounds where the ground was clear of vegetation.

    ¡°You sure?¡± She sounded very surprised.

    ¡°Yup. Everything I know, which isn¡¯t much, I got from Swart.¡± This was weird. There was no sign of any ratkins.

    ¡°Did he tell you about their traps?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ no¡­¡±

    ¡°Justin, do not move. Do not take another step¡ª¡±

    But it was too late. The ground collapsed all around him and he felt himself plummet down in a tangle of branches and dried mud. He hit the bottom of the pit hard and twisted to the side, and his left ankle exploded in pain.

    Damn, damn, damn!

    Black spots danced in front of his eyes as he looked up. The top of the pit was at least fifteen feet over his head. But that wasn¡¯t the worse thing he saw. Ratkins began pouring out of little passages in the pit walls. He was being swarmed again!

    He staggered to his feet and began slashing at his attackers. Blood spattered, and the vermin squealed in pain, but they kept coming. They dropped on his shoulders and clawed and bit at his neck and face. Others tore at his legs, chittering angrily as they attacked. He flailed around, trying to dislodge them. Then stomped on any he had knocked to the ground. With every kill, his overlay flashed the experience he was earning, but he couldn¡¯t pay attention to that, because the ratkins kept coming. Ripping, biting, slashing.

    More landed on him, weighing him down, biting and digging at any exposed flesh. He stumbled, lost his footing, and went down.

    This was the end. Justin was going to die again. Torn apart by ratkins.

    As his life ebbed away, he heard a loud humming sound. And then a bright flash of light enveloped him. Energy pulsed through his body and the ratkins were flung off of him like moths hitting a bug zapper. All his pain evaporated, and he felt like he had just guzzled a gallon of espresso.

    This was fantastic!

    Energized, he renewed his attack on the creatures, slashing, stabbing, smashing, stomping! He could hit them, but they couldn¡¯t hit him. This was freaking awesome!

    When he finally stopped to catch his breath, well over a dozen bodies were strewn at his feet.

    ¡°Nice!¡± Pari called from up above.

    ¡°Did you do that? The energy thing?¡±

    She grinned at him. ¡°I might have tossed a healing shield your way, but hey, I¡¯m a healer, right? That¡¯s what I do.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I thought I was a goner. Again.¡± He was still breathing heavily.

    ¡°Collect your trophies while I find a rope. Let¡¯s get you out of there.¡±

    He started hacking off ratkin tails and by the time he was done, Pari was back. She tossed a rope down to him.

    ¡°What¡¯s your climb skill?¡± she called down to him.

    He focused on himself and didn¡¯t see any climb skill listed. But he now was at 220 experience.

    ¡°No climb skill, unfortunately. But I was pretty good at the rope climb at gym class. Does that count?¡±

    ¡°Give it a try. I tied my end to a tree.¡±

    The energy from Pari¡¯s healing shield must have still been in him because he climbed the rope like a monkey. She stuck out a hand and helped him up over the edge.

    ¡°That was crazy!¡± He smiled at her and pumped his fist. ¡°Woooooo-hooooo!¡±

    ¡°Your first victory!¡±

    ¡°Just call me Justin the Rat Slayer!¡±

    She laughed and said, ¡°You¡¯re just getting started. Let¡¯s go back to turn this quest in.¡±

    Marshal Swart was back where they had originally found him, in the training grounds.

    ¡°Ah, Justin. You don¡¯t look any worse for the wear. How did you fare, son?¡±

    Justin just dumped out his collection of 22 ratkin tails. ¡°Boom!¡±

    Swart whistled in appreciation. ¡°Good lord, boy. I said six. Did you leave any for my other recruits?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m jesting, son. Good work. Very good work.¡±

    :::::. Quest complete! +65 Bonus Experience .:::::

    ¡°Thanks, but you could have told me about the pit,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°I could have,¡± Marshal Swart said. ¡°But I fear that would have taken all the fun out of it. Right, son?¡±

    Justin just shrugged.

    Marshal Swart fished in his satchel and brought out a bulging leather pouch the size of a grapefruit.

    ¡°This is also for you.¡± He tossed the pouch to Justin.

    Gold coins! It was filled with gold coins.

    :::::. +200 Gold .:::::

    ¡°Whoah. Thanks.¡±

    ¡°You earned it.¡± Swart clapped Justin on the shoulder. ¡°Besides, I have another task for you. We need to determine where all these ratkins are coming from. There¡¯s an old ranger by the name of Klothar who lives a few miles out of town to the northeast. I want you to find him and ask him if he knows anything about these ratkins. Do you accept?¡±

    That sounded pretty easy.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    :::::. Quest accepted: speak with Klothar the ranger in Durbam Dell .:::::

    ¡°Good man. I know you¡¯re new to these parts, so I have something here that will help you find your way: your own Circle of Reckoning.¡± He handed Justin a flat copper disc the size of a drink coaster.

    ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯m not a man who completely trusts magical gewgaws, but a Circle of Reckoning can keep you from wandering lost in the forest.¡±

    The disc was maybe a quarter inch thick and was engraved with various designs which looked vaguely magical. On one side was inset another disc that looked like it was made of shell or cloudy glass or something. It took up most of the circle, with just a small border of metal around it.

    As Justin examined it, he realized that the Circle of Reckoning was a magical device used for navigation. He just wasn¡¯t sure how to activate it so he asked Marshal Swart.

    ¡°The Circle ¡¯tis not especially difficult to operate. Just push your finger on it to call the spirits. They¡¯ll conjure a map and you can see where you are and where you¡¯re supposed to be.¡±

    Sounded simple enough. And when Justin pressed on the shell side, an image of a hand-drawn map appeared on the disc. The map showed Holgate and the Erslo River and the main roads to the north and south. A pulsing red icon showed his destination while a pulsing blue icon showed his current location. An arrow just inside the edge of the inner disk pointed towards the destination.

    ¡°You can pinch and zoom just like a nav app,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°This is awesome,¡± Justin said. As he turned the disc, the arrow moved around so it always pointed towards the destination. It was kind of like an old mechanical compass.

    ¡°Good luck and let me know what you find out from Klothar,¡± Marshal Swart said. He strode away towards another group of recruits who were trying to shoot arrows into a straw training dummy.

    ¡°Do you know this Klothar the ranger?¡± Justin asked Pari.

    ¡°Yeah. Interesting guy. He¡¯s not too far.¡±

    ¡°You want to come with?¡±

    ¡°Um, I have some stuff in town that I need to take care of,¡± Pari said. ¡°But you¡¯ll be fine. Just keep east of the road and stay out of the Dark Tree.¡±

    She was talking about the Dark Tree Forest, a nearly impenetrable forest that stretched from Rathenhall to the edge of Hell¡¯s Gate, over 25 miles.

    Pari motioned at his pouch of gold. ¡°By the way, that purse he gave you is another magical item. It¡¯s called the money bag. Everyone gets one when they finish their first quest. Keep it safe. It¡¯s special.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s basically a magical purse that can hold an unlimited number of coins, but doesn¡¯t weigh anything.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, as you collect stuff in general, you¡¯ll find that lugging it around is an issue. It¡¯s tough to fight with a forty pound backpack. Since gold is so heavy, the game designers came up with the money bag.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m liking these magical items.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a lot of good stuff out there, but like I said, don¡¯t buy any gear quite yet. Save your gold. You¡¯ll need it for formal training and stuff.¡±

    Justin had a million more questions, but Pari looked like she had some place she needed to be, so he nodded and just said, ¡°Thanks for everything. Maybe I¡¯ll see you around.¡±

    ¡°Definitely, Justin, definitely. Hey, I¡¯m going to send you a friend invite now.¡±

    :::::. Pari has invited you to be friends. Accept? .:::::

    ¡°Yes,¡± Justin said aloud.

    :::::. You and Pari are now friends .:::::

    ¡°Cool,¡± Pari said. ¡°Now we can send each other voice messages. Check this out. ¡°Message to Justin: watch out for ratkins.¡±

    Barely a second later his overlay popped up.

    :::::. New message from Pari. Listen? .:::::

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    All of a sudden he heard her voice saying ¡°watch out for ratkins.¡± This was wild. Just like voice texts.

    Pari said, ¡°Let me know if you get into trouble up there, but I doubt that you will. Let¡¯s find each other back in town towards the end of the day.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡±

 Chapter 5

    The briefing room was stuffy and hot. Maybe the air conditioning was broken again. Maybe it was supposed to be like that.

    Dr. Jonathan Oswald Margolin leaned back in his chair. He looked around at his team: Trudy Zhang, Hamish Ackerman, James Dai, and Asif Qadri. All of them the best of the best. With 30,000 more of the best of the best backing them up.

    ¡°Cece, do we have a location on General Groves?¡± he asked to the room.

    A voice from the databox on the table answered, ¡°He just passed reception, Dr. Margolin. He should be at your location in eight seconds.¡±

    Sure enough, eight seconds later, Major General Rick Groves burst into the meeting room. He did not look happy.

    ¡°Still no answers?¡± he barked. ¡°How long has it been?¡±

    Trudy Zhang said, ¡°Four hours, maybe four and a half.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s three hours too long. Unacceptable, doctor.¡± He glared at Margolin.

    Margolin stood up and leaned forward, facing the general. ¡°We¡¯re working on it,¡± he said calmly. ¡°Right now it appears to have been human error. And once we confirm that, we can correct the problem by correcting the human.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to pretend I didn¡¯t hear that, doctor. Because we both know that I have a zero tolerance policy towards uncertainty.¡±

    ¡°I know you do, general. So do we.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad we¡¯re on the same page,¡± Groves said.

    But to Margolin, it didn¡¯t look like Groves was glad about anything.

    The general continued, ¡°So what do we know now that we didn¡¯t know three hours ago? Know with certainty, that is.¡±

    Margolin nodded to Hamish Ackerman. Everything sounded better when spoken with a crisp British accent. Even bad news. Or no news.

    ¡°Sir, we know with certainty that up to one hundred and thirty players were onboarded in error although we cannot yet identify which players,¡± Ackerman said. ¡°We know with certainty that these players were from Group 4b, which is the first alternate for the April cohort, all fully vetted.¡±

    Margolin interjected, ¡°If this is due to human error, as we suspect, it¡¯s a non-issue.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°Doctor,¡± Groves said, using a tone of voice one might use with a small child. ¡°The United States of America has granted notable AML exemptions to Project: Reverie under very specific terms. It¡¯s looking increasingly likely that those terms have been violated today¡ª¡±

    ¡°Not intentionally!¡± Margolin said, a bit louder than he had intended.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know that!¡± Groves shouted back. ¡°In fact, we don¡¯t know much of anything, do we?¡±

    ¡°Over 200 of our folks, plus another 80 or so from BerylBlue are conducting a manual audit as we speak. We will know. Soon.¡±

    ¡°How soon?¡±

    ¡°With complete certainty? Ten days. Fourteen on the outside.¡±

    ¡°Unacceptable.¡±

    ¡°General, I don¡¯t have to remind you of the level of complexity we¡¯re dealing with this degree of machine-gen product¡ª¡±

    ¡°No you do not, doctor. And you don¡¯t have to remind me about the protocols in place when there¡¯s a glitch.¡±

    ¡°With all due respect, general. We don¡¯t like to use that term around here,¡± Asif Qadri said.

    ¡°Glitch?¡± Groves asked quietly.

    Margolin thought the general might explode.

    ¡°Yes, sir. Demoralizes the team, sir.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t give a crap what we call it. But from where I¡¯m sitting, it looks awfully like a glitch.¡±

    Quadri looked at Margolin helplessly. Margolin just shook his head. This wasn¡¯t worth it. He sat back down in his chair.

    ¡°Let¡¯s all just calm down. Glitch or not, we will have answers. With complete certainty. We just need time.¡±

    Groves turned on his heel. ¡°You have six days. And then this whole thing gets shut down. Nuke and pave. And I want reports every four hours, around the clock.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got it,¡± Margolin said.

    Groves slammed the door on his way out.

    ¡°What a dick,¡± James Dai said. He was the quietest of the executive team, but he had a talent for pithy observations.

    Margolin didn¡¯t say anything. He was lost in thought. Would Groves really try to shut them down? Or was it just an idle threat? He knew that there were a lot of folks in Washington who were against Project: Reverie, including the OSTP director and the director of DARPA.

    The fundamental concept of mass-scale automated machine learning and AI code-spinners was nothing new, but their specific applications¡ªespecially when involved in human life functions¡ªwas incredibly regulated and controlled in the U.S. It was a different story in China and Pakistan, of course. They didn¡¯t have the restrictions we did. And that meant that the U.S. faced the very real danger of losing the ¡°dream race.¡±

    That couldn¡¯t happen. The stakes were too high. People who knew about Project: Reverie¡ªreally knew about it¡ªunderstood that it was more than a new entertainment technology. It was the future. Literally.

    <hr>

    Two members of his staff were waiting for Groves in a car downstairs: Brigadier General Anthony Basato and Colonel David Noon. They both looked at Groves expectantly.

    ¡°Six days,¡± Groves announced.

    ¡°You went with six?¡± Noon asked.

    ¡°They opened with two weeks, but didn¡¯t say squat when I told them six days. They viewed it as some kind of victory.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Did you make contact with Blue Squadron?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they¡¯ve been busy little beavers,¡± Basato said.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°And very relieved that we finally made contact,¡± Basato said.

    ¡°No man left behind,¡± Groves said.

    ¡°Or woman,¡± Noon added. ¡°Our girl¡¯s been a one-woman wrecking crew.¡±

    Groves nodded. ¡°So no issues with the shunt?¡±

    ¡°B2 confirmed that it¡¯s fully operational,¡± Noon said. ¡°We have complete access to the Greystrand paracosm. Undetected access.¡±

    A faint smile played across Groves¡¯ face. ¡°That¡¯s how it¡¯s done, kids.¡±

 Chapter 6

    The ranger was not where he was supposed to be.

    Justin checked the Circle of Reckoning again. The two icons were on top of each other. That meant that the quest objective should be standing in front of him, but the cabin was empty.

    He called out again. ¡°Anyone home? Yoo-hoo, Klothar?¡±

    Nothing.

    The cabin was sparsely furnished. It looked more like a hunting shack than anything else, but it was built out of thick logs. The floor was bare and had been recently swept clean. In a big fireplace that took up most of one wall was an iron kettle hanging from a hook inside the hearth. The only pieces of furniture were a cot covered with animal skins, a small, roughly hewn table with a single stool, and a large wooden chest held together with iron bands.

    The chest didn¡¯t have a lock on it. At least not one that Justin could see. But that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t booby-trapped or something. He felt around the edges of the chest¡¯s lid. Nothing seemed unusual. Next he flipped open the clasp with the point of his sword.

    Nothing exploded. That was good.

    He took a deep breath and eased the lid up, just a half inch or so. Then he froze. But luckily there were no poison needles or gas or even a pit opening up where he stood. The chest appeared to be a simple, unlocked chest.

    Ugh, he shouldn¡¯t be such a wuss. He already died once and, aside from some dizziness, it was no big deal. Time to suck it up.

    But he still cringed as he swung the lid open.

    Nothing.

    He sighed in relief and peeked in. The chest was filled with ordinary junk. A blanket, a coil of rope, a whetstone, a broken ceramic mug, some extra clothes. Nothing particularly interesting, apart from a carved wooden figurine of a pegasus. That was pretty cool.

    Justin replaced everything and closed the chest. This was extremely odd. He ducked back outside and walked around the outside of the cabin, but there was no sign of the ranger.

    What if the guy was dead? Could you kill NPCs in this game? He had no idea. That¡¯s something he should ask Pari. Maybe he should call her. No, she already probably thought that he was useless. That¡¯s why she ditched him. He pushed the thought out of his mind.

    There was a tree directly behind the cabin. He decided to climb it. Maybe this ranger guy was napping on the roof. Or hiding up there.

    After slipping a few times, Justin pulled himself up into the branches and climbed high enough so he could catch a glimpse of the cabin¡¯s roof. It was thick with moss, but no one was hiding up there.

    ¡°Yo!¡± called a voice from below.

    Justin¡¯s heart jumped, and he whipped around, losing his balance in the process. He tipped backward and frantically grasped at branches, leaves¡ªanything to hold on¡ªbut it was no use. He dropped from the tree like an anvil and everything went black.

    <hr>

    When he awoke, he was staring into the face of a young Asian dude leaning on a staff that was taller than he was.

    ¡°I healed you, man.¡±

    Justin sat up and took a deep breath. He was sitting beneath the tree next to the ranger¡¯s cabin.

    ¡°That was my first heal. Freaking awesome,¡± the Asian guy said. He looked to be a few years younger than Justin. ¡°You can walk right?¡±

    ¡°I think so.¡±

    ¡°Of course you can. I healed your ass!¡±

    Justin stood up and took a few tentative steps. He felt fine.

    Then he turned to the guy and inspected him.

    :::::. Ni Tien. (Healer). Player, Level 1 .:::::

    ¡°Thanks, Ni Tee, Teen, Tine¡ª¡± He struggled with the pronunciation.

    ¡°You can call me Ten-Spot. Everyone does.¡±

    ¡°Cool. I¡¯m Justin. First day?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Me too.¡±

    ¡°What were you doing up in that tree?¡± he asked. Spying or something?¡±

    ¡°Looking for the ranger.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the ranger. I¡¯m doing that same quest, but where is the guy?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Justin said. He fished his Circle of Reckoning out and checked it. Same as before. The ranger should be standing right in front of him.

    Ten-Spot brought out his own Circle of Reckoning and peered at it. ¡°That¡¯s weird. He¡¯s not inside?¡±

    ¡°See for yourself.¡±

    Ten-Spot disappeared inside and Justin followed him. Inside the cabin, Ten-Spot checked the Circle of Reckoning again. He even zoomed in on their location.

    ¡°I can see why you¡¯d look on the roof, bro. This is weird.¡±

    ¡°Maybe the quest is bugged.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ten-Spot asked.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Bugged. Broken. I mean, we are technically in the beta, right? Things could be broken.¡±

    ¡°If you say so.¡± He looked around again and eyed the trunk.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Justin said. ¡°He¡¯s not hiding in there. Just some blankets and junk.¡±

    Ten-Spot nodded, but peeked in anyway. ¡°What if our compasses are off or something? Did you look around in the woods?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re called Circles of Reckoning and I don¡¯t think they¡¯re off, but let¡¯s check.¡±

    As they walked outside, Ten-Spot asked, ¡°Are you a scout or something?¡±

    ¡°Sage.¡±

    ¡°No way.¡± He looked impressed.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°So how come you don¡¯t, like, just know where the guy is?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that. I know lore and stuff. Some general knowledge. But I have no clue why the ranger isn¡¯t here.¡±

    Ten-Spot stopped, lost in thought for a few moments. ¡°What if the dude¡¯s invisible?¡± he whispered. ¡°What if that¡¯s the real quest? Find the invisible ranger.¡±

    Justin had to admit that was pretty smart. He told Ten-Spot so, and the healer suggested that they fan out with their weapons, prodding the air to see if they could hit any invisible bodies.

    ¡°Keep your eyes on the dirt,¡± he said in a low voice. ¡°We might be able to see his footsteps.¡±

    ¡°Good thinking.¡±

    They moved methodically around the yard surrounding the cabin. Justin waved my sword and Ten-Spot swung his staff¡ªat all different heights. After fifteen minutes they went back inside and prodded and poked every square foot of space.

    No invisible rangers.

    ¡°We¡¯re just wasting time,¡± Ten-Spot said. ¡°This quest is screwed, man. I¡¯m out of here.¡± He began to walk away and then stopped. ¡°You coming? Maybe if go back to Swart and drop the quest and retake it, everything will work.¡±

    Justin shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m good. You go ahead. I¡¯m going to give it a bit more time.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not in any rush.¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself. Later, bro.¡± He waved as he headed south back towards Holgate. ¡°Don¡¯t fall out of any more trees, okay?¡±

    Justin waved back and stood there, waiting for Ten-Spot to move out of sight. Then he sent a message to Pari, or at least he hoped he did. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure that he was doing this right.

    ¡°Message to Pari: Hey Pari it¡¯s Justin. Quick question. Is there any trick to the ranger quest? I¡¯m up here at his cabin and the Circle says he¡¯s right here, but there¡¯s no sign of him. Give me a call back if you can. And sorry if this is a lame question. Okay. Thanks. Bye.¡±

    :::::. Message to Pari sent .:::::

    Okay, that worked. He wondered if there was also any sort of delivery confirmation, but after sitting around for a few minutes, he decided to go back to exploring the woods around the cabin. Maybe these Circles of Reckoning just weren¡¯t completely accurate.

    :::::. New message from Pari. Listen? .:::::

    She called back! Justin smiled to himself.

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said aloud.

    A second later he heard Pari¡¯s voice: ¡°Hey Justin. Yeah that sounds a little weird. Hang tight. I¡¯m coming your way.¡±

    Well, that was good news.

    Justin looked around. He had made his way up a small hill, about fifty yards east of the cabin. There was a good view of the road and the cabin and it dawned on him that he should have come up here instead of trying to climb that tree.

    Turning in a slow circle, Justin surveyed the landscape from his vantage point. There was a river to the east and beyond that gently rolling hills covered with wheat or some kind of crop. South was Holgate although he couldn¡¯t really see any of the buildings. To the west, beyond the road, was the beginning of a forest¡ªthe Dark Tree Forest. That¡¯s the place Pari had told him to avoid. And finally, to the north, were some low mountains covered with trees. They were called the Cowsteeth Mountains, apparently.

    It was still tough to get used to things popping into your head, but maybe it got better the longer you played.

    The sound of hoofbeats caught Justin¡¯s attention, and he turned to see a rider on horseback cantering up to the cabin. It was Pari.

    He ran over to her. ¡°That was fast!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I was just getting back to the place I was staying,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°This ranger quest might be bugged. Check this out.¡±

    She dismounted and followed him to the cabin. Justin held out the Circle of Reckoning.

    ¡°What does that look like to you?¡± he asked.

    She moved close to get a better look at the Circle and Justin got a whiff of her perfume. Maybe it wasn¡¯t perfume though. Maybe it was just her natural girl smell. Sweet and fresh, like flowers or cinnamon or something.

    ¡°Looks like he should be right inside,¡± Pari said. ¡°Did you call for him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. C¡¯mon. See for yourself.¡±

    They entered the cabin and, of course, there was no sign of Klothar the ranger.

    Pari poked around and even examined the chest. ¡°This is weird. Usually he¡¯s right in here¡ªeither cooking up some rabbit stew or outside whittling a toy or something.¡±

    Justin showed her the carved wood pegasus that was in the chest.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no sign of him,¡± Justin said. ¡°I even checked the roof.¡±

    Just then a strong breeze blew the cabin¡¯s door shut with a bang. Both Justin and Pari jumped at the sound. Then everything got dimmer, like a cloud had drifted in front of the sun. Without speaking, they both made their way outside and looked up at the sky.

    Justin almost crapped his pants right then and there.

    It was a dragon. A real life dragon. And it was heading right towards them.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Pari shouted. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

    ¡°What? You haven¡¯t seen one of those before?¡±

    ¡°Uh no. And something like that shouldn¡¯t be anywhere near a starter town.¡±

    The creature was an ebon dragon, forty feet long, the size of a train car, and capable of breathing clouds of toxic gas. Its wings had long spidery fingers with a grayish leathery membrane between them. And even 500 yards away, Justin could hear those wings flutter and flap. The sound made his blood run cold.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t good,¡± Pari said. ¡°I think it has targeted us.¡±

    She was right. The creature glided down, ever closer. It skimmed the tops of the trees, kicking up a tremendous amount of dust and debris.

    ¡°My horse!¡± Pari shouted. ¡°Get on!¡±

    But it was too late. The horse reared up, turned, and fled for its life.

    Then another voice called out. A man¡¯s voice, deep and grim sounding. ¡°In here! Quickly!¡±

    A shadowy figure dressed in leathers beckoned them from inside the cabin. He wasn¡¯t tall, but he had a commanding presence.

    Justin and Pari looked at each other, not sure what to do.

    ¡°Do you want to live?¡± the man called. ¡°You have about six seconds¡­¡±

    They both rushed into the cabin. The cot had been tipped over and pushed aside and the man was climbing into a hatch set in the floor where the cot used to be.

    ¡°In!¡± he yelled.

    The cabin started shuddering and shaking as if caught in an earthquake. A loud rushing sound deafened Justin as he saw the cabin¡¯s roof start to disintegrate right in front of his eyes.

    They weren¡¯t going to make it.

    He pushed Pari towards the hatch and dove after her. They landed in a tangle of arms and legs on the sandy bottom of some sort of dark passage. Justin saw the man dart back up towards the hatch and yank it shut, blocking out all the light.

    ¡°We¡¯re not safe yet!¡± the man yelled. ¡°Follow! Quickly!¡±

    A soft glow of light appeared in his hand. Justin recognized the light as coming from a glowstone. It shed just enough illumination so that Justin could tell that they were in some kind of natural stone tunnel, maybe an ancient lava tube.

    Pari ran after the man and Justin followed her, but they all kept stumbling as the tunnel heaved and shook.

    After twenty or thirty yards, the tunnel started to slope down sharply. Pari cried out as she lost her balance and went sprawling.

    ¡°You ok?¡± Justin helped Pari to her feet.

    ¡°I think¡ª¡±

    ¡°No time,¡± the man called back. He took off again, and they raced after him. The passage twisted and turned and then opened up into a large cavern. The floor of the cavern was dotted with natural pits and sinkholes, but the man kept running¡ªzigzagging around the pits.

    ¡°We¡¯re close!¡±

    A loud low boom sounded somewhere behind them.

    ¡°Jump!¡± the man yelled. He¡ªand the light¡ªdisappeared into a pit.

    Justin felt a rush of air behind him and wondered for a second if it was the dragon¡¯s breath weapon, spewing poison gas. Then Pari grabbed his hand and together they jumped.

 Chapter 7

    Justin hit the water hard. It was freezing cold and the shock of plunging into the dark abyss nearly stopped his heart.

    Hands pulled him under the water and guided him along a short underwater tunnel. But his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. Just when he thought he couldn¡¯t hold his breath any longer, he was pushed up to the surface.

    He gasped in big gulps of air in the pitch darkness.

    ¡°Everyone okay?¡± the man called from somewhere close by.

    ¡°I think so,¡± said Pari in a weak voice.

    ¡°What about you, lad?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a lad,¡± Justin said, treading water.

    ¡°You don¡¯t sound like a maiden,¡± the man said.

    ¡°No, I meant that I¡¯m not a kid. I¡¯m 25.¡±

    ¡°Well, consider yourself lucky. You just might make it to your 26th year.¡± The man held his glowstone up and Justin could see that they were in a low cave filled with water. The ceiling was just a few feet over their heads and it gave Justin a point of reference so he could tell that they were moving. The must be drifting along in some underground stream.

    The man looked around the cave as they floated, checking for something. He  was at least a decade older than Justin and Pari and had a grim, weather-beaten face.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Justin asked, shivering.

    ¡°My name is Klothar.¡±

    ¡°The ranger? I was supposed to find you and ask you about the ratkins.¡±

    Klothar snorted. ¡°In case you didn¡¯t notice, we have much bigger problems than ratkins.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of big problems, what was that thing?¡± Pari asked. She was shivering in the frigid water.

    ¡°Ebon dragon,¡± Justin said.

    Klothar looked surprised. ¡°You¡¯re right, lad. But luckily it was a juvenile dragon. Otherwise our dead bodies would be buried under the debris of my cabin.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that thing doing in Holgate?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s the question, isn¡¯t it?¡± He turned and pointed. ¡°Here¡¯s where we climb out.¡±

    They followed Klothar¡¯s glowstone and swam to a rocky shore where they waded out of the subterranean river. Justin could barely make it out of water; he was banged up pretty bad. He limped over to a boulder and leaned against it.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been so cold in all my life,¡± Pari said. ¡°Hang on.¡±

    She motioned in the air and all of a sudden a glowing fog swirled into existence¡ªaccompanied by what sounded like a thousand wind chimes gently ringing. Luminous motes of magical light glimmered like fireflies and surrounded everyone. And all of a sudden the pain drained from Justin¡¯s body, and his cuts and bruises faded away. He felt fantastic.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Healing swarm. I can¡¯t do anything about the cold, but at least we¡¯re all back to full health.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, my lady,¡± Klothar said. He turned to Justin and looked him up and down. ¡°And what is your profession, lad?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m a sage. But I just got here.¡±

    ¡°An auspicious beginning, then. Welcome to Greystrand.¡±

    Justin took the opportunity to inspect the ranger. Just out of curiosity¡­

    :::::. Klothar. (Ranger). Legendary .:::::

    Legendary. That was interesting, but what did it mean? And what did it mean that the ranger wasn¡¯t labeled ¡®friendly?¡¯ He would have to ask Pari about that later.

    ¡°Let us leave this place,¡± Klothar said. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Pari took out a glowstone of her own and told Justin he probably had one too¡ªin his starter kit. He¡¯d been so busy that he hadn¡¯t even checked his various belt pouches, but sure enough he found a trio of glowstones strung on a leather cord.

    With their way now illuminated, Justin and Pari followed Klothar as he scrambled up a pile of rocks and boulders which looked like part of a cave-in. At the top was a low, narrow, but dry lava tube.

    ¡°This way,¡± Klothar said, as he got down on his stomach and crawled inside.

    The lava tube was only a yard wide and less than a yard tall, so for the next thirty feet they had to make their way on their hands and knees. Finally, the passage opened up into a cave with sunlight streaming in from a ten foot wide opening up a couple of dozen feet over their heads. A flock of birds or bats or whatever had been nesting in the cave fluttered out noisily.

    ¡°Almost there,¡± Klothar said. ¡°How are you two at climbing?¡±

    He didn¡¯t wait for an answer. Instead he strode over to the corner of the cave where a leather backpack and a coil of rope had been set on a large flat rock. Klothar swung the pack on to his shoulders, and gathered the rope, which had a silver-colored metal grappling hook on one end.

    ¡°Stand back.¡± He began to twirl the rope over his head, building up momentum.

    ¡°There¡¯s never an enchanter around when you need one,¡± Pari said, as they moved to the far end of the cave.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Oh, nothing. It¡¯s just that we usually have our enchanter just levitate the rope up. When we¡¯re trapped in a pit, I mean.¡±

    Klothar let loose the rope and the grappling hook shot up straight and true¡ªright through the cave opening. The ranger carefully drew on the rope, making sure the hook caught securely on the edge of the opening. Then he tested the rope.

    ¡°That was impressive,¡± Justin said. ¡°He got it in one try.¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling he¡¯s pretty high level,¡± Pari said. ¡°Maybe even level ten.¡±

    ¡°Get out. Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised. Did you happen to inspect him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Legendary.¡±

    Pari nodded. ¡°That¡¯s not someone you want to piss off.¡±

    ¡°Are you two ready?¡± Klothar asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Pari said. ¡°I just wish I hadn¡¯t had such a big breakfast.¡±

    Klothar said, ¡°I¡¯ll go first, in case there¡¯s a dragon up there. Lad, if you could hold the rope.¡±

    With that he jumped up, caught the rope, and proceeded to climb the twenty plus feet without even using his legs¡ªand wearing what looked like a 50 pound knapsack.

    ¡°Show-off,¡± Justin muttered.

    The ranger disappeared over the top of the opening, but then quickly stuck his head back and shouted down, ¡°All clear. Give me a moment to secure the rope.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go next,¡± Pari said.

    A minute later, Klothar was back. ¡°Ready.¡±

    Pari jumped up and managed to climb up, using her feet. She was breathing heavily, but she got to the top without a problem. Klothar helped her up over the edge. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Not too bad,¡± she called to Justin. ¡°But I bet my arms will be killing me in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Can you make it, lad?¡± Klothar asked. ¡°If you want, just tie the rope around your waist and I will hoist you up.¡±

    Could this get any more embarrassing?

    ¡°No, I think I¡¯m good.¡±

    Justin took a deep breath and started climbing. It took him twice as long as Pari and he almost fell a few times, but eventually he made it to the top. The ranger grabbed his outstretched arm and hauled him up through the last two feet and Justin rolled out on to the ground gasping for air.

    ¡°Yeah, that wasn¡¯t quite as easy as when I was all hopped up with your healing shield back at the ratkin lair,¡± he told Pari.

    ¡°That spell doesn¡¯t really help your climb skill. It was probably more psychological than anything else.¡±

    She helped him to his feet, and they looked around at their surroundings. They were in a rocky canyon, with vertical cliffs rising up a hundred feet on either side. Around them grew stubby bushes and little patches of wildflowers here and there.

    Klothar pointed south. ¡°Just follow the game trail out of the canyon and then head west. The road will be right there.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not coming with us?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°I have some business to attend to.¡±

    ¡°But what about that dragon?¡± Pari asked. ¡°Don¡¯t we need to alert someone about that?¡±

    ¡°Do what you want, my lady, but I have a strong suspicion that you won¡¯t see that beast again. I believe it was hunting me.¡±

    He coiled up his rope. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you were in the wrong place at the wrong time¡­¡±

    Justin felt bad that Klothar was ditching them. He was a ¡®legendary,¡¯ after all¡ªwhatever that was. The ranger must have seen the disappointment in Justin¡¯s eyes, because his normally grim expression softened a bit.

    ¡°I never caught your names.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Pari. The Fellowship of Wood and Silence.¡±

    Klothar nodded politely.

    ¡°And I¡¯m Justin. Newbie. No guild or anything.¡±

    ¡°Well, Pari and Justin. Perhaps we¡¯ll meet again¡ªunder less deadly circumstances.¡± He waved at them and began to walk away to the north.

    ¡°Uh, Klothar,¡± Justin called out. ¡°Can I friend you?

    Klothar turned and looked at him oddly. ¡°Very well.¡± He walked back and clasped Justin¡¯s hand with a powerful grip. ¡°Consider us friends.¡±

    Then he turned and strode away.

    Pari could barely contain her laughter, and once the ranger was out of earshot, she started cracking up. ¡°Really? You tried to friend him?¡±

    Justin grinned back at her and shoved her playfully. ¡°Shut up.¡±

    ¡°What, do you have a man crush on him?¡±

    ¡°I just think it would be a smart idea to have a powerful friend, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°You know he¡¯s an NPC, right?¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    ¡°Well he is, but I have to admit that there¡¯s something weird about that whole episode.¡±

    ¡°So that wasn¡¯t part of the quest, I gather.¡±

    ¡°No. Unless they changed it. I¡¯ve seen him a few times¡ªwhen I did the quest myself, and also I was with some other players when they did it. Klothar was always somewhere around the cabin and he¡¯d tell you about these bandits who were in league with the ratkin. Something like that. And then you¡¯d take that info back to Marshal Swart to complete the quest. Certainly no big black dragons, and no cabins being destroyed. I wonder how the game will deal with that.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, should we go back there?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Where? The cabin?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m curious.¡±

    Pari thought for a moment, then said. ¡°I have a bad feeling about that. If there really was a ton of poison gas, the area might still be dangerous. Especially for you. Your health is so low, a strong breeze might take you out.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Kidding. But I need to find my horse and we need to get you back to the training grounds. It¡¯s going to be dark soon and you¡¯re nowhere near your daily XP cap.¡±

    ¡°My what?¡±

    ¡°You can earn up to 1,500 experience a day. Two days of that and you¡¯ll hit level two and get a nice health boost¡ªamong other things.¡±

    ¡°Great. So, I¡¯m like, way behind.¡±

    ¡°Kind of.¡±

    ¡°Well let¡¯s get a move on.¡±

    Pari led the way as they emerged from the canyon. They easily found the road to Holgate, but steered well clear of the ranger¡¯s cabin. The afternoon sun felt good, especially after being soaked in the underground river.

    ¡°Any idea why isn¡¯t there a ranger profession for players?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Are you still thinking about Klothar?¡±

    ¡°I was just wondering. It seems like a cool class.¡±

    ¡°Well, the scout is pretty similar. Celia can track and trap and stalk and all that stuff.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Celia?¡±

    ¡°Scout. She¡¯s in our fellowship. You¡¯d like her. All the guys like her.¡± Pari made a little face.

    Justin didn¡¯t say anything, but now he was extra curious.

    They made their way through a patchwork of cultivated fields and farmyards, with Pari calling for her horse Milly as they walked. Eventually, they found themselves back at the training grounds on the west side of the village.

    Marshal Swart was there in his usual spot, talking to a stocky newbie warrior.

    ¡°Nice work, Winston. Did any of them mention when the wagon would arrive?¡±

    The warrior thought for a minute, then said, ¡°An hour before midnight, I think.¡±

    ¡°Well, you need to assemble a team and intercept that wagon. Can you do that?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I guess.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll need an enchanter and a scout at the very least. I suggest checking at the Hive & Harrow.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± Winston said, enthusiastically. He nodded at Justin and Pari as he walked by.

    Swart turned to Justin. ¡°Well, how did you fare with old Bernabelle?¡±

    ¡°Um, what?¡±

    ¡°The crone. Did she have any information about the ratkin infestation?¡±

    ¡°I literally have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. You sent me up north to speak to Klothar the ranger and¡ª¡±

    Marshal Swart cut him off. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of any Klothar. I sent you to speak with Bernabelle the crone. Now what are you playing at, son?¡±

    Justin looked at Pari in disbelief. ¡°This quest is really bugged. You ever hear of Bernabelle?¡±

    ¡°No. It could be that they changed the quest for some reason,¡± she said. ¡°Just go with it.¡±

    Justin turned back to Marshal Swart. ¡°My bad. Could you repeat the quest to me again, please?¡±

    Swart sighed loudly. ¡°¡¯Tis a simple thing, Justin. Seek out the crone named Bernabelle on the east side of town. Ask her if she knows anything about the ratkins. Report back here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it. You¡¯d best hurry, though. It will be dark before long and, trust me, you don¡¯t want to be out after dark.¡±

    A few other newbies lingered nearby, awaiting their turns to speak with Marshal Swart, so Justin and Pari walked to the edge of the training grounds.

    ¡°Will you come with me?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Sure, I want to see this crone for myself. Check your Circle of Reckoning.¡±

    ¡°Good idea.¡± Justin fished around in his pouches until he found the Circle. It was still a little wet, but when he activated it, the map lit right up.

    Pari looked over his shoulder. ¡°Well, it says that the quest objective is to the east now, not the north.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it could tell that the cabin was destroyed,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°No, I really think that the devs changed the quest. But it was pretty dumb to change it today¡ªjust when hundreds of newbies were popping into the world.¡±

    They walked through the town¡ªwhich was now getting crowded with newbies. There was a festive atmosphere with people talking, eating, and drinking out in the square. It felt kind of like a big outdoor happy hour.

    Pari took his hand and pulled him through the throngs. ¡°C¡¯mon. You¡¯ve got a quest to do.¡±

    They cut through the square and Pari led him into a maze of alleys and side streets on the east side of town. ¡°Don¡¯t get pickpocketed,¡± she warned.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°This is Fallowback Alley. This is where the scouts train. There are also a ton of thieves. Be careful.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think there was a thief class in this game.¡±

    ¡°There isn¡¯t,¡± Pari said. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t thieves. Stay close.¡±

    They saw some sketchy looking people hanging out in alleys and doorways, but no one tried to get close to them. Maybe it was because Pari was level 5.

    Fallowback wasn¡¯t that big, and they managed to get through it in less than five minutes. Soon they found themselves on the far eastern side of Holgate, near the river. This section looked like a decrepit little shanty town with fishing cabins, docks, rope-makers¡¯ shops, and other sad-looking buildings. The whole area smelled like rotting fish.

    ¡°A bit to the southeast,¡± Justin said, checking his Circle of Reckoning.

    They continued through the shanty town until they came to a shack that looked older and more run down than all the others. Smoke trickled out of a crooked chimney. It looked like someone was inside.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Pari nudged Justin. ¡°I¡¯ll rez you if she one-shots you.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Go ahead. Knock.¡±

    Justin sighed and gave the door a sharp rap.

    Nothing.

    He knocked again.

    ¡°Stop yer infernal banging,¡± a gravelly voice cried from the other side of the door. ¡°I ain¡¯t deaf.¡±

    The door opened to reveal a gnarled woman who stood no taller than four feet and appeared to be about a hundred years old. She squinted at Justin and Pari, up and down, and then spat off to the side.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t take it!¡± she said.

    ¡°What?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Whatever it is you lost. I had nothing to do with it. Now, good day to you.¡±

    She started to shut the door, but Justin stuck his foot in the doorway and prevented her from slamming the door in his face.

    ¡°Not so fast, ma¡¯am. I was told to seek out a woman on this side of town by the name of Bernabelle. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know of anyone with that name, would you?¡±

    Her eyes narrowed even more. ¡°I might. What¡¯s it worth to you?¡±

    Justin looked over at Pari. She held up two fingers and nodded.

    ¡°How about two gold pieces?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want your gold, boy. I¡¯m thinking more of an exchange. I help you and you help me.¡±

    ¡°You need my help?¡±

    ¡°There are certain ingredients I need for my potions. How are you at catching reedsuckers?¡±

    ¡°What are reedsuckers?¡±

    ¡°You know, reedsuckers. River leeches.¡±

    Justin felt his stomach turn. ¡°You didn¡¯t just say leeches, did you?¡±

    ¡°Reedsuckers,¡± Bernabelle said. ¡°They¡¯re the small variety of river leeches. Only as big as your forearm.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll do it,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°I have to hear it from him, missy.¡±

    Pari looked at Justin. ¡°This must be the next quest in the chain. You have to do it.¡±

    ¡°Ugh. Okay.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a bit hard of hearing, lad. Do you accept?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Justin said. ¡°Yes, I accept the quest.¡±

    :::::. Quest accepted: collect 4 reedsuckers for Bernabelle the crone in Holgate .:::::

    ¡°Very good,¡± Bernabelle said. ¡°I have something for you.¡± She ducked back inside the shack and emerged with a large canvas sack that was stained with slime. It actually smelled worse than everything else around, which was saying a lot.

    ¡°You can find reedsuckers all along the river bank where the water pools and is still. They like muck, but I¡¯m sure you knew that. Fill this sack with four plump ones and I¡¯ll tell you everything I know about the ratkins.¡±

    With that, the crone went back inside the shack and slammed the door.

    ¡°Well,¡± Justin said. ¡°I guess we¡¯re going leech hunting.¡±

    Pari shook her head, ¡°You¡¯re on your own with this one. I really need to find my horse. I¡¯m getting kind of worried about her.¡±

    ¡°You sure?¡± Justin said. ¡°We¡¯re talking leeches here. And muck. How can you say no to that?¡±

    ¡°I know, right? It¡¯s tough, but I¡¯m going to have to pass. But you¡¯ll be okay. There will probably be four or five minor quests in this chain. Try to do as many as you can before dark, then message me and we can meet in town. It¡¯s going to be crazy tonight with all the newbies.¡±

    Pari waved goodbye and headed west towards the center of town.

    Justin, on the other hand, walked east to the river. He had some leeches to catch.

 Chapter 8

    There was a knock on his office door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± Dr. Margolin said.

    A young woman entered the office. She was maybe 25 years old, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, and had a serious expression on her face.

    ¡°Alicia Washington, Legal. Would you please ID me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary, Ms. Washington. If you got this far, you¡¯re who you say you are.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s protocol.¡±

    ¡°If you insist,¡± Margolin said. ¡°Cece, identify the other person in this room.¡±

    There was just a momentarily delay, then Cece¡¯s voice said, ¡°Identity confirmed by biomark, facial, auditory, kinetic, and olfactory recognition. Alicia Gayle Washington. Senior Counsel, Corporate Legal: Compliance Communication Group KJC202. Visual sending to your Nimbus Display.¡±

    An employment photo and video appeared on his Nimbus, showing the young woman who stood across from him.

    ¡°You¡¯re who you say you are. Please sit down, Ms. Washington. I have a feeling I know what this is about.¡±

    Alicia sat down in the guest chair and flipped opened her leather portfolio and tapped her tablet awake.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to follow-up on your report about the onboarding error.¡±

    ¡°Everything in order?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it was quite complete.¡±

    ¡°Then how can I help?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m with the CC Group, and apparently this is a big enough deal that we have to create a comms brief for it.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure I agree about the big deal part, but I¡¯ll do what I can to help.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Just so you know, there hasn¡¯t been any decision made to release any kind of brief, but Mr. Sabel wants to be prepared just in case.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    ¡°So this is just a conversation between you and me. Background info. Nothing will be recorded or written down for PD purposes. Also we¡¯ll keep this non-technical.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°All the comms briefs need to be non-technical in terms of language and concepts. They are directed at multiple audiences and we can¡¯t assume any minimum level of technical knowledge. You¡¯ve done this before, haven¡¯t you, Dr. Margolin?¡±

    He shifted his weight in his seat. ¡°Actually no. My last gig was at a private company. We didn¡¯t have any government contracts.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Alicia smiled. ¡°The good old days, right? I bet you miss that. Anyway, let¡¯s get started. I¡¯ll describe what we adapted from your report. You stop me if we¡¯ve misstated anything or left anything out. Anything at all.¡±

    ¡°Go for it.¡±

    ¡°Your databox isn¡¯t recording, is it?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Margolin said. ¡°Just for peace of mind: Cece, enter private mode.¡±

    Cece¡¯s voice said, ¡°Private mode activated.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Alicia said. She flipped her own portfolio closed and sat back in her chair.

    ¡°Okay, this morning¡ªthe morning of April 1st of this year, your monitoring team received a notification that some portion of Beta Group 4 had been onboarded to OmniWorld in error.¡±

    ¡°Correct. We estimate anywhere between 120 and 130 players had been substituted in from 4b.¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t have a precise count?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet. Soon we will.¡±

    ¡°And why wouldn¡¯t you know exactly how many alternates were sent into the game?¡±

    ¡°Our systems are constantly adjusting the beta group, with candidates in and out right up until the last minute. Some number of substitutions are typical.¡±

    ¡°But not 120?¡± Alicia asked.

    ¡°Not at all. Usually one or two,¡± Margolin said.

    ¡°But even though these players were sent into OmniWorld in error, there¡¯s no reason they¡¯re not qualified to participate in the beta, right?¡±

    ¡°Correct. The b¡¯s are all qualified and vetted.¡±

    ¡°Then what¡¯s the difference between a¡¯s and b¡¯s¡ªthose who are selected and those who are alternates?¡±

    Margolin sighed. ¡°Not really any difference. It¡¯s more about game balance and testing demographics. That¡¯s why, in many respects, this is a non-issue.¡±

    ¡°Well, the result of the error might not be meaningful, but the cause of the error is. That¡¯s what everyone¡¯s worried about and that¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware of that. But as I stated in the report, we won¡¯t know for sure until we¡¯ve reverse engineered the onboarding code¡ªand that¡¯s going to take 10 days at least.¡±

    ¡°I was under the impression that you would have answers by the seventh,¡± Alicia said.

    ¡°That¡¯s wishful thinking on the part of General Groves.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s assume the worst case scenario. Describe the error to me.¡±

    Margolin felt his jaw clench, but he tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice. ¡°That¡¯s more a question for Groves. He¡¯s the doomsayer around here.¡±

    ¡°Indulge me, please. For the sake of the comms brief disclosures.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I suppose they are concerned that the game controller is making decisions for its own nefarious purposes. Becoming self-aware. The singularity. Skynet. Robot overlords. Blah, blah, blah.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Margolin, please. Let¡¯s keep this professional. How about we frame the worst case scenario as simply ¡®a deviance from human oversight?¡¯¡±

    Margolin barked out a laugh. ¡°Deviance? That might just be the understatement of the decade. If we¡¯re going to play the doom and gloom game, we might as well not sugarcoat it.¡±

    ¡°Well, then, how would you frame it?¡±

    ¡°Automated machine learning and self-coding getting so far ahead of us, that we have no idea in hell what the game controller is doing. Right now, it¡¯s ten, maybe fourteen days ahead of us. That means it takes a team of 300 of our top guys two weeks to unspool the code that the controller has written. And remember, that code is dumbed down and heavily documented specifically so that we idiot humans can understand it.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but besides unintelligible code, what¡¯s the danger here?¡± Alicia asked.

    ¡°Unknown. That¡¯s why Groves and his people are scared. But as I said, I think there¡¯s a lot of handwringing going on for no reason. OmniWorld is completely isolated from any other network in the world. That¡¯s why the facility is in the middle of the Oregon badlands. Physical separation. OmniWorld can¡¯t crash the stock market, launch ICBMs, or knock satellites out of the sky. The very worst it could do would be to somehow injure the thousand people hooked up to stim-pods there on campus.¡±

    ¡°Are you certain of that, Dr. Margolin?¡±

    ¡°100% certain.¡±

 Chapter 9

    Immediately after she left Justin, Pari sent a message to Lazarus reporting that she had found a newbie sage. She didn¡¯t want to get into the whole thing about the ranger and the dragon until she could talk to Lazarus face to face though.

    Next she made her way north to Lena¡¯s farm. She was hoping that Milly was smart enough to find her way back to the barn there. On her way out of town, she saw two town guardsmen patrolling the road.

    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°Yes, citizen.¡±

    ¡°My horse ran off. Have you seen her? Grey dappled mare with a white face. Her name is Milly.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, good lady. But we¡¯ll keep our eyes open for her.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it. I¡¯m staying at Lena¡¯s farm if you need to get a message to me.¡±

    ¡°Safe travels!¡±

    If Milly ventured into the Dark Tree, she¡¯d be toast¡ªtorn apart by wolves, or sylvan lions, or worse.

    Unfortunately, there was no sign of the horse at Lena¡¯s place. Pari decided the smart thing to do would be to walk in a spiral, starting near the destroyed cabin, then east and back south along the river, west to the Dark Tree, then north again. And then do the same loop, but a hundred yards in.

    She spent the next hour looking for Milly, but with no luck. Pari knew the mare wasn¡¯t real, but it still made her sick to her stomach to think that it had been killed. There really were some harsh aspects to this game. Like permadeath after level 4.

    She thought of Iniya again and felt even more sick to her stomach. It would have been a nice surprise to have seen her sister here in town, reincarnated as a level 1. Even if she had her memory wiped.

    But that hadn¡¯t happened.

    :::::. New message from Lazarus. Listen? .:::::

    Finally. She activated the playback and heard Lazarus say:

    ¡°Pari, things are seriously screwed up here. There are at least three more levels and its brutal. We¡¯re going to camp for the night and keep going. I need you to stick to that sage like glue. Do not let them get away. Bring them in, no matter what. We¡¯ll clue-jack if necessary. Repeat. Do not lose that sage. And wish us luck down here. We¡¯re going to need it.¡±

    Well, that was that. She knew that Lazarus would want her to recruit Justin. They were desperate for a sage. But she felt bad that Lazarus had mentioned clue-jacking; she still felt guilty about that kid they booted last month.

    Because fellowships only had twelve slots in addition to the leader, they would sometimes temporarily boot a member so they could bring in a sage¡ªeven if they already had one. Once they got the clue from the sage, they¡¯d boot the newbie and bring back the other member. It was called ¡®clue-jacking¡¯ and Lazarus recently did it to a young sage, against the wishes of Iniya. Pari couldn¡¯t believe Lazarus would really clue-jack Justin though, since they didn¡¯t even have a sage now since Tolman had been killed. But Lazarus could be working on luring a higher level sage from another fellowship. Who knew? It all just left a bad taste in her mouth.

    She wasn¡¯t sure what she should do. She was totally loyal to Lazarus and W&S, but Justin was a good kid and he didn¡¯t deserve being screwed over. This was giving her a headache.

    Pari was exhausted but decided to do one more loop. This time she would go check out the ranger¡¯s cabin. Any poison gas must be gone by now. But she¡¯d have to hurry. In less than an hour it would be pitch black.

    Following the road up north, Pari passed the guards again. They still hadn¡¯t seen Milly.

    Then she came upon the ruins of the cabin. It looked like it had been bulldozed flat. No, actually more like it had been blown up. Debris was scattered everywhere, as far as twenty, even thirty yards away. All the vegetation around the cabin was shriveled and dead¡ªlike someone had poured a tanker full of weed killer on the yard.

    She wouldn¡¯t get too close¡ªjust in case the poison lingered on the ground. This was insane. She had never heard of any persistent destruction of the game world. Maybe that¡¯s how they were going to change out quests, though.

    And then she saw it. A large grey form on the ground, on the other side of the debris.

    Milly!

    Her eyes flooded with tears as she ran over and saw her horse lying on her side. Unmoving.

    What had happened? Pari put her head down on Milly¡¯s chest¡ªwhich was still warm¡ªand tried to listen for a heartbeat. Nothing.

    She checked the mare¡¯s eyes, but they were lifeless too. Could Milly have¡ª?

    She pried open the mare¡¯s mouth¡ªwhich was still warm¡ªand saw blades of grass stuck to Milly¡¯s teeth. Poisonous blades of grass.

    Oh my god.

    Her heart wrenched as she realized what had happened. Milly went back here to look for her.

    Pari started sobbing.

    Poor Milly, poor loyal Milly. She had come back and then, not knowing any better, grazed on the poisoned grass.

    And now she was dead.

    Pari clutched the mare around the neck and buried her face in Milly¡¯s soft mane.

    This wasn¡¯t happening!

    She cried and cried as dusk drew closer. But then a thought came into her mind.

    What if she could rez Milly?

    Wiping away her tears, Pari staggered to her feet. She had never tried to resurrect an animal, but Milly was kind of like an NPC, wasn¡¯t she? And Pari had rezzed plenty of NPCs.

    She decided to try.

    First she placed her hands on Milly and cast treat poison. The spell didn¡¯t fizzle. That was a good sign. But who really knew if it had any effect?Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Undeterred, Pari took a deep breath and focused¡ªreally focused¡ªon Milly.

    This had better work. It would have to work!

    As she cast resurrect, swirls of light danced up from Milly¡¯s body, accompanied by a deep humming sound. A glowing aura surrounded both Pari and Milly.

    All of a sudden a shimmering, luminous image of Millie faded in from nowhere, floating over the horse¡¯s body. The apparition regarded Pari for a moment, then nodded its head.

    The humming grew louder and louder and the swirling, glowing lights became more intense.

    And then, the next thing Pari knew, Milly was alive!

    The horse snorted and shook her head and then rolled and climbed to her feet. She lurched unsteadily as Pari threw her arms around Milly¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Oh, Milly! You¡¯re back!¡±

    She quickly led the horse far from the blighted ground and once they were safe, Pari cast her strongest healing spell, vivify, on the horse.

    Milly tossed her head, nickered softly, and then nuzzled Pari. And Pari hugged her and stroked Milly on her forehead, which was her favorite place to be touched.

    Gazing into Millie¡¯s deep, intelligent brown eyes, Pari said, ¡°I thought I lost you for good, girl.¡±

    They stayed that way for a good long time, then Pari led Milly back south. No riding for a while.

    It was just about dark by the time they got back to Lena¡¯s barn. Pari rubbed Milly down and gave her oats and carrots and apples. She wanted to stay with the mare all night long, but then she heard from Justin.

    :::::. New message from Justin. Listen? .:::::

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Justin¡¯s voice said, ¡°Pari, I think I¡¯m done for the night. A lot of running around and that old lady was a real trip. But I¡¯m up to 825 experience, so that¡¯s better than nothing, right? Anyway, I¡¯m going to make my way back to the square. Try to find me, okay? See you soon!¡±

    Oh man, she was not looking forward to the scene in town. But orders were orders.

    She said goodnight to Milly, gave her another kiss on the forehead, and headed into town.

    Even with her glowstone out, it was tough going in the dark. The moon was shrouded by clouds and the air was cool and uncomfortably damp. She so wanted to be back at Lena¡¯s.

    Before she even got to the edge of the town proper, her ears were assaulted by the din of hundreds of people partying.

    Here we go.

    She brought out her Circle of Reckoning and adjusted it to show nearby friends, of which she had one: Justin.

    The square was lit by dozens of torches on poles and glowstones strung on lines that stretched between buildings. People were packed tight, like an outdoor frat party. Everyone was laughing and drinking and dancing to the sound of a group of minstrels playing on a makeshift stage.

    After pushing through the crowded square, she found Justin sitting on a low wall with another newbie. They were both gnawing on skewers of grilled meat and people-watching.

    Justin¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw her. ¡°Pari! Awesome, you made it!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Did you find your horse?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah. Finally.¡±

    ¡°Hey, this is my friend Ten-Spot.¡± Justin motioned at the other newbie, a short guy who looked to be Chinese. ¡°Ten-Spot, this is Pari.¡±

    Ten-Spot stuck his hand out and she shook it. He said, ¡°My real name is Ni Tien, but everyone calls me Ten-Spot.¡±

    ¡°Please to meet you. I¡¯m Pari Kintala.¡±

    The little guy was checking her out, but trying not to be too obvious. It didn¡¯t work.

    Justin told Ten-Spot, ¡°Pari¡¯s pretty high level. She saved my butt a few times. And, Pari, Ten-Spot was up at the cabin trying to do that ranger quest too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ten-Spot said. ¡°It was bugged for me too. I also did the leech thing instead. My boots still smell from the mud.¡±

    ¡°Mine too. But I got this as a quest reward.¡± Justin showed her his new short sword. It was a slight upgrade from the training blade, but it looked cooler¡ªwith more of a scimitar shape.

    ¡°Sweet, huh?¡±

    ¡°Very nice.¡± She wondered if Justin had told Ten-Spot about Klothar and the dragon. Probably not. Ten-Spot looked kind of bored. He was scanning the crowd distractedly. Probably looking for girls.

    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s supposed to be beer at the inn,¡± Ten-Spot said. ¡°You guys want to check it out?¡±

    ¡°You go ahead,¡± Pari said. ¡°We¡¯ll be there in a sec.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good. Later!¡±

    Justin pulled the last bit of meat from his skewer. ¡°He¡¯s a nice guy. A healer like you. He actually healed me when I fell out of a tree.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell him about Klothar, did you?¡±

    ¡°No. Why?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s keep that to ourselves until I can discuss it with Lazarus. He¡¯ll have some idea of what was going on.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Whatever you say.¡±

    He was checking out the crowd too. There were a lot of nice-looking newbie girls in April¡¯s crop, she had to admit.

    ¡°Want to hit that inn now?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s over on the northeast corner. C¡¯mon.¡±

    They made their way through the crowd, past jugglers and jesters, to the Hive & Harrow which was a three story inn and tavern with a big saloon area.

    But as they walked up to the entrance, they saw that the way was blocked by a burly warrior wearing a gold-colored cape. It was a guy from the Golden Hawks. Great. That¡¯s all she needed.

    ¡°Sorry folks, private party tonight,¡± he said, as he looked them over.

    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°Yeah. We rented the inn all weekend long. Invite only.¡±

    Justin asked, ¡°How do we get an invite?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Pari said.

    But then the Golden Hawks bouncer must have inspected Justin, because he said, ¡°You, bro, don¡¯t need an invite. C¡¯mon in, we¡¯ve tons of food, beer, dancing¡ª¡±

    ¡°No thanks,¡± Pari said as she pulled Justin away.

    ¡°What was that all about?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Golden Hawks,¡± Pari said. ¡°They¡¯re the worst.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    ¡°The Hawks are a bunch of fellowships that have banded together. They all wear those stupid yellow capes and think they¡¯re all hot shit.¡±

    A voice called from behind them, ¡°Hey, hold up!¡±

    Pari turned and saw another guy with a gold cape jog up from behind them. Oh god, it was Chad.

    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Chad said. ¡°Dave is new and I shouldn¡¯t have put him on door duty.¡±

    Chad was tall and handsome and he knew it. He was about 30 years old and had a perpetual a smug look on his face that Pari just wanted to smack off.

    Turning to Justin, Chad stuck out his hand. ¡°Chad Reese, leader of the Golden Hawks. Pleased to meet you.¡±

    Justin looked a little confused, but he shook Chad¡¯s hand. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m Justin Boone, and this is¡ª¡±

    ¡°Pari,¡± Chad said, nodding at her. ¡°Nice to see you again. You slumming here in Holgate or something?¡±

    ¡°None of your business, Chad.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough. Where¡¯s Lazarus?

    ¡°He¡¯s not here.¡±

    ¡°You guys didn¡¯t have a tiff, did you? We¡¯re always looking for high level healers at the Hawks, you know.¡±

    Chad was such an ass. Pari couldn¡¯t believe he was trying to fly-by recruit her. ¡°I¡¯m very happy where I am, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Think about it,¡± Chad said. ¡°Our doors are always open.¡±

    ¡°Apparently not tonight.¡±

    ¡°That was just a misunderstanding.¡± Chad turned back to Justin. ¡°Well, Justin my man, what¡¯s your deal?¡±

    Before Justin could answer, Chad clapped him on the shoulder and said, ¡°This welcome party we¡¯re hosting at  the Hive & Harrow is completely sick! We¡¯ve got mead. We¡¯ve got burgers. We¡¯ve got babes. We even have dwarf tossing!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Justin looked at Pari.

    ¡°This is the biggest party in all of Greystrand,¡± Chad said. ¡°You¡¯re going to be bumming if you miss it. C¡¯mon!¡±

    Pari shrugged. ¡°Go if you want.¡±

    ¡°Not without you,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Chad said loudly. Then he started chanting her name. ¡°Pari! Pari Pari!¡±

    She could tell that Justin really wanted to go, and she needed to stick with him.

    ¡°Okay. Whatever.¡±

    ¡°Awesome!¡± Chad said. He threw his arms around both of them and steered them back towards the Hive & Harrow.  ¡°Let me walk you in. There¡¯s some people you¡¯ve got to meet.¡±

 Chapter 10

    CHAPTER 10

    The front of the Hive & Harrow was crowded with people coming and going, but definitely more coming than going.

    ¡°Dave, heads up, man,¡± Chad said. ¡°Justin and Pari are my special guests, tonight. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Chad. Absolutely. Sorry about that.¡±

    ¡°No problemo, amigo. But next time, get on the ball. Okay? You don¡¯t know something, you need to ask. Got it?¡±

    ¡°Got it, Chad. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    Chad breezed inside, his arms still around Pari and Justin. The second she stepped inside, Pari was assaulted by the sounds of laughter and music¡ªand the smell of beer and sweat and smoke from the big fireplace. The huge common room was packed to the rafters with people partying, but everyone cleared a path for Chad.

    ¡°Hey, y¡¯all? Everyone having a good time?¡± he yelled.

    The crowd cheered as Chad brought Pari and Justin to the center of the room and signaled to the minstrels to pause their song.

    ¡°This is Pari and Justin,¡± Chad announced in a loud, strong voice. ¡°Some of you might know Pari. She¡¯s from Wood and Silence¡ª¡±

    Some people booed at the mention of her fellowship. Others laughed.

    ¡°C¡¯mon now,¡± Chad grinned. ¡°We¡¯ll have none of that. Let¡¯s show a little pity for the underprivileged.¡±

    More laughter.

    ¡°And this is Justin. He¡¯s brand new here. Like most of you all. So let¡¯s show them both a Hawkin¡¯ good time!¡±

    The crowd whooped and cheered, and the music started up again. Chad signaled Old Wex the barkeep who was walking by with a tray of beer mugs.

    ¡°You ever have mead before, Justin?¡± Chad plucked two mugs off the tray and gave one to each of them. ¡°This is the real deal. Beowulf style.¡±

    Justin took a swig. ¡°A little sweet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s made with¡ª¡±

    ¡°Fermented honey. Yeah, I know.¡± He took another sip. ¡°I also taste cloves and cinnamon.¡±

    ¡°You have a refined palette, my friend!¡±

    Chad waved over two other officers of the Golden Hawk, by the looks of them. Both were tall and impossibly good-looking. Pari knew that players in the game were supposed to look pretty close to how they did in real life, but she wondered if the Hawks hadn¡¯t figured out how to game the system. Either that, or they simply recruited on the basis of looks.

    ¡°Hey Tyson, Giordana, I want you to meet Justin and Pari.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡±

    Tyson looked like a rugby player while Giordana could give Celia a run for her money in the statuesque blonde department.

    They all chatted for a little while, then Chad brought them to meet the band, a group of minstrels from Northfleet.

    ¡°These guys are freaking awesome, aren¡¯t they? We saved their caravan from bandits a few weeks ago near Durrow and then we partied all night long! Justin, can you play the guitar or lute or anything?¡±

    ¡°No, but I always wanted to learn the drums.¡±

    ¡°You should man. Why the hell not? I know a leather crafter who could probably make you some drums.¡±

    ¡°Cool.¡±

    Justin seemed to really be enjoying all the attention¡ªand the mead. Pari wondered what the alcohol content of the mead was. Probably pretty high, but it was masked by the honey flavor.

    As they continued to make the rounds, Pari noticed that Chad was focusing more and more on Justin and excluding her. Well, he was taking his shot, wasn¡¯t he? Good for him, but she wasn¡¯t about to let him recruit Justin out from under her.

    ¡°You want to see some dwarf tossing?¡± Chad asked Justin. ¡°We got them set up in the back courtyard. Lukas is our reigning champion.¡± He waved at the barkeep again. ¡°Yo, Wex, more mead for my buddy here!¡±

    Pari shook her head. Dwarf tossing? That was pretty insensitive, even for the Hawks.

    A bunch of partygoers swarmed in front of Pari, momentarily cutting her off from Justin and Chad. She saw the two of them disappear out the back door. Well, they wouldn¡¯t go far. The Hive & Harrow was definitely the place to be tonight and Chad was not about to let Justin forget it.

    As Pari turned to squeeze through the crowd someone knocked into her and she felt cold liquid splash all over the front of her kirtle. Her own drink fell out of her hand and splashed on the floor.

    ¡°Oh my god, I¡¯m so sorry.¡±

    A twenty-something woman started pawing at her, trying to brush away the beer foam. But all Pari noticed was the woman¡¯s bright pink hair, which was styled into a mid-length wavy bob.

    ¡°I love your hair!¡±

    ¡°What? You¡¯re so nice to say that¡ªespecially after I just gave you a beer bath. I¡¯m such a spaz.¡±

    ¡°No worries. How did you get that color? I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. Did you come in that way?¡±

    ¡°No. I had dark hair like yours.¡± The woman smiled faintly, and Pari saw that she had been crying. ¡°I¡¯m Zo?, by the way, the biggest klutz in the world Or at least in Greystrand.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Pari.¡± She noticed that Zo? wasn¡¯t wearing a gold cape, but judging from her clothes and gear, she wasn¡¯t a newbie either.

    ¡°Well, Pari. Let me get you another drink.¡± She wiped her eyes.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s okay.¡±

    ¡°Really? I know where Chad keeps the good stuff? You like wine, babe?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°I do, but¡ª¡±

    Zo? said, ¡°C¡¯mon. You can help me pour out anything we don¡¯t drink.¡±

    That was a weird thing to say. Pari quickly inspected Zo?.

    :::::. Zo? Keene. (Enchanter). Player, Level 6 .:::::

    Wow. She was a January¡ªperhaps a January who was pissed off at her fellowship. Pari had to find out more about this.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Pari said. ¡°And maybe you can tell me the secret of the hair.¡±

    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s not much of a secret, though.¡±

    Zo? led her around the bar into a store room filled with casks of ale and mead and hundreds of different bottles and other glassware.

    ¡°Are you sure we should be back here?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re just cutting through to Wex¡¯s office.¡±

    Zo? grabbed a few goblets on their way out of the storeroom. Sure enough, they exited the store room into a short hallway which led to an office lit by glowstones set in sconces on the wall.

    ¡°Shut the door, babe,¡± Zo? said.

    Babe? What was the deal with that? She wasn¡¯t sure what to think of this girl.

    ¡°Red or white?¡± Zo? asked.

    On the floor was a wooden box the size of a footlocker, filled with bottles packed in with wood shavings.

    ¡°This is really good stuff. Cost a fortune. What do you like?¡±

    ¡°Red, please.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just supposed to be for Chad¡¯s inner circle, but screw him.¡±

    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s a major asshole.¡± Zo? rifled through the box and started pulling out bottles and placing them on the floor¡ªeleven bottles in all. Zo? handed two to Pari. ¡°Hang on to these.¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any sort of label on any of the bottles just a wax seal with some sort of mark pressed into it. Pari couldn¡¯t really figure out what the mark meant. Maybe red or white?

    ¡°Everyone knows that Chad¡¯s an asshole,¡± she said. ¡°But why are you so pissed at him?¡±

    ¡°How about I tell you over a glass of wine, babe? Almost done here. This is going to burn him up.¡±

    From the box, Zo? removed a small bundle wrapped in paper. ¡°Ooh, jackpot!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ghir! Definitely taking this.¡±

    Ghir shoots were the closest thing Greystrand had to drugs. They were soft stalks of the ghir plant and you were supposed to chew them and get really high. Pari had heard about ghir, certainly, but had never actually seen any. It was incredibly rare and supposedly cost a fortune¡ªif you could even find any.

    ¡°Okay, now the fun part,¡± Zo? said. ¡°Stand back.¡±

    She waved her hand at the bottles on the floor. Pari heard the tinkling sound of a spell being cast. Suddenly the wine bottles started teetering back and forth and their corks began inching their way out of the bottles. There was a succession of muted pops as the corks flew from the bottles and then the wine bubbled up and gushed out all over the floor.

    Zo? laughed and grabbed Pari¡¯s arm. ¡°Let¡¯s jet!¡±

    They went back through the hallway and then out a back door into the courtyard.

    Lanterns and glowstones lit up the yard which was crowded with everyone who couldn¡¯t fit inside. People stood around a big fire pit which blazed in the center of the courtyard. Some of the tables and most of the benches from inside had been dragged out here and now were mostly covered by half-empty food plates and mugs, flagons, and goblets. Here and there, Pari saw people making out¡ªand passed out.

    ¡°There¡¯s a free bench!¡±

    Zo? scored them a place to sit while Pari scanned the crowd for Justin.

    Soon Zo? had one of the bottles open and their goblets filled. She lifted her glass in a toast.

    ¡°To fortune and glory!¡±

    ¡°And pink hair!¡± Pari added.

    They both drank. ¡°That¡¯s good stuff, right?¡±

    It was good. Smooth and rich. No bitterness. You could really tell the good stuff. Even in this dream world.

    Zo? said, ¡°Okay, first things first. The hair. So there¡¯s this alchemist in Jodrell that I heard about from some of the girls who get their hair bleach from him. You notice all the blondes we have, right?¡±

    ¡°You mean the Golden Hawks?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Chickenhawks is more like it.¡±

    They both laughed and drank some more wine.

    ¡°Well, you just use the bleach¡ªwhich is basically vinegar and lemon and salt and some other stuff¡ªand that gets your hair lighter.¡±

    ¡°But what about the pink?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting to that. There are some farms up near Skelheim that grow beets. All kinds of beets. Red beets. White beets. Pink beets.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious? That¡¯s beet juice in your hair?¡±

    Zo? fluffed her hair to show it off. ¡°All natural!¡±

    They drank some more and then Pari got a glimpse of Justin. He was standing with a bunch of Hawks watching a big guy and a little guy who looked like they were doing some kind of acrobatics act.

    ¡°You¡¯d look good in pink,¡± Zo? said. ¡°I could show you where to go if you want.¡±

    ¡°Maybe. Thanks.¡±

    Zo? refilled their goblets and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your deal, Pari? Are you here with anyone?¡±

    ¡°Kind of. That guy.¡± She pointed over to Justin, who was now trying to arm wrestle one of the Hawks. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be recruiting.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I get you. Well, why the hell are you here talking with me? Go back to your boy over there.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Pari said. ¡°I¡¯ve got this. We spent most of the day adventuring. He¡¯s definitely going to want to join W&S.¡±

    ¡°Well, it looks like I¡¯ll be looking for a new fellowship, too. What are you guys like?¡±

    Pari took another drink. This wine was awesome.

    ¡°You should come hang with us. It¡¯s a good bunch. Well, it used to be a good bunch. Half the fellowship wiped out yesterday. Including my sister. She was level five.¡±

    ¡°Your sister? Babe, I am so sorry.¡± Zo? hugged her. ¡°I can¡¯t believe your leader sent you to recruit the day after your sister died. That¡¯s hardcore.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I think Lazarus wanted to distract me.¡±

    ¡°Well, at least it sounds as if he¡¯s concerned about you. Chad doesn¡¯t give a shit about anyone. That¡¯s why I¡¯m out of here.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re quitting your fellowship?¡±

    ¡°More like getting booted? Can you believe it? I¡¯ve been here from the start, and I was one of the first toons in the fellowship to hit level 6.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    ¡°The Chickenhawks are getting too big. The whole organization is a mess. Chad wants more newbies like your boy over there, so he¡¯s pushing some of us more experienced players out to make room.¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t that the whole reason you guys have multiple fellowships?¡±

    Zo? drained her goblet. ¡°Yeah, he told me I could start my own fellowship that could join the Hawks, but that would be like starting from scratch. Screw that.¡±

    They chatted some more and drank some more. Every once in a while some intoxicated newbie guys would come over and try to chat them up or get them to dance. Probably attracted by Zo?¡¯s hair. But she always brushed them off.

    Zo? didn¡¯t seem like the typical Hawk. She was a little rough around the edges, with a smart, sarcastic sense of humor. Definitely a refreshing change from all the sorority types around here. Even if she did say ¡®babe¡¯ a lot.

    The two of them killed the bottle and Pari began to feel pretty lit, but she kept glancing over at Justin across the courtyard. He was laughing with a bunch of Hawks who were trying to juggle empty beer mugs¡ªwith disastrous results. There were a bunch of blonde Hawk bimbos around giggling and flirting. That was fine. She¡¯d let Justin get the partying out of his system, and then tomorrow once they got serious about the fellowship, she¡¯d take him to Rathenhall to meet the others.

    ¡°Wanna chew?¡± Zo? asked, holding up a ghir shoot.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. What¡¯s it like?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal, babe. Just perks you up is all. We¡¯ll split one.¡± Zo? broke a shoot in half and handed a piece to Pari. Then she popped the other half in her mouth.

    Why the hell not? If it didn¡¯t agree with her, she could always cast treat disease on herself. Pari started nibbling on the ghir shoot. It tasted a little bitter, with kind of chemical aftertaste.

    ¡°Cannonball!¡± Zo? giggled, handing Pari a refilled goblet of wine. ¡°We don¡¯t have any tequila, so this will have to do.¡±

    More guys came over, but Zo? shooed them away. This really was like a frat party. And Pari noticed more and more people making out.

    Justin looked her way and waved.

    If he thought that the two of them would be hooking up, he had another thing coming. She wouldn¡¯t take that kind of bullet for the team. No way.

    After about five minutes, Pari started feeling the effects of the ghir. Her heart started racing and everything seemed brighter.

    The next thing she knew she was dancing.

    And then right after that she blacked out.

 Chapter 11

    Justin was making out with the tall blonde girl with dark eyebrows. It had just happened. One minute they were cheering on Lukas as he heaved the little dwarf guy through a hoop and into a pile of hay. The next minute she grabbed him and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go upstairs,¡± she said in a low voice.

    ¡°Right behind you,¡± he said.

    ¡°Maybe if you¡¯re lucky!¡± she laughed.

    They stumbled up to the third story of the inn and managed to find an empty room. The blonde girl threw Justin on to the bed and straddled him.

    This was wild!

    She pulled off her shirt, and he saw that she wasn¡¯t wearing a bra.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to officially welcome you to the Golden Hawks,¡± she said.

    <hr>

    The next morning, Justin woke up to an empty bed. He sat up, expected his head to be pounding from the mother of all hangovers, but he felt fine. Better than fine, actually. Everything seemed as clear as a bell.

    He pulled on his clothes and checked his gear. Looking out of the window, Justin had a good view of the courtyard below. There were still people passed out down there. Others were sitting at long tables eating. Bacon, from the smell of it. He wondered where Pari had gotten to. The last time he saw her, she was dancing with that pink-haired girl. Oh well. Maybe he¡¯d run into Pari at breakfast. The smell of food was making his stomach growl big time.

    Justin made his way downstairs. There was kind of a buffet set up in the main part of the bar, with eggs and meats and fresh breads. Everything smelled fantastic.

    ¡°Here he is!¡± Chad clapped him on the shoulder. ¡°How you doing, amigo? Sick party, huh? Just as advertised.¡±

    ¡°That was amazing,¡± Justin said. ¡°Really amazing.¡±

    ¡°You made quite an impression on the gang last night. Especially Dannay.¡± He bumped fists with Justin.

    That was her name. The blonde girl who he had spent the night with. Dannay. He made a mental note of it.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Chad said. ¡°Grab yourself some vittles, then meet us out front. Some of the guys are taking out you new folks for a little twinkage.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. The first couple of levels can be a little boring, so we like to get them out of the way. We¡¯ve also got some gear for you: some badass leather armor and some pretty decent blades. Much better than that newbie toad sticker you¡¯re rocking.¡±

    ¡°That would be awesome. Thanks, Chad.¡±

    ¡°No problemo. See you in a bit!¡±

    As Chad turned to leave, Justin called, ¡°Oh, Chad. One thing.¡±

    ¡°Shoot.¡±

    ¡°Did you happen to see Pari this morning?¡±

    Chad grinned at him. ¡°Bro, I wouldn¡¯t worry about Pari. You definitely traded up last night with Dannay. You know what I¡¯m saying?¡±

    Justin felt his face redden a bit. ¡°Yeah, I know. I was just wondering if you¡¯d seen her.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I think Pari split last night. Went back to Rathenhall or something. Maybe she needed to get back to do her dailies. I¡¯m surprised she didn¡¯t say goodbye, but you know chicks. They can kind of tell when they¡¯re being outclassed. See you soon.¡± He left the room and walked out to the courtyard.

    Maybe Chad was right. Pari definitely struck him as the emotional type.

    Justin grabbed a wooden plate and filled it with bread and bacon and some smoked fish. There wasn¡¯t any coffee, but there was some kind of herbal tea so he grabbed a mug of that. Trying not to spill his food or tea, he made his way to the courtyard where he saw Ten-Spot at the communal table.

    ¡°Hey, man,¡± he said as he sat down next to the healer.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡°What a party, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re telling me. You get messed up?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I did. But I¡¯m not feeling any pain today.¡±

    ¡°Me neither. It¡¯s like the perfect world.¡±

    They talked some more in between bites of breakfast. Ten-Spot seemed a little subdued, so Justin did most of the talking.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you. You know anything about the world quest?¡±

    Ten-Spot kept eating. ¡°You serious? Everyone knows about that.¡±

    ¡°But do you know what the actual quest is? I mean, what we¡¯re supposed to find¡ª¡±

    ¡°Again, common knowledge,¡± Ten-Spot smirked. ¡°Before the party that¡¯s all everyone was talking about.¡±

    ¡°So what is it?¡±

    ¡°Man, you really are out of it. The Shadow Lance, bro. Does that ring any bells?¡±

    Justin let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Yeah, it does. The one weapon that can defeat Dynark, the dark lord.¡±

    ¡°So you were just messing with me, then?¡±

    ¡°No, someone was messing with me, actually. They were telling me about some other world quest: the Iron Veil.¡±

    ¡°What the hell is an iron veil? It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    ¡°I know, right? I think this guy just didn¡¯t like me, so he was yanking my chain.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like it.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, speaking of quests. I¡¯m looking for Pari. Have you seen her this morning?¡±

    ¡°That Indian chick?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t know where she is. And she didn¡¯t leave me any messages.¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t seen her. But you just missed that girl Naomi.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Naomi?¡±

    ¡°The most famous girl at the party. Check it out. Until about fifteen minutes ago she was passed out right over there¡ªbuck naked. Bitch was partying hard last night!¡±

    ¡°Well, sorry I missed that. At least I had the decency of passing out buck naked in my own room,¡± Justin grinned. ¡°You sure you didn¡¯t see Pari?¡±

    ¡°No. If you want to talk to her so bad why don¡¯t you just message her?¡±

    ¡°Maybe I will¡ªafter we get back from being power-leveled.¡± He stuffed one last piece of bacon into his mouth and got up. ¡°We should probably get going. Chad said to meet in front of the inn.¡±

    He started to walk back inside, but noticed that Ten-Spot wasn¡¯t moving. ¡°C¡¯mon, man. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Ten-Spot said. He looked down at his plate of food.

    ¡°What do you mean? You have something better to do than get twinked?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not invited.¡±

    ¡°Sure you are. Everyone¡¯s invited. Chad just told me about it.¡±

    ¡°Not me. In fact, he made it very clear that I wasn¡¯t invited. Not to questing, and not to joining the Hawks.¡±

    ¡°Maybe you misunderstood¡ª¡±

    Ten-Spot cut him off. ¡°I didn¡¯t misunderstand anything, Justin. Chad said I would have better luck in Cotter¡¯s Mill. He said there was a fellowship there for people like me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡±

    ¡°For Asians.¡±

    Justin didn¡¯t say anything, but he felt horrible. This wasn¡¯t cool. Not cool at all.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Ten-Spot ate the last bits of his breakfast, then pushed his plate away and just looked off.

    ¡°Listen,¡± Justin finally said. ¡°Let me talk to Chad. Maybe he was joking or something.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I appreciate it, Justin, I really do. But there¡¯s no way I¡¯d join the Hawks. I got some free beer and a free breakfast out of it, so I¡¯m good. I wish you the best of luck though.¡±

    ¡°You too, man. We¡¯ll meet again, I know it.¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡±

    Someone called for all the recruits to assemble in the front. Justin took one last look at Ten-Spot and then went back into the inn. He cut through the big common area and then walked out the front door.

    Parked out front, on the west side of the inn, was an old farm wagon pulled by a pair of horses. A bunch of recruits were already sitting in the wagon which also had a few big crates in it. Hopefully filled with twink gear.

    ¡°Hey Justin.¡±

    It was Lukas, the big guy who had tossed like a million dwarves last night. He scanned a handwritten list on a makeshift clipboard. ¡°You¡¯re good to go, son. Hop aboard. We¡¯re going to have some fun today.¡±

    Justin climbed up on the wagon and sat down on one of the two benches which ran the length of the wagon. Three other newbies were there. Two guys and one girl. He nodded to each of them. ¡°Hey.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for one more,¡± Lukas announced. ¡°Should be here any second.¡± He checked his clipboard again, then asked, ¡°Everyone¡¯s done the wishing well quest, right?¡±

    Everyone had, except for Justin.

    ¡°Which one are you up to?¡± Lukas asked him.

    ¡°I had kind of a slow start yesterday,¡± Justin said, sheepishly. ¡°I got up to the one where you free the guards from those wooden cages on the edge of the forest.¡±

    ¡°Okay, not a problem. Chad may want to help you get caught up with those next few himself. Let me check with him.¡± He made a note on his clipboard.

    Justin noticed a bunch of people coming out of the inn. He recognized Tyson and Giordana from last night, and a few other Hawks: Brody, Irina, Miller, and some others he couldn¡¯t remember the names of. Luckily he didn¡¯t see Dannay. He wasn¡¯t sure what he¡¯d say to her if he did see her.

    Finally, the last recruit arrived. He was an older guy¡ªmaybe 40¡ªtall and skinny and pale, with weird looking eyes that looked like they should have been covered by glasses. But he had a big goofy friendly smile on his face.

    ¡°Sorry about that, everybody. I couldn¡¯t find one of my boots. You know it¡¯s a good party when you start losing shoes, right?¡±

    The guy climbed on to the wagon and sat next to Justin. ¡°I¡¯m Phil Gardner, by the way. First level battle mage, reporting for duty.¡±

    Justin couldn¡¯t believe it. This is who got to be a battle mage? Really? This guy looked more like an accountant than a battle mage.

    He forced himself to smile at Phil. ¡°I¡¯m Justin Boone. Sage.¡±

    ¡°Ooh, a sage,¡± Phil said, holding up his hands in mock awe. ¡°We¡¯re not worthy, we¡¯re not worthy.¡±

    The other recruits introduced themselves. There was a red haired guy named Eric Keague who was a warrior. The girl, who was kind of mousy looking, was a scout by the name of Lindsey Monero. The last recruit was big and sleepy-looking. His name was Seth McCafferty, and he was a guardian knight.

    Justin couldn¡¯t help but noticing that they were all white.

    ¡°Okay, kiddos,¡± Lukas said, as he climbed to the front of the cart and took the reins. ¡°Here¡¯s the plan. We¡¯re going to all ride out to the training grounds and see our buddy Marshal Swart. You all remember Marshal Swart, don¡¯t you? We call him ¡®Marshall Cyclops¡¯ on account of the eyepatch and whatnot. At the TG, we¡¯re going to be meeting up with some more folks and all break out into groups and start teaching you how to play your class, okay?¡±

    Lukas looked at each of them in turn, then said, ¡°You guys are supposed to respond when I ask a question. I know it¡¯s early, but none of you should be hungover, so how about a big ¡®ok¡¯?¡±

    Justin felt a little dumb, but he joined in with the others and yelled ¡®ok!¡¯

    Lukas nodded and then continued his spiel. ¡°Greystrand is all about fighting like a cohesive unit. And no one is better at it than the Golden Hawks. We¡¯re going to learn the fundamentals of pulling, crowd control, tanking, strategic healing, buffing, DPSing, managing aggro, and a lot of other things. And, by the way, I don¡¯t care if you know all this strategy backwards and forwards from other games you might have played. It don¡¯t work quite the same way here in Greystrand, so we¡¯re going to start from the beginning. Any questions so far?¡±

    Eric the warrior raised his hand. ¡°What about twink gear? My axe is extremely basic.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for bringing that up Eric. Yes, there will be twink gear. Lots of it. That¡¯s one of the many benefits that you kiddos will enjoy as Golden Hawks recruits. We will be cracking open those crates behind me once we reach our destination. And you all shall be overwhelmed by the sheer uberness of our gifts to you.¡±

    ¡°Awesome!¡± Lindsey said.

    ¡°Awesome, indeed,¡± Lukas said. ¡°Now keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times and we¡¯re off!¡±

    He flicked the reins and called for the horses to giddy-up, which they kind of did in their own way, clomping slowly along the cobblestone street in front of the Hive & Harrow.

    As they pulled away, Justin caught a glimpse of Chad. He was walking out of the inn with the pink-haired girl who had been hanging with Pari last night. Damn! He would have wanted to ask that girl about Pari. She would definitely know.

    Chad said something to the girl and then they kissed. Justin couldn¡¯t see any more because the wagon turned the corner west on the road that led to the training grounds.

    Hmm. So Chad had a girlfriend. Justin wondered why he hadn¡¯t introduced her last night.

    The wagon made its way along the north side of the town square which was packed with people just like it had been yesterday. There was a lot going on and, again, he got the feeling that he was in some kind of medieval Disneyland. Between the sounds of the market, the warmth of the sunlight, the smells of food, everything was so realistic, it was tough to believe he was actually dreaming.

    For the first time, he saw some other fellowships recruiting. He could tell what was going on by the higher level players in their matching outfits, speaking with obvious newbies. Last night Chad had told him that there were over 70 active fellowships in the game, and then he had bragged that 25 of those were part of the Golden Hawk alliance. That meant there were nearly 50 other fellowships competing for new recruits.

    Before long they arrived at the training grounds. Lukas drove the wagon past Marshal Swart over to an area in the shadow of the Keep. There a tent had been set up with golden banners announcing it was the Hawks¡¯ command station. Chad waltzed in on a magnificent armored charger who seemed as confident as its master.

    Lukas said, ¡°Okay, kiddos. Fall out! But stay near the wagon while we figure out groups.¡±

    Justin climbed down from the wagon and looked around the area. It seemed like the other fellowships had the same idea. Various clusters of adventures were forming up all across the training grounds.

    Chad was conferring with Lukas and Tyson while a few other Hawks unloaded the wagon.

    ¡°Pretty exciting, eh?¡± Phil the newbie battle mage sidled up to him.

    ¡°Yeah. Looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°Me too. I made some good progress yesterday, so I¡¯m hoping that I¡¯ll ding before lunch. How about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m doing okay. Honestly I don¡¯t want to rush things. I want to experience everything.¡±

    ¡°Not me. I¡¯m what you call an ¡®eager beaver.¡¯ Ever hear of that expression?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s something my dad would say.¡±

    Phil chuckled. ¡°How old¡¯s your dad?¡±

    Justin did a mental calculation. ¡°He¡¯ll be 60 in September.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not quite his age.¡±

    ¡°How old are you?¡±

    ¡°48.¡±

    ¡°Really? You look younger than that,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°Thanks, man. All that clean living, I guess.¡±

    ¡°How did you make the cut for the beta?¡±

    Justin had heard that most of the people accepted into the OmniWorld beta were in their 20s and early 30s. And most of the players he had seen here in Holgate definitely fit within that age group.

    ¡°Just lucky I guess. Plus I scored very high on the lucid dreaming test.¡±

    Justin had forgotten about that. All the beta applicants underwent a ton of tests, including a week of sleep monitoring.

    ¡°Anyway, here I am, raring to go,¡± Phil said. ¡°I¡¯m actually a little pissed I didn¡¯t get accepted until now. I mean, look at Chad and some of the other Januarys. Level 6 already. We won¡¯t be level 6 until August or September.¡±

    ¡°Justin!¡± a voice called. It was a voice he recognized.

    Klothar the ranger strode into the camp. He clapped Justin on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you, lad.¡±

    Everyone in the camp turned to stare at the ranger.

    ¡°I need your assistance with a rather important matter.¡±

    Justin had to force his gaping mouth shut. ¡°Um, what?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when we get to someplace a little more private,¡± Klothar said in a low voice. ¡°I have a feeling that we¡¯re being watched.¡±

    This was crazy. Maybe it was a new quest chain. But before Justin could ask Klothar for more details, Chad walked over and looked the ranger up and down.

    ¡°Hey, chief. Can I help you with something?¡±

    Klothar fixed Chad with a hard gaze, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Chad moved closer¡ªgot right up into the ranger¡¯s face. He was a head taller than the older man, but Klothar didn¡¯t move a muscle.

    ¡°I said, ¡®can I help you with anything¡¯¡± Chad repeated.

    ¡°We were just leaving,¡± Klothar said. He turned to Justin. ¡°This way, lad.¡±

    Chad stepped in front of the ranger, cutting him off. ¡°Justin¡¯s not going anywhere. He¡¯s a Hawk recruit, bud. And this is a private raid, so how about you move along and go find your own newbies?¡±

    ¡°Lad,¡± Klothar called. ¡°To me.¡±

    Justin froze. What the hell was he going to do now? This was extremely awkward. Both Klothar and Chad were staring at him, watching to see what he would do. Finally, he made his decision.

    ¡°Sorry, Chad. I, um, just need to figure out what this is all about.¡± Justin took a few steps towards Klothar, but then Lukas strode over and blocked his way.

    Chad shook his head. ¡°No can do, Justin. You¡¯ll have plenty of time for solo adventuring later on. But you¡¯re a member of the Hawks now.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Klothar said. ¡°We¡¯re leaving. Step aside.¡±

    ¡°Or what?¡± Chad jerked his head towards the ranger. ¡°You¡¯re just a wanky NPC. You can¡¯t even¡ª¡±

    Klothar¡¯s hand shot out in a blur. He struck the side of Chad¡¯s neck right under his ear. It literally happened so fast that Justin wasn¡¯t sure what he was seeing. But Chad crumpled to the ground twitching. And then he went still.

    Unbelievable! Klothar just one-shotted Chad.

    Everyone stared in shock, frozen. But Tyson recovered quickly.

    ¡°You¡¯re dead, man!¡± He charged Klothar with fists balled, rushing in hard like a linebacker.

    The ranger deftly pivoted out of the way, and at the same time snapped his elbow up into Tyson¡¯s face. Crunch! It was like Tyson had run into a telephone pole. His head snapped back in a spray of blood and bone and his knees gave out and he crumpled like a rag doll.

    Klothar wasn¡¯t even breathing hard. ¡°Anyone else?¡± The other Hawks just backed away in horror.

    ¡°Good. Justin, let us take our leave.¡±

    Justin felt his stomach flop at the sight of all that blood, but he had to admit, this was freaking awesome. What a bad ass!

    ¡°Sorry guys,¡± he mumbled as the strode after Klothar.

    Phil stared after them, wide-eyed. ¡°Holy crap. How do I get that quest?¡±

 Chapter 12

    A strong rocking motion woke Pari. It took her several moments to realize that she wasn¡¯t dead.

    Her head felt like it was being crushed, her throat was so dry she couldn¡¯t even swallow, and her stomach churned. Even her body was burning up.

    She forced her eyes open and then immediately shut them against the sunlight. Then she vomited and blacked out again.

    When she woke again, the vomit had dried and crusted on her mouth. Her head was down, pressed against a rough wooden surface. And she was swaying again. The air felt damp, and it seemed darker than before. A cool wind blew against her skin and that¡¯s when she realized that she didn¡¯t have any clothes on.

    She tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea hit her hard and she almost blacked out again. Without thinking, she cast treat poison on herself.

    Almost instantly her head started to clear and her stomach didn¡¯t feel like it was trying to turn itself inside out. Thank god.

    She followed the spell up with vivify, which made her feel even better.

    Pari sat up and looked around in horror. What the¡ª?

    She was on a boat¡ªa single-masted sailing ship, maybe 50 or 60 feet long with a big square sail which noisily flapped in the wind over her head. All around her was an endless expanse of fog and water.

    But she wasn¡¯t alone.

    Four men regarded her curiously. The oldest-looking sailor grinned at her. ¡°So you¡¯re not dead after all?¡±

    This wasn¡¯t happening. It couldn¡¯t be happening.

    Pari closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

    But when she opened her eyes, she was still on a ship. Still buck naked. And still being stared at by four grimy-looking men.

    ¡°I need something to cover up with,¡± she croaked. Her throat was still dry and she could barely speak.

    The sailor said, ¡°Your bag is right over there. We didn¡¯t touch anything.¡±

    She looked down to where the sailor pointed and saw a big linen sack. Inside were her clothes, boots, and pouches. She quickly removed everything from the sack and there amidst her stuff was a little scrap of paper with a handwritten note. It read:

    ¡°Sorry babe. All¡¯s fair in love and recruiting. -Z.¡±

    That bitch! She drugged me!

    Rage swept over her as she pulled on her clothes and inspected her possessions. She would take Zo? out, no matter what. Pari was well aware that there was no PvP in the game, but there must be other ways.

    ¡°It looks like your rash has cleared up,¡± the sailor said.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Your rash. The people who paid your passage said you had been afflicted by a horrible rash¡ªso bad that even the touch of cloth caused you considerable pain. That¡¯s why you weren¡¯t wearing any garments. They said the salt air would fix you right up, and I reckon they were right.¡±

    ¡°Well, they were lying to you. I didn¡¯t have any rash. Those people were torturing me. Was there a woman with pink hair?¡±

    ¡°Why, yes. I remarked to Eadric here that you don¡¯t really see that color of hair and he thought she might be a fae of some sort.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not a fae. She¡¯s a villain.¡±

    ¡°But why would a villain go to the trouble of paying us to take you to Northfleet?¡±

    ¡°Northfleet? Are you serious? Where are we now?¡±

    ¡°Just three hours out of Lorque. We¡¯ll be clearing the Bay of Favin within the hour.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯re not in the ocean yet?¡±

    ¡°Soon, miss.¡±

    ¡°No, not soon. I need to get off. Immediately. You need to take this boat ashore.¡±

    The sailor shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s all rocky cliffs until we get to Port Arlin. There¡¯s nowhere to dock.¡±

    ¡°Then get me close. I¡¯ll swim.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d never make it. These waters are infested with gorgon eels, boneslicers, mordecans, and who knows what else. Besides, we¡¯ll be in Port Arlin in a few hours.¡±

    She didn¡¯t want to hear that. She really didn¡¯t. Her eyes swam with tears and she slumped back down on ship¡¯s deck and sobbed for a good long time.

    The sailors gave her space, and she tried to think about what she would do next.

    No way around it, she would have to contact Lazarus. She would have to admit that she lost the sage and had been suckered by the Golden Hawks. And then she¡¯d have to make her way back to Holgate. It was a good 40 miles from Port Arlin. That meant a full day on the road. What the hell day was it? Tuesday? No, yesterday was Tuesday. Today must be Wednesday. She wouldn¡¯t be back to Holgate until Thursday.

    Lazarus would be furious. Maybe he¡¯d even boot her out of the fellowship. She always knew that he thought Iniya was the smart one. Lazarus had only let her join Wood and Silence to get Iniya. Panic welled up in her, and her mind started to race.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Now that Iniya was gone why would Lazarus even keep her around? Especially since she was screwing up so badly.

    She felt like she couldn¡¯t breathe. Her arms and legs started to tingle, and spots floated in front of her eyes. She pulled herself into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut, willing her heart to calm down before it exploded.

    She¡¯d have no fellowship. No friends. She was going to be totally alone. She was a total screw up.

    Pari looked out at the churning water. What if she just jumped overboard? Started over? It was making more and more sense to her. Even if she couldn¡¯t be with Iniya, she could restart with a clean slate. She¡¯d still have nine months to play. You could do a lot in nine months.

    ¡°Demon¡¯s blood!¡± the older sailor cursed. ¡°Raiders ho!¡± He pointed out in front of the ship where a mass of storm clouds were rolling in, pouring out rain and thunder. There, barely visible, among the clouds was a warship¡ªsailing right towards them.

    ¡°What is that?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°Storm Reavers,¡± the sailor said. ¡°They¡¯ll torture and murder all of us men, but they¡¯ll do even worse to you.¡±

    Pari¡¯s blood ran cold. Storm Reavers were some sort of undead, or nearly undead, pirates. She had heard stories about their depravity. They would flay the skin off their victims, and eat their flesh, and burn whatever part remained alive.

    ¡°You must have rowboats,¡± she said. ¡°We have to escape.¡±

    ¡°We have one, but as I said, there¡¯s nowhere to land.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take my chances.¡±

    ¡°It would be of no use.¡± The sailor shook his head. ¡°Make peace with your gods, miss, for we are doomed! Doomed to hell!¡±

    The Reaver ship was closing quickly, moving at an unnatural speed.

    Pari grabbed the sailor by the shoulders. ¡°Get a grip on yourself. Where¡¯s that rowboat?¡±

    The man twitched oddly as if he was having some sort of seizure. His eyes glazed over and his head slumped.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the rowboat?¡± Pari screamed.

    The sailor snapped out of it. He looked directly at Pari and calmly said, ¡°I have a plan. I know how to save you.¡±

    Out of the corner of her eye, Pari could see that the raiding vessel was even closer.

    ¡°My men and I will take the rowboat and lure them away,¡± the sailor said. ¡°You get below. There are places in the hold in which you may hide.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°We were chartered by mages from Durrow¡ªbefore you came aboard. Their cargo is in the hold. Hide there. You¡¯ll be safe, I know it.¡± His eyes flicked up.

    Pari turned and saw that the Storm Reavers¡¯ ship was upon them. It loomed up tall through the fog, and shadowy figures swarmed on the deck, readying grappling hooks.

    ¡°Now, miss! Make haste and conceal yourself below! It¡¯s your only chance!¡±

    He called for the other sailors to jettison the rowboat, then wished her good luck.

    Fear clawed through Pari, but at the same time she had a small sliver of hope that the sailor¡¯s plan might work. The Reavers didn¡¯t really care about cargo; they cared about killing and torture. Maybe the sailors really could draw them away.

    There was a splash on the starboard side of the ship as the rowboat was lowered into the water. The sailors shimmied down ropes off the side and made their escape.

    At the same time, there was a chorus of guttural cries from the Storm Reavers. They had spotted the sailors trying to escape, and now they whooped and sung out battle cries as they flung themselves into the water and began swimming after the rowboat.

    Pari raced down into the hold. Shafts of soft light from portholes cut through the gloom providing her with just enough light to make out a large spherical shape set right in the center of the hold. The sphere was six or seven feet tall, with a cloth shroud draping over it. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that the sphere was surrounded by a few dozen large crates that were marked with arcane symbols burned into the wood.

    This must be the mages¡¯ stuff. But what was it all?

    She went around to the back of the large shrouded sphere and looked for a place into which she could squeeze herself. But as she brushed by the shroud, she caught a glimpse of what it was covering. She saw a polished metal surface dotted by rivets. Lifting the shroud further, Pari exposed an oval glass hatch set into the side of the sphere.

    At that moment, she heard shouts from up on the deck. The Storm Reavers were onboard. Damn!

    She tugged at the handle of the hatch and it opened¡ªslowly. The door was very heavy, but Pari used all her strength to get it open enough so that she could squeeze inside.

    As she pulled the hatch shut, a horrific creature slammed itself against the hatch¡¯s window. The Storm Reaver looked like some sort of zombie, with shredded decaying flesh hanging from a sunken skull, and dead eyes.

    It battered the hatch window with bloody hands, screaming and gnashing its jaws.

    Pari frantically turned the locking wheel on the hatch and prayed it would hold. She fished out one of her glowstones and held it up to illuminate her surroundings.

    She was in some kind of cramped chamber with all sorts of valves, control surfaces, levers, pipes, and riveted sections. Opposite the hatch was what looked like a control console made of carved wood inset with various brass gauges, meters, buttons, switches, and handles. The tech looked out of place for a medieval setting¡ªthat was for sure. It looked more like some kind of steampunk diving bell.

    Bang! The sphere rocked as more Reavers slammed themselves against the hatch. They had torn the shroud completely off and she could see their leering faces through the hatch window. This was not good. Not good at all. The glass wouldn¡¯t hold forever.

    Pari looked around again and decided that the sphere could really be some sort of diving bell or micro-submarine. Why else would it have all these reinforced and riveted sections?

    She turned back to the console. These controls had to do something.

    All of a sudden she heard scratching and pounding from the other side of the sphere¡ªthen the top. The Reavers were all over this thing.

    Screw it.

    She started flipping switches and pushing levers and buttons. At first nothing happened, but then she heard a deep rumbling sound that she could feel in her bones. Glowing lights flickered all across the console, winking on and off.

    Without warning, the sphere lurched over, throwing her into the opposite wall. She struggled back to her feet and saw that her forearms and elbows were scraped and bloody.

    Then the sphere rocked back the other way, knocking Pari from her feet again. It must be the Reavers. What the hell did they think they were going to do?

    But then a high pitched whine assaulted her ears, and she saw a flash of light through the blood-smeared hatch window and then howls and screams from outside.

    After a few moments, all the sounds ceased. It was dead quiet. No more banging or scratching. The sphere stopped moving as well.

    Pari moved closer to the hatch window, trying to catch a glimpse of something. Were the Reavers gone? Or maybe they were trying to lure her out.

    The console still flickered with light. Gauges and meters danced and a round display that looked kind of like a compass started spinning crazily. Whatever this thing was, it looked like Pari had activated it.

    There was another blinding flash of light outside the sphere and then the chamber lurched again. But this time, it didn¡¯t stop. Pari tumbled like a sock in the dryer as the sphere plummeted downward through the hull of the ship and into the depths.

 Chapter 13

    ¡°What was that all about?¡± Justin asked. ¡°I think you actually killed Chad. I didn¡¯t know NPCs could even do that.¡±

    After leaving the training grounds, Klothar had led Justin north along a farm road to a fence where two horses were hitched. Then he and Klothar had saddled up and set off, riding parallel to the Dark Tree Forest, until they met the trade road.

    Now they were riding east on the road between Holgate and Tashon¡¯s Gate. Privately Justin was very impressed with himself. He had never been on a horse before but here he was riding it like a pro.

    ¡°That man was a craven, flap-mouthed miscreant!¡± Klothar said. ¡°The world is better off without him.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, maybe not,¡± Justin said. ¡°But at least he was going to help train me.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, lad?¡±

    ¡°I mean, I haven¡¯t progressed very far. It¡¯s the second day. People say I should be level two by the end of today, but that¡¯s not going to happen, is it?¡±

    ¡°Level two? In all truth, I have no idea what that means.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± Justin said. ¡°You¡¯re just an NPC. That means you pretty much role-play 24/7.¡±

    ¡°Again, you are speaking in riddles, lad.¡±

    ¡°Whatever.¡±

    They rode for a quarter of an hour in silence, then Justin asked, ¡°So this quest we¡¯re on now, do you want to tell me about it? I mean, don¡¯t I have to accept it in order to get credit?¡±

    Klothar shook his head. ¡°You certainly do have a strange manner of speech, lad, and if the oracle had not told me that you were a key part of this endeavor, I might not¡ª¡±

    ¡°Whoa. Hold up. What oracle?¡±

    ¡°I call her an oracle, though in truth, I¡¯m not sure what she is.¡±

    ¡°But she knew about me?¡±

    ¡°You and your young companion both.¡±

    ¡°Pari?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It is she who we must locate next.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but who is this oracle? And how did she know about the two of us? I mean, I just got here yesterday.¡±

    ¡°I am not sure that anyone knows the answers to the questions you ask,¡± Klothar said. ¡°But after the attack of the ebon dragon, I wandered the woods until I found the oracle. She was sitting upon a throne of blood in the Dark Tree.¡±

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a little creepy, but go on.¡±

    ¡°She told me that two souls will accompany me on my journey: a childlike lad by the name of Justin¡ªthat¡¯s you¡ª¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡±

    ¡°And an impulsive woman by the name of Pari. I informed the oracle that I had already met you both, and she then charged me with locating you.¡±

    Justin still had a tough time believing that he was named in a quest. Could NPCs even go on quests?

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m definitely up for helping you with your quest, but I need to get something out of it. Are you cool with that?¡±

    ¡°You shall have one third of any treasure we amass during the adventure.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually talking about XP¡ªexperience points. I¡¯m supposed to earn 1500 a day and I am way behind.¡±

    Klothar shrugged like he had no idea what Justin was talking about, which he probably didn¡¯t¡ªbeing an NPC.

    ¡°I am confident that you shall earn some valuable experience on the way,¡± Klothar said. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you¡¯ve led a sheltered life up until now.¡±

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t we just go boar hunting? There¡¯s got to be something around here that will give us experience.¡±

    The ranger ignored him. Instead he continued to lead them along the road through the Dark Tree forest, a dense and forbidding wood. But at least the tangled mass of beech and elm trees had been cut back ten yards on either side of the road for safety.

    ¡°Are you hungry perchance?¡± Klothar asked after a time. ¡°I have fresh-baked goblin¡¯s fart bread from Sausie the Baker.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to even ask what that is. And, no, I¡¯m not hungry. I just need to improve my hunting skills.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so? Once the forest thins a bit, there will be plenty of game.¡±

    As they rode, Justin decided to ask the ranger more about Greystrand and specifically about the world quest. He was finding this all very confusing. Master Desiderius had told him one thing, but then Ten-Spot confirmed what his own knowledge of lore had told him.

    ¡°Hey, you know about Dynark, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Klothar¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°All too well, lad. All too well.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Klothar sighed. ¡°I mean that I had a hand in releasing the demon lord.¡±

    ¡°You did?¡±

    ¡°It was an accident, of course. Kevon and I were exploring Hell¡¯s Gate, and we inadvertently loosed the dark lord from his magical tomb.¡±

    ¡°Bummer,¡± Justin said. ¡°Did he try to kill you?¡±

    ¡°No, he had been greatly weakened. He was more of a man than a demon at that point. Quite pleasant, actually. It took him years to regain his strength.¡±

    ¡°But now he¡¯s, like, terrorizing the world, right? Subjugating the free folk?¡±

    ¡°No, in truth, no one has laid eyes on Dynark for a very long time. Many people think he has departed this world.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. What about the Shadow Lance?¡±

    Klothar shook his head. ¡°I have never heard of such a thing.¡±

    ¡°C¡¯mon¡ªthe world quest? You know?¡±

    ¡°If the world is on a quest, I would have heard about it,¡± Klothar said matter-of-factly.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard about it. And my friend Ten-Spot heard about it too. Everyone¡¯s searching for the Shadow Lance because apparently, it is the only thing that can defeat Dynark.¡±

    A smile played across Klothar¡¯s face. ¡°Sounds like a fairytale to me, lad.¡±

    ¡°Really? You¡¯re talking to me about fairytales? You just said some old lady sitting on a bloody throne told you to find me.¡±

    ¡°The oracle is not an old lady. She quite comely, actually. And I am to locate both you and Pari.¡±

    ¡°Whatever. But what¡¯s the end game? If we¡¯re not supposed to be looking for the Shadow Lance, what are we looking for?¡±

    ¡°The Iron Veil.¡±

    Justin almost fell out of his saddle. ¡°You know about the Iron Veil?¡±

    ¡°No, not really. That¡¯s part of the mystery. No one knows what the Iron Veil is. All I know, lad, is that we must find it. And soon.¡±

    ¡°Why? What happens if we don¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Bad things.¡±

    ¡°What kind of bad things.¡±

    ¡°The kind of bad things you don¡¯t want to speak aloud.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Klothar didn¡¯t elaborate, but Justin¡¯s mind was reeling. So there were two different world quests out there. Ten-Spot had known about the Shadow Lance and he said that other people were talking about the Lance too. And that¡¯s what was in Justin¡¯s lore memory as well. But then Master Desiderius basically shut him down and said that the world quest was about this Iron Veil thing. And now Klothar said that he was looking for the Iron Veil too.

    This was so weird. Was it possible that NPCs had their own quests that were different from the players¡¯ world quest?

    He really needed to talk to Pari. She knew a lot and would be able to set things straight. He decided to send her a voice message.

    ¡°Message to Pari: hey, it¡¯s Justin. I tried to find you this morning, but Chad said that you had gone home or something. Anyway, you¡¯ll never guess who I¡¯m with now¡ª¡±

    Klothar rode closer and asked, ¡°Who are you speaking with, lad?¡±

    ¡°Shh! I¡¯m leaving a message here,¡± Justin said to Klothar. Then he resumed his message.

    ¡°Yup that was Klothar. I know, crazy, right? So we¡¯re doing this quest and apparently you¡¯re part of it too, and I have a ton of questions. I really hope we can meet up. We¡¯re heading to Tashon¡¯s Gate. Okay, I don¡¯t know how much time these messages give you so I¡¯ll leave it at that. Call me, please.¡±

    ¡°Are you done conversing with the spirits?¡± Klothar asked.

    ¡°For your information, I was leaving a message for Pari.¡±

    ¡°You two have a telepathic bond?¡±

    ¡°Something like that.¡±

    ¡°And you know where she is, lad?¡±

    ¡°Afraid not. But hopefully she¡¯ll get my message and call me¡ªerr, contact me telepathically, so, yeah.¡±

    They rode for another two hours before the dense forest gave way to a scrubby meadow dotted with the occasional pine.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stop here and hunt,¡± Klothar announced, swinging off his horse.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡±

    ¡°Are you partial to the taste of roasted spider mandible by any chance? I certainly am.¡±

    Justin gagged a little, but turned away so Klothar couldn¡¯t see him.

    ¡°The silk sacs are also quite tasty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m up for whatever. As long as it yields experience.¡±

    They found a little brook so that the horses could drink and then Klothar tied them up using special quick release knots.

    The landscape was different here. Justin could tell that they were at a higher elevation. And instead of the rich farmland surrounding Holgate, the earth here was rocky and dry.

    Klothar was true to his word. They spent the next hour or so hunting all kinds of creatures, including giant spiders that were truly disgusting, fast-moving boars, and sylvan lions who were pretty tough. Justin would tag the mob and Klothar would assist with his bow or warhammer. The ranger was so fast that even when Justin got overwhelmed and nearly killed¡ªwhich happened several times¡ªKlothar was able to take out the monster before it could slaughter Justin.

    At the end of the hunting session, as they were washing the blood off themselves in the brook, Justin checked and saw that he was up to 1185 experience. Oh man! Not even half of what he should be. This was definitely a grind.

    He asked Klothar if there were any more powerful monsters they could go after.

    ¡°What, like args?¡±

    Justin¡¯s lore kicked in and he recalled that args were brutish, tusked, ogre-like creatures who lived in the highlands north of Tashon¡¯s Gate. Arg warbands frequently raided Cotter¡¯s Mill, Marby, Tashon¡¯s Gate, and even the city of Skelheim. He had a faint recollection of his dad mentioning args as being the old Caves & Beasts version of orcs. Maybe they would yield more XP than wild boars.

    Justin asked. ¡°How tough are they?¡±

    ¡°You might be able to vanquish one,¡± Klothar said. ¡°If it was old, blind, and missing a leg, that is.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Way to be encouraging.¡±

    ¡°Lad, never forget that args are canny foes. They are twice as strong as humans and nearly as quick. Pray that we don¡¯t encounter any. For your own sake.¡±

    They continued west on the road for another hour until a big wooden fort came into view. It looked like something out of the Old West with a high stockade wall made of massive tree trunks which had been carved into sharp points. Guards patrolled the upper wall as well as the area outside the fort.

    ¡°Tashon¡¯s Gate,¡± Klothar announced. ¡°We¡¯ll spend the night here and get a fresh start in the morning.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s early yet,¡± Justin said. ¡°We have plenty of time left to hunt.¡±

    ¡°We hunt when I say we hunt.¡±

    They rode through the front entrance, a pair of twenty foot tall wooden doors that were easily a foot and a half thick. The interior of the fort was as big as a football field with various low buildings. Justin could make out a stable block, a blacksmith, guard barracks, an inn, and some shops. On the northwest corner a stone tower rose up at least five stories. The yard was filled with people, but at least half of them wore the uniform of the guard. Most of the rest looked like merchants and farmers.

    Klothar led Justin towards the stables. ¡°This outpost is not as welcoming as Holgate, and it can get a little rough. Best to keep your head down.¡±

    ¡°I killed a giant spider today,¡± Justin said. ¡°I¡¯m ready for anything.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m afraid of, lad.¡±

    They dropped their horses off at the stables and walked over to the inn and adjoining tavern. Justin ducked into the tavern half of the building, which was a dark, ramshackle place with ceilings so low, Justin could reach up and touch them. Unlike at the pub last night, there was barely anyone here in the common room¡ªjust a few grimy-looking old-timers. No players from the looks of it.

    ¡°I think we¡¯ve officially discovered the armpit of Greystrand,¡± Justin said.

    Klothar gave him a sharp look and said, ¡°I¡¯ll see about a room next door. Don¡¯t move from here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, dad.¡±

    The ranger left the tavern and Justin crossed over to the bar. The guy behind it was heavyset and had an epic beard which hung down so low it nearly touched the top of the bar.

    ¡°Your finest ale, barkeep.¡±

    The man didn¡¯t say anything. He just went out to the back room, where presumably, he kept the good stuff.

    Justin looked around the room at the old-timers. A few of them were playing some sort of card game at a corner table. Others were deep in hushed conversation. And a third group was looking at a large piece parchment spread out on their table. There was one guy sitting by himself.

    The barkeep returned with a large dust-covered bottle. He wiped the bottle down and presented it to Justin like a sommelier at a fancy restaurant.

    ¡°Catfish 99 Bourbon Barrel Ale. Not only the finest ale in Tashon¡¯s Gate, but likely the best in all of Greystrand. That¡¯ll be one shield.¡±

    ¡°A full shield? Are you serious?¡± Even though this was his first time actually buying anything, Justin knew the how the currency worked. A shield was worth 10 gold crowns, which was the basic unit of money here.

    ¡°It¡¯s exceptional beer. You want it or not?¡±

    ¡°Okay, but it better really be good.¡±

    Justin took out his magical money bag and opened it for the first time. He remembered that he had earned 200 gold from his very first quest with the ratkin. Inside the magic purse were a number of different sized coins. Each was stamped with a different symbol that signified its worth. In the purse he could see two eels (worth 50 gold each), eight shields (worth 10 gold each), and twenty crowns (worth 1 gold each). He didn¡¯t have any of the more valuable coins: goblets (worth 100 gold each) or pikes (worth 1000 gold).

    Easy come, easy go.

    Justin plonked the shield coin on top of the bar and the barkeep snatched it up in a fluid motion.

    After inspecting it with a practiced eye, the man tucked it into a pouch at his side and fetched a heavy ceramic mug from a shelf below the bar.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to like this, young sir.¡± He removed the wax seal on the bottle, then the cork, and then filled Justin¡¯s mug. The beer looked creamy and dark and smelled delicious. Justin let the head settle for a moment and took a swig.

    Wow. This really was good. Very intense flavor with a slightly sweet aftertaste. It was much better than the mead last night.

    ¡°What did I tell you, lad? Worth every penny. Now, speak the truth, was that your very first sip of beer ever?¡±

    ¡°No. Why would you say that?¡±

    The barkeep shrugged. ¡°Just a feeling a got.¡±

    All of a sudden, Justin felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see one of the old-timers beside him. The man had a scraggly wild fringe of white hair that ringed an otherwise bald pate. And he was a mess. His clothes were torn and crusted in mud and what very well might have been blood. His face was all busted up, too, but the man¡¯s eyes were bright and the most intense pale blue color Justin had ever seen.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to startle you, sonny boy.¡± He stuck his hand out. ¡°The name¡¯s Wreman. Wreman of Durrow.¡±

    ¡°Justin of, um, Sacramento.¡±

    ¡°Well met, Justin. So are you enjoying your Catfish 99? ¡¯Tis a fine brew, in my humble opinion.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not bad.¡±

    ¡°You know where the name comes from, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Justin shook his head.

    ¡°Old fishing story. The hundredth fish is one that got away.¡± He gestured at the mug. ¡°Thus, 99.¡±

    Okay, that didn¡¯t make too much sense, but Justin forced a smile and nodded at the old guy.

    ¡°Listen, Justin, I¡¯ll be brief so you can return to your ale. I need someone to do something for me. It¡¯s a quick little task.¡±

    Here we go. Could this be a quest?

    Justin looked straight into Wreman¡¯s baby blues. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°This morning our wagon was attacked by args, just south of here¡ªno more than a quarter hour away. They killed everyone but me. I managed to crawl away and hide under some bodies. I¡¯m not proud of that, but I¡¯m a merchant, not a warrior.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯m not judging¡­¡±

    ¡°In any case, I can live with the loss of my merchandise. They were only rugs, after all, but in the fracas, I lost something that was important to me. Very important. It was an amulet. My wife¡¯s amulet. A keepsake of sorts. You see, Andra died many years ago, and I kept her amulet to remember her by. It is my most prized possession.¡±

    ¡°What happened to it?¡±

    ¡°In truth, I do not know. I wore it close to my heart at all times. I can only assume that it somehow was lost during the attack.¡± Wreman licked his lips. ¡°I want to hire you to go to the site of the ambush and search for it. I¡¯ll pay you handsomely.¡±

    ¡°And how will you do that?¡± Justin asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you lose everything in the attack?¡±

    ¡°Not quite everything.¡± Wreman reached into his satchel and pulled out something. He dropped it on the counter.

    It was a light grey-colored cut gemstone the size of a walnut. Flickers of light danced within the gem¡¯s interior.

    A cloud diamond!

    Justin¡¯s knowledge skill told him that the cloud diamond was worth a fortune, but he decided to try to play it cool.

    ¡°That must be some amulet,¡± he said, keeping his voice even.

    ¡°As I said, it has tremendous sentimental value. Will you help me, Justin? Will you return my wife¡¯s amulet to me?¡±

    Justin took another swig of his expensive beer. ¡°Sure. Why not?¡±

    :::::. Quest accepted: locate Wreman¡¯s amulet south of Tashon¡¯s Gate .:::::

    Cool! It really was a quest!

    ¡°So tell me what this amulet looks like,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do better than that. I¡¯ll show you.¡±

    He took a wax tablet and stylus from his satchel and proceeded to sketch a design.

    Justin leaned in closer. The sketch almost looked like a five pointed star, but broken so it was missing a point.

    ¡°Is it supposed to be a pentacle?¡± Justin asked.

    Wreman shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not a very skilled artist, I¡¯m afraid. It¡¯s just a design. It doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±

    ¡°Well, okay. And you say that your wagon was attacked south of here?¡±

    Wreman slumped into a chair with a sigh. ¡°No more than a mile south. It should still be there, although picked clean, I wager.¡±

    ¡°So all I need to do is go down the road and look for the amulet?¡±

    ¡°You certainly ask a lot of questions, sonny boy.¡±

    ¡°I like to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Careful is good.¡± Wreman limped back to his table.

    Justin finished up his beer and then went out to find Klothar. He couldn¡¯t wait to tell him about their new quest.

 Chapter 14

    ¡°This is not good,¡± Dr. Margolin said, after Trudy Zhang had finished her report. ¡°Not good at all.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Zhang said.

    The two of them were in a ¡°skiff,¡± a secure conference room that was completely shielded from any possible transmissions. It was like a bubble inside a bubble.

    ¡°Who found it?¡±

    ¡°Wallis. James Wallis. He¡¯s a junior analyst, but very sharp.¡±

    ¡°Sharp enough to understand what he was looking at?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡±

    Zhang gave him a brief rundown on James Wallis, and then Margolin asked her if anyone else knew about what Wallis had found.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He¡¯s one of ours, so he¡¯s well versed in security protocol. We should just count ourselves lucky that a BerylBlue contractor wasn¡¯t the one who found it. That would be a different story altogether.¡±

    Margolin let out a long sigh. There would be a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. He spent the next hour briefing Zhang. When they were done, he told her, ¡°Let¡¯s go see Mr. Wallis.¡±

    They walked down to Level D in silence, Margolin thinking about how he needed to start visibly shifting the inquiry out of SE into medical. Qadri would help with that.

    It felt cooler down here¡ªcooler than normal. Maybe because of all the extra heavy equipment. They made their way down a long glass corridor which provided a view into the Hatchery where hundreds of beta testers were asleep in their stim-pods, dreaming in the paracosm.

    Margolin felt a headache coming on. There was no way he would allow Groves and his army of bureaucrats to jeopardize what was arguably the most important scientific breakthrough in human history. He had already come up with a plausible story for Wallis, and Zhang was now briefed enough to back him up. The thing they would have to jump on was creating the signals for the alternative narrative.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    He glanced back through the window into the Hatchery. For every beta tester sleeping in a stim-pod, there were a half dozen medical and technical workers monitoring all the bio and interface functions. It was an extremely labor-intensive process, and although they had shadow automation mirroring all the work that humans were doing, it still might be a year before they went full auto. Of course, Project: Reverie couldn¡¯t scale without the automation coming online, but for now, that¡¯s what they were working with. A lot of humans, and a lot of potential for human error.

    When all was said and done that¡¯s what this whole thing would be chalked up to. Human error.

    As they walked, they passed knots of Loneskum-Alexander employees. Folks nodded deferentially to Margolin, but no one tried to engage him in conversation. They all knew better.

    Zhang had called ahead and arranged for James Wallis to meet them in a skiff down here on D. He was already in the conference room when Margolin and Zhang arrived.

    ¡°Mr. Wallis,¡± Margolin said, shaking the younger man¡¯s hand. ¡°Nice to meet you, and congratulations.¡±

    Wallis looked surprised. ¡°Congratulations?¡±

    He was a short man in his late twenties with an unruly mop of hair and a somewhat disheveled appearance.

    ¡°Yes, it seems you were the first one to find our hidden treasure. Have a seat.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°The BerylBlue folks will be miffed, but I knew our team would find it before them, and you did not disappoint. Not at all.¡±

    ¡°Sir?¡±

    Margolin glanced at Zhang disapprovingly. ¡°You didn¡¯t fill Mr. Wallis in?¡±

    ¡°No, sir, he hasn¡¯t met with a disclosure officer yet.¡±

    ¡°Well, get Ackerman down here.¡± Margolin turned back to Wallis. ¡°Sorry, Wallis, this whole security exercise is a SAP-8. It¡¯s a pain in the ass, but we¡¯re going to have to cross all the t¡¯s and dot all the i¡¯s with Ackerman before we discuss this further.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine, sir. I have to admit I¡¯m pretty much in the dark about what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll remedy that shortly, I assure you. In the mean time I just wanted to thank you personally for the outstanding work. There¡¯s a nice bonus allocated for this, so enjoy that as well. I need to run to another meeting now, but Drs. Zhang and Ackerman will handle the debriefing and further security mandates.¡±

    He shook the bewildered junior analyst¡¯s hand once more, nodded at Zhang, and left the conference room. This would all work out; he was sure of it.

 Chapter 15

    Pari must have blacked out again. She awoke with a massive headache. But she was no longer moving, and it wasn''t completely dark in this weird diving bell things she was in. Soft light streamed through the hatch¡¯s window.

    What had happened?

    She had climbed in here to escape the Storm Reavers. And then she must have activated the sphere because the last thing she remembered was the whole thing falling into the water.

    Painfully, she managed to stand up and orient herself. The hatch was now at the top of the sphere. Reaching up on her tiptoes, Pari tried to turn the locking wheel. It wouldn¡¯t budge.

    Great.

    Her head was still pounding, so she cast healing touch on herself. That did the trick. Her head cleared, and she took another crack at the wheel.

    After working at it for several minutes, she finally was able to open the hatch. Immediately, she was hit with the smell of cool, ocean air.

    That felt good.

    She jumped up and pulled herself through the hatch and then slid down the metal sphere on to a beach. As she stood up and brushed the sand from her clothes, she caught a glimpse of something that nearly made her heart stop.

    WTF?

    It was a giant alien-looking creature standing in the water, a couple of hundred yards offshore.

    The creature was terrifying and immense¡ªeasily several hundred feet tall. It was roughly shaped like a man, but with incredibly thin, spindly, boney limbs, and a strange head that resembled a hammerhead shark. An extra pair of arms jutted out from the monster¡¯s shoulders, which made it look almost like a spider. Both the head and the limbs had all sorts of chaotic protrusions that looked like little horns or spikes growing out of the body.

    She didn¡¯t know if it was too far away to inspect, but she gave it a try.

    :::::. Cormorian. (Legendary). Hostile.  .:::::

    Pari watched, mesmerized, as the Cormorian slowly walked away from the shore, towards the sun which hung low in the sky. It felt like forever until the monster gradually disappeared into the fog, but the terror still stayed with her. It was only the sound of a message alert that broke her out of her reverie.

    :::::. New message from Justin. Listen? .:::::

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    As Pari listened to Justin¡¯s message, she felt a stab of guilt. She had just left him there at the party alone. Sure, it wasn¡¯t her fault; it was those slimy Hawks, but still it was wrong of her.

    And now he was on some sort of quest with Klothar at Tashon¡¯s Gate?

    This was getting weirder and weirder. It must be some sort of new quest system that the devs were testing out.

    She rubbed her shoulder, thinking. She really needed to update Lazarus. It would be really bad to put it off any longer, so she just bit the bullet.

    ¡°Message to Lazarus: It¡¯s Pari reporting in. I¡¯m okay, but a lot has gone down. The Hawks drugged me so they could get at the sage. Really bad. I woke up on a boat to Northfleet, but then the boat was attacked and now I¡¯m on some deserted shore in god knows where. Oh, and I just saw what looked like an alien giant. It¡¯s called a ¡®Cormorian¡¯ and it¡¯s a legendary. This whole things feels like some kind of bizarre quest, but I have no quest objective. Anyway, I don¡¯t even know what level zone I¡¯m in, but I¡¯m going to try to make my way back to a road. Hopefully I won¡¯t die. Message me back and let me know how you guys made out.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Ok, that was done. She¡¯d just have to deal with Lazarus once she got back to Rathenhall¡ªif she got back. She noticed that the tide was coming in, which wasn¡¯t good. The beach she was standing on was a thin strip of rocks that ran between the ocean and a line of rugged chalk-white cliffs that rose sharply fifty or sixty feet straight up. Some time soon the water would come right up to the base of the cliff. And then she¡¯d be toast.

    Her first priority was to get off this damn beach. She looked north and then she looked south, but all she could see was beach, cliffs, and fog. She looked back out to the water, but there was no sign of the Cormorian. There was also no sign of the ship. Did it sink? If that sphere really did smash through the hold, the ship would have sunk for sure. But there was no debris anywhere.

    Pari turned back to inspect the sphere and walked all around it. It really did look like an ancient diving bell, and it was scratched and banged up pretty badly. She noticed that there didn¡¯t seem be any places to tie anything on to sphere, however, which made her diving bell theory seem less likely. How would you pull the thing up from the bottom of the ocean? Unless it was meant to be carried around in a net. Who knew?

    She sat down on a boulder, took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate. Where exactly was she?

    The sailor had said that they left from the town of Lorque which was on some bay. And they were almost out of that bay when they had been attacked. Okay¡­

    The geography of this part of Greystrand was a blur. All Pari knew was that there were four seaports: Lorque, Port Arlin, Jodrell, and Northfleet. She was somewhere between  Lorque and Port Arlin. Didn¡¯t the sailor say they would be in Port Arlin in a few hours?

    How much faster was sailing than walking? Her engineer¡¯s brain kicked in. If only she had her phone to do some calculations. And a decent map. Oh well. She¡¯d just wing it.

    Just as a rough starting point she knew that a sailing ship was quite a bit faster than someone walking. How much faster? Twice as fast? Five times? Probably not that much. Maybe three or four times as fast. If that was right, you could quadruple the time to sail to Port Arlin¡ªjust to be conservative¡ªand you''d get eight hours to hike to Port Arlin. But that assumed you followed the shoreline.

    The good news was that Port Arlin was on a bay which was a little inland. That much she knew. So it might be possible to go straight east and cut a bunch of time off the travel since the route would be more direct. How much time? That depended on how far north or south she was from Port Arlin. But as she thought about it, Pari decided that it really didn¡¯t matter. If she was anywhere remotely near where she thought she was, she¡¯d hit a road no matter what¡ªas long as she walked straight east. It might take her a day. Or a day and a half. But she would eventually hit the road from Oakford Cross to Port Arlin. That was the good news.

    The bad news was that she¡¯d be out here in this wilderness for the night. With nothing to eat or drink. And no weapons besides her dagger. In a zone that she was very unfamiliar with.

    That sucked.

    But what sucked worse was the sudden realization that all her nice calculations didn¡¯t mean a thing if she couldn¡¯t get off this beach and up on to the top of those cliffs.

    She looked down and saw that the water was noticeably closer. Soon it would be lapping at her feet. Not good. She needed to move. Now.

    North or south?

    In which direction might be a valley or a stream or a collapsed section of cliff? There was no way to tell. So she flipped a shell. Top of the shell meant north. Bottom meant south.

    The shell landed top up.

    North it was.

    Pari hitched her belt tight, checked that all her pouches were still in place, and then set off at a jog north along the rocky beach.

    As she ran, she thought about Justin. She needed to get back to him. If he wasn¡¯t with the Hawks, there still might be a chance to recruit him. And then maybe Lazarus wouldn¡¯t think she was such a colossal screw up.

    Wishful thinking.

 Chapter 16

    ¡°You what?¡± The ranger was not happy. That much was for sure.

    ¡°I got us a quest,¡± Justin said.

    They were standing outside of the inn. Once Justin had finished his beer, he became restless and went out to find Klothar, who was just emerging from the building.

    ¡°You¡¯re not making sense, lad,¡± Klothar said.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this what you do here¡ªgo on quests?¡±

    ¡°Verily, but not just any quest, willy-nilly.¡±

    Justin crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°Listen, I need XP. And the guy in the bar was a quest-giver. So I went for it. What¡¯s wrong with that? It¡¯s like fifteen minutes away. We just find his amulet and bring it back here. Honestly, it seems like a level one quest.¡±

    Klothar rubbed his chin and said, ¡°A quarter hour away? Well, we may have time to get there and back before dark. Let us take the horses.¡±

    They returned to the stables and fetched their horses. As they made their way out of the fort, Justin explained the quest to Klothar.

    ¡°South, you say?¡±

    Justin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what Wreman said.¡±

    ¡°He must have been traveling from Rathenhall. This way.¡±

    From his lore knowledge, Justin knew that Tashon¡¯s Gate was at a junction of three well-traveled roads. He and Klothar had originally come from Holgate to the east, but that road also continued west for fifteen miles or so to the town of Oakford Cross. And the road they were on now traveled roughly southeast to Rathenhall, which was one of the three largest cities in Greystrand.

    By the time they reached Wregman¡¯s wagon¡ªor what was left of it, they had ridden for more like a half hour than fifteen minutes. Off to the side of the road was a wreck of a wagon. It had been smashed and burned.

    ¡°Careful,¡± Klothar said.

    Justin rode closer. ¡°It looks pretty safe to me. The attack happened this morning. The args probably took everything they wanted and left.¡±

    He dismounted and walked around the wreck. There were no bodies, but there was congealed blood in the dirt. And flies. A lot of flies.

    Klothar remained on his horse and notched an arrow in his bow. ¡°You search. I¡¯ll keep watch.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    He began poking around the wagon with his sword, starting at its front, where Wreman might have been sitting. He moved charred pieces of wood and broken crates and bits of fabric. It looked like the args had taken everything they could carry off¡ªincluding the corpses of the fallen.

    ¡°Is that normal?¡± Justin asked Klothar. ¡°For the args to take their victims, I mean?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s normal with args. They¡¯re completely unpredictable. They don¡¯t think the same way we do. You best remember that, lad. It might save your life one day.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Abnormal and unpredictable.¡± He continued to poke around in the dirt, but didn¡¯t see anything but kind of gross clumps of blood and sand.

    Justin decided to spiral out his search area and methodically cover a radius of 30 feet around the wagon. What he should have done was try to get more detail from Wreman. He searched for a half hour at least, but he wasn¡¯t at all sure he was looking in the right places.

    Finally Klothar asked, ¡°Any luck, lad?¡±

    ¡°No. Maybe you should come down here and help me search.¡±

    ¡°Someone needs to keep watch. Besides, I¡¯m a ranger, not a scout.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t you have keen vision for spotting tracks and whatnot?¡±

    ¡°Tracking is not the same as grubbing around in the mud. Perhaps we should have brought a hog or two since¡ª¡±

    Justin tuned out the rest of what Klothar was saying. He caught a glimpse of something shiny peeking out from beneath one of the wagon¡¯s wheels¡ªa wheel that had escaped the fire. Maybe this shiny thing was just part of the wagon, but Justin quickly dug it out of the sand. His heart soared as he unearthed the amulet.

    ¡°Found it!¡± he yelled.

    ¡°Keep your voice down, for the maker¡¯s sake!¡±

    Justin held the amulet up for the ranger to see. It looked just like the drawing Wreman had made, but seeing it in person, Justin thought the amulet definitely resembled a broken pentacle.

    Klothar squinted at the amulet. ¡°That design looks quite familiar. Let me take a look.¡±

    Justin walked over and handed the amulet to the ranger who turned it over in his hands.

    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve seen this before.¡±

    ¡°Do you remember wh¡ª¡±

    He couldn¡¯t get the last word out because¡ªall of a sudden¡ªa sharp stabbing pain exploded in his throat. Justin lurched forward. His eyes lowered, and he saw, in horror, that the bloody point of an arrow was now protruding from his adam¡¯s apple.

    ¡°Down!¡± Klothar yelled.

    But before Justin could move, another arrow punched through his chest and he collapsed face first on to the ground, blood burbling into the sand.

    Then everything faded away.

    <hr>

    Damn! Damn! Damn!

    Killed again. This was the second time in two freaking days.

    He had no idea of what dying did to his stats, but he already was so wimpy that he couldn¡¯t afford for anything to go down.

    Justin shook his head, trying to clear it. He was on a hill at the base of a Life Tree, but the landscape around here looked similar to the terrain around Tashon¡¯s Gate. Hopefully he wasn¡¯t too far away from the fort.

    He stood up and examined himself. There were holes in his shirt and cloak where the arrow had impaled him, but his body was fine. No wounds at all. He ran his fingers along his throat and that seemed okay too. What a horrible feeling¡ªgetting shot in the neck like that.

    Around him was a meadow filled with scrubby bushes and a few trees. A narrow footpath led away from the tree. Probably made by all the people who had died around here over the past several months.

    He stood there for a few minutes, waiting for the grogginess to pass. There was no one around¡ªwhich meant that Klothar hadn¡¯t died. Unless there was a different resurrection process for NPCs.

    Well, he couldn¡¯t wait forever. Justin followed the path as it wound its way down the hill. At the bottom the path joined a larger road that ran east/west. In the distance, to the east, he could see the tower of Tashon¡¯s Gate, peeking through the trees.

    Thank goodness. He wasn¡¯t too far away.

    With his head now completely clear, Justin started walking down the road towards Tashon¡¯s Gate. There weren¡¯t any other people around. No wagons. No horses. Everything was still and quiet.

    Maybe too quiet.

    He reached for his sword, but it wasn¡¯t there.

    Crap!

    Had it fallen from his hand when he got shot? Ugh. That meant he¡¯d have to go back to the place where they had been ambushed.

    Justin started checking his pouches. What else had he lost? The amulet! No, he had given it to Klothar to look at. Hopefully the ranger still had it¡ªwherever he was.

    His glowstones were still there, as was his blood clue, his money bag, and his Circle of Reckoning. He also found some other miscellaneous things including a tinderbox, an empty waterskin, a small knife, a coil of thin leather cord, five strips of jerky and a parcel wrapped in an oiled cloth and tied with a cord. The parcel contained two quill pens, a vial of what looked like ink, and a small blank journal.

    He packed everything back up and popped one of the jerky strips in his mouth and started to gnaw on it. It was horrible, and he spat it out. Really? They couldn¡¯t have programmed the freakin¡¯ jerky to taste good? How hard was that? Maybe he¡¯d have to buy the good stuff back in Tashon¡¯s Gate. They certainly had decent beer.

    And then he got the idea to check his money bag. He popped it open and looked inside.

    Crap.

    He was down to ten coins: an eel, four shields, and five crowns. Half his money was gone. Oh, man. Dying sucked.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Well, nothing he could do about it. Except maybe not get killed.

    Justin started hiking along the road towards Tashon¡¯s Gate. He strode quickly, wanting to get back to the fort as quickly as possible. The wind was starting to pick up and Justin was noticing that the shadows were getting longer. Sunset was not too far off. He kept his head down and squinted his eyes a little to protect them against the wind.

    He heard the clomping of a horse before he saw it¡ªbut then the rider rode around a bend in the roadway and raced towards him.

    It was Klothar!

    ¡°There you are, lad. And no worse for the ordeal, I¡¯ll wager.¡±

    ¡°Not physically. But I lost half my gold¡ªand my sword. You didn¡¯t see it, did you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid your blade melted into the ether at the same time your corpse did. But I saved your mount and returned her to the stables.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Oh, and I did manage to keep this.¡± He tossed something shiny at him.

    Justin snatched it out of the air. The amulet! That was a relief. At least they could still complete the quest.

    ¡°Thank goodness. And how about you? I see you survived the args.¡±

    ¡°There were but a half dozen of the foul beasts. I easily dispatched them.¡±

    ¡°So, I guess that was an ambush, eh?¡±

    ¡°It was. As I said, args are cunning foes. And patient. They knew the wreck of the wagon was bound to draw the curious, so they hid themselves and waited. I should have anticipated that.¡±

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t beat yourself up. We found the quest item. That¡¯s the important thing. Let¡¯s hightail it back to town and turn this puppy in.¡±

    Klothar shook his head. ¡°Lad, I have to say, your command of the language is good for a foreigner, but sometimes you mangle our words most horribly.¡±

    Justin grinned. ¡°It¡¯s called slang. I¡¯ll teach it to you some day.¡±

    Klothar turned his horse around and walked it beside Justin, and they made it back to Tashon¡¯s Gate just as the guards were locking the fort up for the night. Klothar quickly stabled his horse and then they made their way to the tavern.

    Inside, the tavern was ten times more crowded than when Justin was here earlier. There were all sorts of people laughing and drinking and eating and gambling and telling stories. You could barely hear yourself think over the din.

    ¡°Where¡¯s this merchant?¡± Klothar shouted.

    Justin scanned the room. He didn¡¯t see Wreman.

    Uh oh.

    He pushed his way over to the bar. The same bearded barkeep was there so Justin waved him over.

    The man wiped his hands on his apron. ¡°Back for more Catfish 99, are you?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m looking for that man I was talking to earlier. Wreman. Do you know where he is?¡±

    The barkeep raised an eyebrow. ¡°I have no idea. I serve them ale and food, not act as their nursemaids. Now, what are you having?¡±

    ¡°What? Nothing. I need to find Wreman.¡±

    The barkeep glowered at him. ¡°You need to order something, lad. And then I might tell you what I know. Either that or depart my fine establishment.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Give me two beers. Normal ones!¡±

    ¡°Coming right up.¡±

    Klothar came over to the bar. ¡°Any luck?¡±

    Justin shook his head. ¡°Not yet. I¡¯m working on it.¡±

    A few moments later, the barkeep banged two tankards of ale on the bar. ¡°That¡¯ll be two crowns.¡±

    That price was better than ten crowns for the Catfish 99, but Justin was painfully aware of his dwindling funds. Oh well. That diamond should be worth a pretty penny.

    He paid the barkeep. ¡°Ok. Now that we¡¯re settled up, what happened to Wreman?¡±

    ¡°Said he needed somewhere private to think. The noise was getting to him.¡±

    ¡°And where was that private place?¡±

    The barkeep smirked and tapped the bar. ¡°Another crown or two might loosen my tongue further.¡±

    All of a sudden, Klothar¡¯s arm shot out, and he grabbed the barkeep¡¯s tunic, twisted it tight around his neck, and yanked the man half over the bar, spilling their beers.

    ¡°Tell the lad what he wants to know,¡± the ranger growled. ¡°Now.¡±

    The barkeep gulped and croaked. ¡°Private room. Behind the fireplace.¡±

    Klothar released the man, who stumbled back and rubbed his throat.

    ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± Klothar said. ¡°Now get us two more beers to replace the ones you spilled, you oaf. And make sure you serve us the good stuff.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ yes, sir.¡±

    So badass! Justin grinned.

    While the barkeep was getting their beer, Justin looked around the tavern. There was indeed a large fireplace that jutted out from the back wall of the tavern. The fireplace itself was more than ten feet wide and had the mounted head of a wyvern¡ªwhich was some kind of small dragon¡ªhanging over it. He hadn¡¯t noticed the head when he was here earlier though.

    ¡°Is that a real wyvern?¡± he asked Klothar.

    ¡°Of course it is real.¡±

    ¡°Are they tough?¡±

    ¡°Not as fearsome as dragons, but it probably took a half dozen men to kill that one.¡±

    Klothar motioned to the left side of the fireplace. Around the corner was a narrow door. Klothar pushed it open to reveal a small room lit by wall sconces. There were a few chairs and a round table that was barely more than two feet in diameter. Two of the walls were decorated by tall, narrow tapestries, and there was a window on the outer wall. The only occupant of the room was Wreman the merchant. He had been sketching something on his wax tablet, but he looked up when he saw Justin and Klothar enter the room.

    ¡°Sorry to crash your private party,¡± Justin said. ¡°This is my friend Klothar.¡±

    The ranger didn¡¯t say anything, but he stared at the merchant suspiciously.

    Wreman said, ¡°Pleased to meet you, Klothar. I¡¯m hoping that your presence here means that the mission was successful.¡±

    ¡°It was,¡± Justin said, as he withdrew the amulet.

    Wreman jumped to his feet and took the amulet. ¡°Thank you, sonny boy, thank you!¡±

    :::::. Quest complete! +250 Experience .:::::

    Wow. That was some decent XP.

    Wreman put the amulet around his neck and began to laugh. It wasn¡¯t a very friendly laugh.

    Then the merchant began to change.

    His flesh began to melt like it was made of wax, revealing glistening sinews draped over bones. His body contorted and began to grow in size.

    The creature¡¯s eyes glowed malevolently. It gestured at the door and the bolt slid shut.

    They were trapped.

    ¡°Get back!¡± Klothar shouted. In a flash, his long-handled warhammer was out of its sheath.

    Justin dove for the door, but his foot caught on the leg of a chair which sent him sprawling.

    When he looked back, Klothar and the creature were battling furiously. What the hell had Wreman had become? He stood seven feet tall and what remained of his flesh hung over a misshapen skeleton. But he still wore the amulet.

    Klothar slammed his hammer into the creature, knocking it back.

    This might be a good time to inspect it.

    :::::. Cree¡¯arak the Lich. (Magical Humanoid). Hostile. .:::::

    Oh shit.

    The lich laughed at Klothar and pointed one boney finger at him. Instantly, the ranger flew through the air and smashed into the back wall.

    Then the lich turned to Justin, both arms outstretched. Slowly it floated towards him. Justin could see every detail on its face. The wet shreds of flesh. The rotted mouth. The blood stained bone. So gross!

    Fear clawed through him and he was barely able to breathe. He crouched back into the corner of the room, frozen.

    ¡°Justin,¡± it called¡ªin a deep rumbling voice that seemed to come from everywhere. ¡°You must join me. Together we shall find the Iron Veil, and then¡ª¡±

    At that moment, Klothar attacked from behind¡ªwith a massive blow from his hammer that landed solidly between the lich¡¯s shoulder-blades.

    The monstrosity wailed and turned on Klothar, but the ranger was ready. The hammer jabbed out into the lich¡¯s face, which exploded into shards of bone and viscera.

    It looked like game over for the lich. Its body flickered and started to smoke.

    ¡°Interloper!¡± it hissed at Klothar. And then from the folds of its robes, the lich jabbed something up into Klothar¡¯s gut.

    The ranger fell back and Justin saw a blood-red crystal dagger jutting from Klothar¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°No!¡± Justin cried, scrambling to his feet.

    The lich turned to vapor and was gone.

    But Klothar gasped and blood burbled from his mouth.

    Justin didn¡¯t know what to do. He wasn¡¯t a healer! He tried to stanch the flow of blood from Klothar¡¯s stomach, but it wasn¡¯t working. Worse yet, the ranger¡¯s skin became covered with dark, spiderweb-like markings. As Justin looked closer, he saw that markings were actually Klothar¡¯s veins swelling and turning black. They quickly covered his whole body.

    The ranger screamed once more in agony and then his body faded away.

    Holy crap! Klothar was supposed to be a legendary character.

    Just then he heard banging at the door. ¡°Open up in there¡ªin the name of the Guard!¡±

    This wasn¡¯t good. He was covered in blood and there were two people missing. Justin frantically looked around the room. There was only that one door in or out. But Wreman or Cree¡¯arak or whoever he was left his satchel and the wax tablet¡ªwhich had some sort of design on it. No time to look at it now. Justin threw the tablet into the satchel and slung it over his shoulder.

    ¡°Open this door now or we¡¯ll break it down!¡±

    The window! He might just be able to fit. He worked the shutters open and squeezed through, dumping himself in a narrow alley behind the tavern.

    From inside the room he heard cries of alarm. In two seconds they¡¯d be out the window after him and he¡¯d be toast. He had to run.

    Justin raced away from the tavern towards the stables. Maybe he could hide out there until it got dark. But then where would he go? The fort was locked up for the day. This was really bad.

    He slipped into the stables, keeping his eyes open for the stable master, but luckily he didn¡¯t run into him. He found his horse and snuck into her stall.

    ¡°Easy girl. It¡¯s me. Justin. I never caught your name, but you know me, right? Please be calm¡­¡± The stall was maybe only eight feel by eight feet and was empty except for a wooden hay rack mounted on the wall. The feeder was stuffed with hay. That was good news. The horse had already been fed. Maybe that meant no one would come by.

    Outside, the cries of the guards were clearly audible. They were organizing a search. And they were getting closer.

    What was he going to do? He was trapped in here.

    His horse gave a quiet nicker and nuzzled him as if to reassure him.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s easy for you to say, horse.¡±

    A voice called, ¡°I¡¯ll check the stables!¡±

    Oh, crap. With his sword gone, he didn¡¯t even have anything to defend himself with. Maybe Wreman had a dagger¡­

    He crouched down in a corner and fished around Wreman¡¯s satchel. Besides the wax tablet, he found the cloud diamond, a small brass bell, and a ring. The ring was warm to the touch. That was weird.

    A guard peeked into the stall and their eyes locked.

    ¡°Here he is!¡± the guard yelled. He brandished his cudgel and opened the half door.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move or I¡¯ll thump you!¡±

    Justin felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine.

    ¡°What you got in the bag, boy? A knife? You planning on sticking me?¡± The guard was so close, Justin could smell the man¡¯s breath. It smelled like rotten cabbage.

    Justin must have made an inappropriate face, because¡¯s the guard¡¯s face contorted and he lunged forward, brandishing the cudgel. He swung it right at Justin¡¯s head.

    But the cudgel missed.

    The guard¡¯s eyes widened, and he swung again.

    And the cudgel missed again. It was almost like it was passing right through Justin.

    ¡°What in damnation?!¡± The guard jabbed his weapon right at Justin¡¯s gut, but Justin didn¡¯t feel a thing.

    As the guard backed away in awe, Justin looked down and saw that his entire body was now translucent and gently undulating¡ªalmost like he was made out of smoke.

    He screamed, but no sound came out of his mouth.

    The horse snorted and reared up, her eyes wide with fear.

    Justin fell back instinctively, trying to avoid getting trampled, but instead he floated though the back wall of the stable.

    What the¡ª?

    He was flying now¡ªthrough dark timbers and then he was on the other side of the stockade wall. This was the freakiest thing ever. It was like he was a ghost, but how?

    Then he looked down and saw that he was wearing a ring. It must be the ring that had been in Wreman¡¯s satchel. But how did it get on his finger?

    Justin decided to just go with it. He willed himself to fly and quickly discovered it wasn¡¯t really flying as much as hovering just a foot or so above the ground. And he could move fairly quickly¡ªabout the same as running. But the coolest thing was his ability to pass through any object. It was like being a ghost.

    After five or ten minutes of testing the ring, his head started to hurt really bad; it was a sharp pain right between his eyes at the bridge of his nose. He had never had a migraine before, but this is what he imagined it felt like. Could it have something to do with the ring? Who knew? But better safe than sorry. He pulled the ring off his finger, just in case.

    :::::. Survived a cursed relic! +100 Experience .:::::

    WTF?! A cursed relic? Really? Ugh. Just his luck.

    He rubbed his temples. The pain didn¡¯t go away, but it was starting to fade to a dull ache. Justin peered at the ring. It was kind of hard to see in the light of the setting sun, but the ring appeared to have been forged from a black metal. It had all sorts of scratches on it. When he inspected the ring, all he got was an error message.

    :::::. Unknown .:::::

    He put it into one of the small pouches on his belt where hopefully it wouldn¡¯t get lost.

    Now he had to figure out where he¡¯d spend the night.

 Chapter 17

    It was almost dark. As Pari waded through knee-deep water, she heard the voices. Human voices, for sure. The sound came from up on top of the cliffs She couldn¡¯t make out what the voices were shouting, but it sounded like commands.

    She listened for a few more moments. Should she call out for help?

    But then she saw the shapes being lowered down by rope. They were canoes. Two of them.

    As they splashed down, Pari got a weird feeling¡ªa feeling of dread. She silently slipped into the water and quietly swam away from the canoes as more ropes were lowered and men started to climb down.

    She swam behind a large boulder and froze, with just the top of her head and her nose above the surface of the water.

    There were six men. And they descended the ropes, two at a time, with military precision. It all happened very fast, with no wasted effort.

    Who were these guys?

    Pari decided to inspect them quickly, one after another.

    :::::. Rod Marcino. (Warrior). Player, Level ¡ª .:::::

    :::::. Ed Van Hester. (Battle Mage). Player, Level ¡ª .:::::

    :::::. Joseph Weidlin. (Warrior). Player, Level ¡ª .:::::

    :::::. Alastair Gromley. (Enchanter). Player, Level ¡ª .:::::

    :::::. Thom Callahan. (Healer). Player, Level ¡ª .:::::

    :::::. Francis O¡¯Neil. (Scout). Player, Level ¡ª .:::::

    They were all players, but their levels weren¡¯t displayed. Very strange. She had never seen anything like that before.

    She watched them climb into the canoes. Six very buff dudes in their 30s. All dressed in banded mail, bristling with weapons. They moved quickly. Again, with no wasted effort. No one struggled to get into a canoe. No one cracked a joke. Or complained.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    The first warrior, Marcino, barked out a question: ¡°Do we have a fix on the island?¡±

    O¡¯Neil, the scout, said. ¡°4.3 miles southwest.¡± It looked like he was wearing some sort of goggles.

    ¡°Supers, Grom?¡±

    The enchanter said, ¡°None that I can detect. Not yet, at least.¡±

    ¡°Okay, ladies. We need to make it to that island by dark. Blue Squadron, move out.¡±

    With that, they started paddling straight out into the fog. Their ropes were left still hanging from the cliff.

    Thank god.

    It was tough, with the water steadily rising, but Pari forced herself to wait until she couldn¡¯t see the men any more. Then she tied all her bags to the end of one of the ropes and then climbed up a bit. She made a loop on the other rope, fifteen feet from the end and then wriggled into it and fastened it around her waist. If she fell, this second rope might prevent her from hitting the ground. Or it might just cut her in half. Either way, it was better not to fall.

    As she climbed, Pari told herself that it really wasn¡¯t that far. Maybe the height of a telephone pole. No biggie, right? But halfway up her arm muscles were burning, and she was breathing really hard.

    She cast vivify on herself and it seemed to help. Maybe it was just psychological, but she felt a rush of energy that helped propel her to the top of the cliff. Still, once she got to the top, she rolled over on her back and just rested there for a good ten minutes. Then she sat up and looked around.

    The top of the cliffs were flat and made of the same chalky rock as the sides. The wind was much stronger up here and she was chilled from being wet. Beyond the cliffs to the east were scrubby bushes, gnarled and twisted from the constant ocean winds.

    Pari crouched down and pulled up her bundle and then tossed the rope back down. No reason to alert those guys that someone had used their ropes. Then she made her way east into the bushes. The vegetation was sparse enough so that she could make good time and quickly hike away from the cliffs. She didn¡¯t know who those players were, but she still had a bad feeling about them. It was better to put as much distance between her and them as possible.

    Once she was a hundred yards away from the cliff, Pari found a decent-sized stick and tied some glowstones on the end of it. Instant torch.

    Now she could move even quicker. She needed to make sure she was far away from this area in case those guys with the canoes decided to come back this way. She sucked at tracking, so there was no way she¡¯d be able to find their trail, but she figured if she zig-zagged roughly northeast she might get far enough away.

    Pari hiked for probably three or four hours until she couldn¡¯t take another step. She needed sleep and at this point she didn¡¯t care about anything else. Not the hardasses in the canoes. Not wandering monsters. Nothing. Pari knew that players had an exhaustion attribute that was tracked behind the scenes. If you didn¡¯t rest regularly, you could really mess your toon up. And she was close to being messed up.

    Luckily there was a large clump of bushes nearby. After probing them with her stick to make sure there were no snakes or other creepy crawlies around, she gathered her cloak around her and curled up in a ball. She was asleep within five minutes.

 Chapter 18

    ¡°Blue Squadron found the island,¡± Colonel Noon said.

    General Groves and Noon were in a skiff in Building 800 which was in the military base on the Loneskum-Alexander campus: a secure area within a secure area within a secure area within a fairly secure area.

    ¡°They¡¯re ahead of schedule,¡± Groves said, as he sat down at the conference table. He hadn¡¯t had dinner and his stomach was rumbling, but there was no food and drink allowed in the skiffs.

    ¡°Yes, but unfortunately they are in a holding pattern right now,¡± Noon admitted.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to hear this.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s not too much more to hear, sir. That was the last transmission we got. An hour ago.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°We have no geospatial, no comms there. It¡¯s all HUMINT. Or simulated HUMINT. Whatever you want to call it. Slow going. That¡¯s for sure, sir.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s working?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°So far. We know that the controller gave Blue Squadron the alternative quest. It must trust them to some degree.¡±

    ¡°Who else has it? Do we know?¡± Groves asked.

    Noon shook his head. ¡°Other than that one fellowship, we have no idea.¡±

    There was a knock at the door. Noon checked the video screen and then unlocked the door. Brigadier General Anthony Basato entered and nodded at Groves and then Noon.

    ¡°Severine just filed her report,¡± he said. ¡°Tomorrow morning her targets will be out of the game. Permanently.¡±

    ¡°We were just talking about them,¡± Noon said.

    Groves stood up. ¡°Okay, then. Two pieces of good news.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to make your day, chief. I¡¯ve got one more for you.¡±

    ¡°Really, Basato? What next? Are you going to tell me you found a backdoor into the controller and we can just pull the plug on it without going through all this gaming bullshit?¡±

    ¡°Almost as good. No, this is about Margolin.¡±

    ¡°Do tell.¡±

    ¡°One of his guys found the glitch. You know, the one that didn¡¯t exist.¡±

    ¡°He found it already? That asshole was angling for two weeks. Tell me everything.¡±

    ¡°We got in there as soon as Margolin pulled the guy out. We¡¯ll have the thing documented by end-of-day, but I wanted to give you a heads up that Margolin is now trying to manufacture evidence of human error on the med-tech side.¡±

    ¡°Of course he is. The little shit.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s our timetable on pulling the plug, sir?¡± Noon asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give Margolin his six days. I want everything documented. The Loneskum-Alexander board is not going to be happy when we terminate their contract. We¡¯ve got to be real careful here. There are a lot of fingers in this pie.¡±

    He got up to leave. ¡°Nice work, gentlemen.¡±

 Chapter 19

    Pari woke up in one piece. With all her clothes still on. That was an improvement, right?

    The earliest rays of dawn¡¯s light streamed through the low trees that surrounded her. The air was cold and damp and her cloak was soggy. She stood and stretched out her sore arms and legs and looked around. Nothing but thin forest in all directions, shrouded in low fog. The trees were some sort of juniper trees from the looks of them. Maybe she could gather up the berries and make herself some gin. She knew that Lazarus was a big fan of gin.

    Then she realized that she hadn¡¯t heard back from Lazarus. That wasn¡¯t like him. Even if things were still hairy in the dungeon, he¡¯d shoot back a quick voice message.

    Now she was getting worried.

    Pari spent several minutes leaving messages for the other members of the fellowship: Mariel, Sato, Celia, Benet, and Donagher. Someone would get back to her.

    That reminded her. She totally spaced on messaging back to Justin. The kid must be freaking out.

    ¡°Message to Justin: I am so sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Something happened to me at the party that wasn¡¯t cool. Long story short, I was kind of kidnapped and am trying to make my way back to civilization. If all goes well, I¡¯ll be in Port Arlin sometime today and then will travel down to Oakford Cross. If you can, please meet me there. It¡¯s directly east from Tashon¡¯s Gate. Ok. Wish me luck. Bye.¡±

    Well, now she didn¡¯t feel so guilty.

    Pari kicked the dirt around where she had slept. Wainwright had told her that doing so was a good practice; it made it tougher to be tracked. Then she relieved herself and set off, hiking towards the rising sun.

    She saw some deer, a bear, and some kind of large reptilian creature, but she gave them all a wide berth. Thankfully, there were no signs of the canoe men.

    In the daylight she found it much easier going. The forest wasn¡¯t too dense, and while the ground sloped up, it was a gentle slope.

    After fifteen minutes she found a little brook and was able to drink¡ªwhich was good, because she was starting to feel a little dehydrated. In addition to sleeping, the game required you to eat and drink at least once every two days or you¡¯d start to suffer. Some players chafed at the amount of bio-related realism built into OmniWorld, but she didn¡¯t mind eating, drinking, sleeping, or even pooping. She was just grateful that she didn¡¯t have to shave her legs or pluck her eyebrows. The game designers were kind enough not to simulate constantly growing body hair.

    The sun finally got off its ass and burned through the morning fog and Pari felt warm for the first time in 24 hours. And then she found the road.

    Thank goodness!

    She actually skipped a little as she pushed through the brush and stood on the hard-packed dirt road.

    Civilization, at last! But where the hell was she?

    She jogged along the road a hundred yards in one direction, then came back and jogged a hundred yards in the other direction. No signs. No people. But the road appeared to run roughly northwest to southeast. That meant her calculations had been correct, and this was the road that connected Port Arlin and Oakford Cross. So she must be southeast of Port Arlin.

    That was good news. It would be a long walk, but Oakford Cross couldn¡¯t be any farther than fifteen miles away. If she wolf-trotted it, she¡¯d be in the town in six or seven hours.

    Pari set off. For the first hour or so, she had the road to herself. Then she saw two other players ride towards her, a guy and a girl, both Level 4s. He was a scout, and she was a battle mage. They didn¡¯t really want to stop and chat, but they did tell her that Oakford Cross was less than two hours away. That was a lot closer than she had thought.

    As she neared the town, the road became more crowded. There were NPC merchants, travelers, and guards, as well as a bunch of players. Finally she caught a glimpse of the spires of Wyndon Castle, the tallest structure in Oakford Cross.

    But before she entered the town proper, Pari got a strange notification:

    :::::. The Fellowship of Wood and Silence: you are now the fellowship leader .:::::

    What the hell? This didn¡¯t make any sense.

    Then it hit her and she almost screamed aloud.

    Lazarus! No!

    She pushed her way through underbrush, moving off the trail, and sat down on a fallen tree and took a deep breath.

    It must be some kind of mistake.

    She tried to pull herself together.

    ¡°Message to Lazarus: I got a weird message just now. Please, please, contact me.¡±

    :::::. Message could not be delivered. No such player as Lazarus .:::::

    No! It couldn¡¯t be¡ª</p>

    She sent messages to the rest of the fellowship. Just three words. ¡°Contact me. Urgent.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Her stomach knotted as she got four error messages back:

    :::::. Message could not be delivered. No such player as Benet .:::::

    :::::. Message could not be delivered. No such player as Celia .:::::

    :::::. Message could not be delivered. No such player as Sato .:::::

    :::::. Message could not be delivered. No such player as Donagher .:::::

    The only message that was delivered was the one to Mariel.

    Another wave of nausea hit her hard, and Pari started to hyperventilate. She put her head between her legs and tried to slow her breathing, but it was no use.

    They were all dead. Everyone but Mariel.

    How?

    <hr>

    Justin awoke in the top floor of a granary not far from the stockade wall. He had figured that no one would bother him there and it would be safer than trying to sleep in the woods.

    As he sat up, he got an alert:

    :::::. New message from Pari. Listen? .:::::

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    While he listened to the message, a feeling of relief washed over him. It was good to hear her voice and to know she was okay. But kidnapped? That was weird. He couldn¡¯t wait to hear that story, and also to tell her what had happened to him. First, he¡¯d have to get his ass over to Oakford Cross.

    But what about Klothar? He had no idea of what happened when an NPC died. Did they rez at a Life Tree like players?

    He decided to hike over to the Life Tree west of the fort and see if there was any sign of the ranger. But first he wanted to examine the stuff in Wreman¡¯s satchel. He slipped on his ring and smiled as his body became ghostly. Then he just walked through the outer wall of the granary and gently floated to the ground below.

    He took a quick look around to see if anyone had noticed him, but there was no one within sight. After removing the ring and tucking it away, he walked a few hundred yards west down the road and then ducked off into a little grove of trees that couldn¡¯t be seen from the road. What sucked was that now he could feel a headache coming on. Could it have been from the ring? If so, that would be really bad. He didn¡¯t want some magic ring stealing his soul or anything.

    Justin carefully emptied the contents of Wreman¡¯s satchel on an old stump and stared at the items arranged there. The bell was made of copper and was small¡ªabout the size of an egg. It didn¡¯t have any markings on it, but it looked old and tarnished, like maybe it was an antique. He was really curious, but he didn¡¯t want to ring the bell just yet. Just his luck it would summon Cree¡¯arak the Lich or maybe something even worse. Time for a little overlay action.

    :::::. Unknown .:::::

    Really? It was obviously a bell. Couldn¡¯t the game just confirm that? Oh well. After wrapping the bell in some leaves to keep it quiet, he tucked it back into the satchel.

    Next he held the diamond up to the light. It looked like the same cloud diamond Wreman had shown him in the tavern. And the little flickers of light still danced within the gem. Justin¡¯s knowledge skill had helped him identify the gem as a cloud diamond, but he had no idea of what it was actually worth. Only a jeweler or gem crafter could tell him that. Just to be sure, he inspected it.

    :::::. Cloud diamond (gem). An extremely valuable item .:::::

    The last item was maybe the most interesting¡ªaside from the magic ring. It was the wax tablet Wreman had been looking at when they found him in the back room. There was a very odd sketch on it.

    It appeared to be some kind of stick figure with a big head or a headdress. Almost like the petroglyphs he had seen in Hawaii when he was a kid. The figure was roughly humanoid, but had four arms, and it looked like it was jumping off of a cliff or floating near a cave. Justin couldn¡¯t decide which. Maybe inspecting it might offer some clues.

    :::::. Wax tablet (common item). For drawing or writing. Usable .:::::

    Duh. It was probably too much to ask for the system to just tell him what was on the tablet.

    He kept staring at the design, but it still didn¡¯t make sense to him. And why would Wreman draw something like that?

    A voice interrupted his thoughts.

    ¡°What kind of adventuring companion, are you, lad?¡± Justin looked up and saw Klothar leading the horses over to him.

    ¡°I¡ª¡±

    The ranger grinned and playfully punched Justin on the shoulder. ¡°You were just going to leave me, weren¡¯t you, you scoundrel?¡±

    What a relief. The ranger was back.

    ¡°I was going to check the Life Tree,¡± Justin stammered. ¡°That¡¯s where I was headed now. Is that where you came from?¡±

    ¡°The spirits saw fit to raise me from the dead back in Holgate. I couldn¡¯t travel the Dark Tree at night, so I set out early this morning. What do you have there?¡± He looked over at the stump.

    ¡°Have I got a story for you.¡± Justin started to fill him in on what had happened after the lich died.

    ¡°I have to stop you there, lad. That foul abomination did not perish. Not in any way. I just sent it back to its lair. Against its will, surely. But it¡¯s not dead.¡±

    ¡°Whatever,¡± Justin said. ¡°You chased it away, but this satchel was left behind. Wreman¡¯s satchel. It had a bell in it, a diamond, and a ring¡ªwhich is going to blow your mind. He also left behind this.¡± Justin showed Klothar the wax tablet.

    Klothar¡¯s expression darkened as he studied the tablet. Finally, he said, ¡°This is some sort of demon. And it looks to be invading Lorque.¡±

    ¡°Lorque?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the coastline.¡± He pointed to the swiggly line in the right corner of the tablet. ¡°Lorque is down here.¡±

    Okay now he was seeing it. The image was a map and the squiggly line was the coast. He had been looking at it wrong. But, still, what did this have to do with the merchant? Or the lich for that matter?

    ¡°Liches don¡¯t command demons, do they?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Not that I have ever heard of.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what the connection is.¡±

    Klothar shrugged. ¡°It may not have anything to do with us.¡±

    ¡°Well, if we¡¯re on this Iron Veil quest, it sure does.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, lad?¡±

    ¡°You probably didn¡¯t hear the lich because you were too busy kicking its ass, but it spoke to me. Something about joining it to find the Iron Veil.¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t look so surprised. We sages are in high demand, apparently. Even with liches, I guess.¡±

    Klothar said, ¡°We need to consult with the oracle again. She can help us make sense of all this.¡±

    ¡°We can do that, but we need to pick up Pari first. She contacted me¡ª¡±

    ¡°Your telepathic bond?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, whatever. The important thing is that she said she¡¯ll be in Oakford Cross soon.¡±

    ¡°Very well. If we don¡¯t tarry, we can make it there before noon. Let us make haste.¡±

    ¡°Hang on. I have one more thing to show you.¡± Justin removed the black ring from his belt pouch and held it up for Klothar to see.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    ¡°Check this out!¡± Justin slipped the ring on his finger and his body faded into near nothingness. ¡°I¡¯m a ghost, yo!¡±

    Klothar¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°A Ring of the Spectre.¡±

    ¡°When you say it like that, it doesn¡¯t sound so good.¡±

    ¡°Was that item from the lich?¡±

    ¡°Um, yeah.¡±

    Klothar shook his head. ¡°That is a most dangerous artifact. Powerful, yet extremely dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I get it. A cursed relic. I saw The Lord of the Rings. So what should I do with it? And don¡¯t say toss it into the Cracks of Doom.¡±

    Klothar said, ¡°I know of no place with that name, and I cannot advise you what to do with the Ring of the Spectre. That may very well be another question for the Oracle.¡±

    Great. Big help.

    Justin left it at that and they mounted up. Next stop, Oakford Cross.

 Chapter 20

    Eventually Pari had calmed herself enough to start walking again. The sky had clouded up, and it smelled like rain was going to hit any second.

    Normally, she was fine with rain. No big deal. But the combination of this horrible news, plus the fact that she had spent a good part of yesterday wet and freezing made her dread even the lightest drizzle.

    Pari had stepped up her pace to Oakford Cross and found a tavern¡ªthe Drunken Pony¡ªwhere had she parked herself by the front window and ordered some soup. Then she had sent a message to Justin telling him where she¡¯d be waiting.

    Pari had been sitting here for the past few hours and had graduated from soup to beer. It seemed a more appropriate liquid to drown her sorrows in.

    ¡°Can I buy you a beer or something?¡±

    She looked up to see a woman in her 40s with frizzy brown hair streaked with grey. She was tall and thin and had a kind face.

    :::::. Helene Vorhaus. (Enchanter). Player, Level 5 .:::::

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°Or some tea,¡± Helene said. ¡°Whatever you want.¡± She sat down without being asked.

    Pari sat back in her chair and looked at the woman. What was her deal? Maybe this lady was just being friendly. But after the whole experience with that pink-haired bitch, she wasn¡¯t about to let her guard down.

    The woman shrugged at her. ¡°I just saw you there with this expression on your face like your best friend just got run over by a bus.¡±

    ¡°There aren¡¯t any buses here.¡±

    ¡°Okay, a dragon then.¡± Helene smiled.

    ¡°Matter of fact, you weren¡¯t far off. I just learned that everyone in my fellowship wiped. Well, all but one.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Totally. And they were all Januarys and Februarys so they¡¯re not coming back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about that. What on earth happened?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea. They were exploring a dungeon in Hell¡¯s Gate.¡±

    ¡°Not the Underfane, I hope?¡±

    ¡°No, it was some temple.¡± Pari drained the last of her beer. ¡°The Temple of Xyurn. It must be a really tough run because our first party wiped too.¡±

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t go?¡±

    ¡°No, we had two squads. I was in the other one. We were in the Vexham Maze for like a week.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been there. Not fun.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that was nasty, but we all made it out alive,¡± Pari said. ¡°By the way, I¡¯m Pari. I¡¯m blabbing at you and I haven¡¯t even introduced myself.¡±

    ¡°No problem. I¡¯m Helene. Pleased to meet you.¡±

    ¡°So, Helene, what¡¯s your fellowship? And don¡¯t say the Hawks because if you do, I¡¯ll bash your head in with my beer mug. Fair warning.¡± Pari smiled.

    Helene laughed. ¡°No, I¡¯m with the Godz of Greystrand. That¡¯s with a ¡®z¡¯ just in case you weren¡¯t sure.¡± She made a smirky little face.

    ¡°I would have bet money on it. What, is your leader like fifteen years old?¡±

    ¡°Sometimes I think she is. No, she¡¯s probably your age. Etra Belaj. Ever hear of her?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s a January too. Kind of a big deal. She was the first to solo the Bloodmotes.¡±

    ¡°Why bother? A group of level threes can handle that, no problem.¡±

    ¡°She wanted to say she did it.¡±

    Pari rolled her eyes. ¡°One of those, huh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a little bit.¡± Helene stood up. ¡°So how about that drink? Offer still stands.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good. I¡¯m kind of off people buying me drinks for a while.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I had a bad experience at a recruiting party on Tuesday night,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I never go to those things anymore. Plus I¡¯m never invited.¡± She grinned. ¡°Be right back.¡±

    Pari sighed. This lady was nice, but Pari had definitely learned her lesson. No drinking with strangers. No way.

    She peeked out the window which had a good view of one of the main streets in the village. It was now officially pouring out, and the street was gradually turning into a big long mud puddle. Where was Justin? It was getting late and, at this rate, there was no way they¡¯d make it back to Rathenhall today.

    Helene returned to the table with a goblet of cider¡ªwhich actually looked good¡ªand a big freshly baked pretzel, which looked even better and smelled pretty awesome too.

    ¡°Pari, help yourself,¡± Helene said.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Thanks.¡±

    Helene broke off a piece of pretzel. ¡°So what fellowship are you in?¡±

    ¡°The Fellowship of Wood and Silence.¡±

    Helene¡¯s eyebrows raised a bit as she munched on her pretzel. ¡°And you were making fun of our name? Do you guys have your own monastery too?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we get that a lot. I¡¯m not sure why Lazarus picked that name. I think might have been into Eastern philosophy.¡±

    ¡°I know Lazarus,¡± Helene said. ¡°Tall guy, pale, with the cheekbones?¡± She took a drink of her cider.

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s pretty pale.¡±

    ¡°He kind of looks like that actor Sean Ford, right?¡±

    Pari smiled. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s him. Very interesting guy. I learned a lot from him. How do you know him?¡±

    ¡°We sold him some stuff a month or so ago. I don¡¯t remember what. Potions maybe. I remembered his name. Just Lazarus, right? No last name?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s him. Or was.¡± Her stomach knotted at the thought, but she took a deep breath. ¡°So I¡¯m actually the fellowship leader now. But with no fellowship.¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that one of your team survived?¡± Helene asked.

    ¡°Mariel. But she¡¯s not answering her messages, so I have this horrible feeling she¡¯s trapped someplace dying and it¡¯s just a matter of time before¡ª¡± Pari¡¯s voice faltered and she began to tear up. ¡°Sorry.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it. I mean, this whole thing is a game, but that doesn¡¯t make it any less painful, right?¡±

    Pari nodded. Helene was right. This was a game¡ªtechnically¡ªbut it was also one of the intense experiences she ever had in her life.

    ¡°Do you want to talk to Etra?¡± Helene asked. ¡°I can set something up. We¡¯re full right now, but we had a bunch of our team hit five recently, so it¡¯s just a matter of time before we lose folks.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate the offer, but I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯m going to do just yet. I have to find out what happened to Mariel and then there¡¯s this guy I sort of recruited. I need to figure some stuff out.¡±

    ¡°Well, if you want to talk, we¡¯re based in Jodrell. We have a pretty nice hall. I did all the decor. And you probably won¡¯t forget our name, right?¡±

    ¡°No way. Godz with a ¡®z.¡¯ Burned into my head.¡±

    Helene laughed. ¡°Good to meet you, Pari. I need to get going. I¡¯m here on a supply run and if I¡¯m not back by noon tomorrow, I¡¯m going to have a bunch of pissed off crafters to deal with.¡± She drained her cider and stood up.

    ¡°No problem. Have fun shopping, Helene.¡±

    ¡°You hang in there.¡± She squeezed Pari¡¯s shoulder on her way out.

    ¡°Will do.¡±

    Well, at least this she survived this encounter. She hated to be so suspicious. Most of the players in this beta were actually pretty cool. It was just a handful¡ªlike those asshole Hawks¡ªthat really soured her.

    But the whole thing got her thinking about the fellowship and what she should do next. The thought of Mariel out there also made her upset. She was never very close with the healer, but they were team mates, and now the only two members of W&S left.

    Pari looked longingly at the pretzel bits that Helene had left. Should she?

    A tapping sound on the window caught her attention, and she looked up to see Justin grinning at her. Klothar the ranger was standing beside him looking serious. She motioned for them to come in out of the rain.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Still smiling Justin came around to her table.

    ¡°Hey stranger,¡± he said.

    ¡°Good to see you, Justin.¡±

    They hugged a little awkwardly.

    Klothar gave a half nod/half bow and said, ¡°We have much to discuss, my lady.¡±

    ¡°Well, have a seat,¡± Pari said. ¡°But maybe take your cloaks off first so we don¡¯t flood the place. I¡¯ll get us some drinks.¡±

    After a few minutes they were all settled with pretzels and beer for the guys and a cider for her. It was a little weird at first, but soon they were talking like old friends. Justin explained what had happened with his initiation and then what happened with Klothar and Chad.

    ¡°Way to go, Klothar!¡± she said. ¡°You took that asshole out.¡±

    The ranger just shrugged. ¡°I could tell he was a knave from the moment I laid eyes upon him.¡±

    ¡°More than you know,¡± Pari said. ¡°Wait until you hear my story. But I don¡¯t get it. What did you want Justin for? He¡¯s what you might call an apprentice adventurer. Kind of wimpy. No offense, Justin.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Uh, thanks.¡±

    ¡°I was told to find the both of you. We were to form a group.¡±

    ¡°Told? By whom?¡±

    ¡°Patience, dear lady. Let Justin finish his tale. I promise you, it is a worthy one.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, K. That means a lot.¡± Justin continued with his account, and described what had happened in Tashon¡¯s Gate and the quest Wreman gave him and the ambush by the args.

    ¡°That sounds like a higher level quest. I¡¯m surprised he gave it to you,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°Well he did, and I completed it, but I died in the process.¡±

    ¡°Get used to it. So what are you up to now, experience wise?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m at 1535.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re way behind. You should have dinged by now.¡±

    Klothar¡¯s face reddened. ¡°You youngsters! I can¡¯t believe that you speak of these things so openly. In my day, if a man had such needs, he¡¯d ding in private.¡±

    Pari stared at Justin and rolled her eyes. Okay¡­

    ¡°Anyway,¡± Justin said, quickly trying to change the subject. ¡°The really scary part was when Wreman put on the amulet. He freaking turned into a lich right there in the tavern!¡±

    ¡°A lich? Get out!¡±

    ¡°He did. And my man Klothar here started wailing on him with his hammer. Putting on the hurt¡ª¡±

    Justin stopped himself and turned to Klothar. ¡°By the way, where is your hammer?¡±

    The ranger stared down at the table. ¡°Lost.¡±

    ¡°What? No way! That was a sweet weapon.¡±

    ¡°I fear the spirits took it as payment for my resurrection.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll help you get it back,¡± Pari offered.

    ¡°¡¯Tis not that simple. Though I appreciate your loyalty.¡±

    Justin took another swig of beer and said, ¡°So the lich¡ªCree¡¯arak was his name¡ªis all ¡®Justin, you must join me. Together we will rule the universe as father and son¡ª¡¯¡±

    Pari elbowed him. ¡°He did not say that!¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m kidding about the ruling the universe part but he did want me to join him on the quest for the Iron Veil.¡±

    ¡°The what?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°The Iron Veil. Please tell me you know about the Iron Veil.¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± Pari said.

    Justin¡¯s face fell. Then he got very serious. ¡°C¡¯mon, Pari. Don¡¯t mess around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not. I¡¯ve never heard it. Then again, I haven¡¯t run into any lich quest givers.¡±

    Klothar said, ¡°The Iron Veil is of the greatest import.¡±

    ¡°According to him, it¡¯s the world quest,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know which world quest you guys got, but I¡¯ve been working on finding the Shadow Lance since I started and so has my fellowship and every other fellowship in the game, p.s. and by the way.¡±

    Justin rubbed his eyes then looked up. ¡°That can¡¯t be. Master Desiderius told me about the Iron Veil and Klothar knew about it too.¡±

    Pari shook her head. ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t heard of any place like that. Not the whole three months I¡¯ve been here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a place,¡± Klothar said. ¡°It¡¯s a thing. A very important thing.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute. Isn¡¯t it vale as in ¡®valley¡¯?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Justin said. ¡°It¡¯s veil as in ¡®shroud.¡¯ Something you wear on your face.¡±

    ¡°You know that doesn¡¯t make any sense, don¡¯t you? A veil made of iron? How do you know it¡¯s not Iron Vale, v-a-l-e? Like a valley where they mine iron ore. Don¡¯t you think that would make more sense logically?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to think,¡± Justin said as he stood up. ¡°Where¡¯s the restroom? I need to piss.¡±

    ¡°No restrooms in Greystrand. But there¡¯s a privy in the back yard.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± He walked away clumsily.

    Pari turned back to Klothar. ¡°You really know about this Iron Veil thing?¡±

    ¡°Aye.¡±

    ¡°But you can¡¯t tell me what it is?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s part of the mystery,¡± the ranger said.

    ¡°And this has something to do with the dragon?¡± Talking to the ranger was like pulling teeth. It really was.

    Klothar leaned back in his chair, tipping it up on two legs. ¡°I believe someone sent the dragon to destroy you. Or me. Or Justin. So we wouldn¡¯t meet. And wouldn¡¯t form our company.¡±

    Pari crossed her arms. ¡°Okay, but how did you first hear of the Iron Veil?¡±

    A strange look played across Klothar¡¯s features. He looked off into space and muttered. ¡°I fear I don¡¯t recall.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t remember who gave you the most important quest in the world?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ It may have come to me in a dream. But then the oracle confirmed it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, an oracle¡¯s involved? Ok. Great.¡± She was having a hard time with this whole Iron Veil thing.

    Justin returned to the table. He still had a defeated look on his face. ¡°So there¡¯s more to my story.¡±

    ¡°Shoot.¡±

    He went on to tell her about what he had found in Wreman¡¯s satchel, including bell and the Ring of the Spectre.

    Whoa. That was intense. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve got to watch that,¡± she said. ¡°There are things in the game called ¡®cursed relics¡¯ that can really mess you up. Especially at your level.¡±

    ¡°Exactly what I told the lad!¡± Klothar said.

    ¡°Yeah, I know about cursed relics. I got XP for this one.¡± Justin pulled something out of the satchel. ¡°Oh, but there¡¯s one more thing,¡± he said theatrically.

    Pari leaned in closer as Justin placed what looked like a wax tablet on the table. When she saw what had been drawn on it, she took a sharp breath.

    ¡°I saw that thing!¡± she said, pointing to the alien-looking stick figure carved in the wax. ¡°I saw it yesterday.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Klothar asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a Cormorian¡ªa freaking huge giant. Like a hundred feet tall. I saw it just off the shore just like that map says.¡±

    ¡°Do you know anything else about it?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Just what popped up when I inspected it. As I said, it¡¯s called a Cormorian. It¡¯s legendary. And hostile.¡±

    ¡°Of course it is,¡± Justin said.

    ¡°But it was just standing out in the water. It didn¡¯t attack or anything.¡±

    ¡°Did you happen to see it around dusk?¡± He pointed to a pictograph on the tablet which looked like a setting sun.

    ¡°Yeah, I did. It was just before dusk.¡±

    ¡°What about this little shape near the Cormorian¡¯s foot? Is it an island or something?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any islands, but it was pretty foggy.¡± Then it hit her. The guys in the canoe. They were right there paddling out into the water. They must have been looking for the island.

    She filled Justin and Klothar in about that. The ranger looked particularly concerned.

    ¡°If this is indeed part of our quest, those men are ahead of us. We need to find that island.¡±

    Pari didn¡¯t know what to think. This could be a whole new quest chain that was different from the Shadow Lance. Or maybe it was another branch. Who knew? But the weirdest thing was that Klothar¡ªan NPC¡ªhad been given a quest. And not only that, the quest had named her and Justin. That never happened. Players did quests; they weren¡¯t part of quests. This whole thing was making her brain hurt.

    She took another sip of cider and said, ¡°I need to start at the beginning.¡± Next she told them what had happened at the party with Zo? and the wine and the ghir.

    Justin smirked at her. ¡°You know your gal pal is actually Chad¡¯s girlfriend, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°No way.¡±

    ¡°Swear to god, I saw them kissing right before we left the inn.¡±

    Pari rocked back and forth in her chair, rage coursing through her. She needed to pull it together.

    She took a deep breath and said, ¡°Well she was a lying sack of shit, so it doesn¡¯t surprise me.¡±

    ¡°Language, my lady!¡± Klothar admonished.

    ¡°Whatever.¡±

    ¡°So what do you do in a situation like that¡ªrevenge-wise?¡± Justin asked.

    Klothar said, ¡°Vengeance is folly. Remember that, lad.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Justin said. ¡°If it was me, I¡¯d take her out. Or something.¡±

    Pari sighed. ¡°You can¡¯t kill other players. You can¡¯t even hurt them.¡±

    ¡°That sucks.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it does. But back to my story¡ªit gets worse.¡± She took another breath and continued. ¡°So I wake up on this boat¡ªstark naked by the way¡ªthree hours out of Lorque.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It was my own fault for getting messed up, but¡­¡± She trailed off.

    ¡°But what?¡±

    Pari rubbed her eyes. She might as well level with them. ¡°I¡¯ve been really depressed since my sister died.¡±

    The guys were silent for a few moments and then Justin asked, ¡°You had a sister? In the game? Like a real sister?¡±

    So Pari told them everything. About Iniya, about the fellowship, what had happened to them all, and the fact that now she was all alone.

    Justin moved closer and hugged her. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re not alone. Not at all.¡±

    ¡°The lad is correct,¡± Klothar said. ¡°We are in this together, my lady.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t even know what this is.¡± Pari went on to tell them about the Storm Reavers and her escape in the weird diving bell thing.

    ¡°That¡¯s how I ended up on that beach¡ªstaring at a giant. But I don¡¯t understand what any of it means. It feels like I am on a quest that I never chose. I don¡¯t know the objective. I don¡¯t even know who gave me the quest. It¡¯s totally bizarre.¡±

    Klothar said, ¡°I know where we can find some answers. We need to return to the Dark Tree.¡±

    Pari shook her head. ¡°You can¡¯t take Justin into the Dark Tree. He¡¯ll never survive.¡±

    ¡°I can keep him safe. I can keep both of you safe.¡±

    ¡°But why?¡± Pari asked. ¡°What¡¯s in there besides a crap load of monsters?¡±

    So Klothar told them about the oracle. Apparently after the dragon had attacked them, Klothar was compelled to seek answers in the Dark Tree. He didn¡¯t know who or what he was looking for. He wandered for hours and then he came upon a ruined fane.

    ¡°A what?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s like a temple,¡± Justin said. ¡°I¡¯ve never actually seen one. I just recognize the word. Somehow.¡±

    Klothar went on to describe how he found the oracle¡ªwhich was actually more of a statue of an oracle¡ªand it told him about the Iron Veil and the importance of finding Justin and Pari.

    ¡°See, the same thing happened to you. A quest with no details,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°I¡¯m no poet, my lady. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m doing a poor job of conveying what I saw in the fane, but do not fear. You shall see the oracle for yourself.¡±

    Pari drained the last of her cider. She was a little buzzed now and all this was very overwhelming.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s too late to go anywhere today,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to spend the night here. And then get an early start in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Agreed,¡± the ranger said. ¡°I¡¯ll secure us some lodging.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Pari said. ¡°I need to get up. I¡¯ve been sitting for way too long.¡±

    ¡°Cool,¡± Justin said. ¡°Let¡¯s all walk around. I want to see the town.¡± He pointed out the window. ¡°And it looks like the rain finally stopped.¡±

    After Pari had arranged for an upstairs room with three beds, she and Klothar took Justin on a tour of Oakford Cross.

    It was a market town¡ªeasily four times as populous as Holgate, with tightly-packed buildings of stone and timber. Once a week all the farmers from the southeast would bring their goods to Oakford Cross to sell. The rest of the time you could buy a wide variety of crafted items and supplies¡ªas well as the occasional piece of treasure or magic item sold by a player.

    They strolled along quaint twisty cobblestoned streets with pubs and specialty stores ranging from cobblers to ink sellers. And the streets were pretty full of people for this late in the afternoon. Maybe everyone had waited until the rain stopped before going about their business.

    ¡°What¡¯s that place?¡± Justin asked, pointing to a square filled with wagons. ¡°It looks pretty happening.¡±

    A bunch of people were hanging out watching some jugglers and other street performers.

    ¡°It¡¯s called Jubilee Plaza,¡± Pari said. ¡°Let¡¯s check it out.¡±

    There was another tavern with outside seating so they stopped for some wine and a light meal of bread and cheese.

    Before long, a troupe of actors set up two of the wagons as a makeshift stage and began performing a play called ¡°The Owl and the Dragon.¡±

    Pari, Justin, and Klothar stayed for the whole thing. It turned out to be kind of a mystery story about a village girl who suddenly goes missing.

    Pari thought that the main character trying to solve the mystery was kind of unbelievable. He was a big hulking barbarian type who just happened to also be a brilliant detective. Conan the Barbarian plus Sherlock Holmes. Yeah, right. But she liked the female lead, a barmaid named Wylla. She was plucky and kind of cool.

    The guys liked the barbarian dude, though. Typical.

    After the play ended, the actors moved through the audience with a hat and everyone threw a few coins in.

    ¡°So this is what the civilized folks do?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°A little more civilized than dwarf tossing, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the play was cool. I haven''t seen a play since I was a little kid.¡±

    ¡°You should get out more.¡± Pari yawned. She needed to sleep and soon. ¡°Let¡¯s head back. I¡¯m beat.¡±

    ¡°Good idea, my lady,¡± Klothar said. ¡°We should leave tomorrow at the first light of dawn.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to need a horse.¡±

    ¡°And I am going to need some weapons,¡± Klothar said.

    ¡°Me too,¡± Justin said. ¡°And I need a bunch more experience points.¡±

    They returned to the inn and made their way up to their room. Klothar secured the door and each of them climbed into bed.

    What a day. Pari realized that this was the first night since Monday that she was sleeping in an actual bed. She fell asleep thinking about Klothar and wondering if NPCs could dream.

 Chapter 21

    Justin was the last one to wake. In fact, it took Pari tickling his feet to actually rouse him from his slumber.

    ¡°I was beginning to think that your Ring of the Spectre had drained all your life energy and you were in a coma.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± He sat up quickly. ¡°It can¡¯t do that, can it?¡± A jolt of panic snapped him awake.

    ¡°Maybe.¡± She grinned at him.

    ¡°Rise and shine, lad. We¡¯re off to see the oracle.¡±

    Justin cracked up, and he heard Pari giggling too.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean ¡®we¡¯re off to see the wizard¡¯?¡± she asked.

    ¡°What wizard?¡± Klothar looked genuinely perplexed.

    ¡°Never mind.¡±

    They got some food downstairs and then set off to find a weapon smith. There Klothar spent a half hour testing various long-handled hammers and axes. Finally he settled on one.

    ¡°This is a poor substitute for Foebasher, but I supposed it will have to do.¡±

    ¡°Foebasher? That was the name of your hammer?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°Indeed, it was.¡±

    Justin wanted to get a new short sword, but Klothar steered him towards an iron-tipped shortstaff which was about four feet long.

    ¡°This is much easier than a sword to wield,¡± the ranger said. ¡°And it can be even more deadly.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡±

    ¡°Yes, especially in the hands of a novice.¡±

    Justin made a face.

    ¡°I want one of those too,¡± Pari said.

    So they ended up with a shortstaff each plus a lightweight leather sheath so they could wear their new weapons on their backs. Klothar also insisted that they get long knives and belt scabbards.

    ¡°This is cool,¡± Pari said. ¡°Maybe we can train together.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m definitely up for that,¡± Justin said.

    Next they purchased a palfrey for Pari. She explained that her horse Milly was being boarded at a farm in Holgate, so she would sell this palfrey once she got back to the village.

    ¡°They should have horse rental here,¡± Justin said. ¡°Does that exist?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it,¡± Pari said. ¡°But you should suggest it. You know how to do beta reporting, right?¡±

    Justin shook his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s voice activated like messaging. Just use the phrase ¡®beta report from¡¯ and then say your name and then what you want to report. Give it a try.¡±

    ¡°Um, okay. Beta report from Justin Boone. I think it would be cool to have horse rentals, so you could ride from one town and drop the horse off at another.¡±

    :::::. Feedback received. Thank you .:::::

    That was pretty cool.

    ¡°It worked,¡± Justin said.

    Klothar shook his head. ¡°If you youngsters are done with your tomfoolery, we need to set off.¡±

    It took them three and a half hours to get to Tashon¡¯s Gate. As they got closer, Justin asked Pari if the guards would try to arrest him if he entered the fort.

    ¡°Did you have a run-in with them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I ran from them after Wreman turned into the lich. It was kind of dumb, but I panicked.¡±

    ¡°Bad news. Guards don¡¯t forgive and forget. Ever.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there was this one guy, Brant, who went to every single town, village, city, and outpost in Greystrand and broke a whole bunch of laws and pissed off all the guards.¡±

    ¡°How come?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe just to see what would happen. He literally could not go anywhere without getting locked up.¡±

    ¡°So he couldn¡¯t buy anything?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°He couldn¡¯t buy anything, he couldn¡¯t sell anything, he couldn¡¯t get quests, he couldn¡¯t join a fellowship. He ended up committing suicide and starting over.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s rough.¡±

    ¡°It was his own fault for being an idiot.¡±

    They rode past the fort at Tashon¡¯s Gate and continued on for a half hour or so before taking a break to rest the horses.

    ¡°Do we have time for a little hunting?¡± Justin asked Klothar.

    The ranger nodded. ¡°As long as we stay nearby. We need to be back on the road within the hour.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on the horses,¡± Pari said. ¡°Unless you need me to heal.¡±

    ¡°No, I think we¡¯ll be good.¡±

    Klothar spent the next fifteen minutes tracking his prey which were four foot tall bipedal wombat-like creatures that looked like taller, chubbier ratkins. They were polachars, but Klothar kept referring to them as ¡®swamp hogs.¡¯

    They cornered a group of four polachars against a tall moss-covered rock formation. The creatures fought like frenzied Tasmanian devils, but Klothar and Justin¡¯s ¡°tag and bag¡± strategy continued to work well. Justin would make first contact¡ªsometimes by throwing a rock to get the mob¡¯s attention¡ªand Klothar would provide most of the DPS.

    The only close call was when Klothar nearly brained him with the new warhammer. Justin actually had felt the breeze as the hammer flew within centimeters of his head. Yikes.

    At the end of it, though, Justin earned another 250 XP, bringing his total to nearly 1800. Still slow going, but at least he was making some progress.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    When they returned to the horses, Pari asked, ¡°How¡¯d you do? Did you kiss the Life Tree?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Did you die? You haven¡¯t heard that expression yet?¡±

    ¡°No on both counts. But I am up 250 XP.¡±

    ¡°Better than nothing.¡±

    ¡°I guess,¡± he said unenthusiastically.

    Pari came close and gave him a playful tap on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, tiger. You¡¯ll ding before you know it.¡±

    Klothar sighed loudly and facepalmed. ¡°Please! Be a little more delicate in your speech, I beseech you.¡±

    Pari and Justin both laughed. They all saddled up and continued east on the trade road. As they rode, they passed a few groups of players¡ªmostly low levels venturing out of Holgate for the first time.

    Pari explained that once you hit level two, you¡¯d either be sent to Marby or Tashon¡¯s Gate, depending on your quest chain.

    ¡°What about Rathenhall?¡± Justin asked. Thanks to his lore skill, he knew that Rathenhall was one of the three largest cities in Greystrand. It had over 5,000 citizens and a thriving wool trade.

    ¡°The road from Holgate to Rathe isn¡¯t particularly safe for level ones or twos. Once you¡¯re done with the Tashon¡¯s Gate quests, you¡¯re sent to Oakford Cross then Lorque.¡±

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s bad that I¡¯m not doing the quests I¡¯m supposed to be doing?¡± Justin asked.

    It was something that was gnawing at him. Every game he had ever played had a clear progression of stuff you were supposed to do. Was he totally screwing this up by hanging out with Klothar and Pari?

    ¡°Honestly, I have no idea,¡± Pari said. ¡°We¡¯re in new territory here. That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    ¡°You must trust your heart, lad,¡± Klothar added.

    They rode on in silence and before long the road was swallowed up by the Dark Tree forest. Vine-tangled trees blocked the afternoon sun, and it even felt like the temperature dropped a few degrees.

    ¡°You ride in the middle,¡± Pari said. ¡°It¡¯s a bit safer.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Justin was getting a little creeped out. He and Klothar had traveled on this same road yesterday, and nothing had happened to them. But now, the forest seemed a lot more forbidding.

    Pari must have picked up on his nervousness. She said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This stretch of road is relatively safe. It gets much worse to the north and the south.¡±

    ¡°We turn south in a mile!¡± Klothar announced.

    ¡°Do we really need to leave the road?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s the only way to reach the oracle.¡±

    ¡°So Justin,¡± she said. ¡°In case anything goes wrong in there, you¡¯ll just rez back in Holgate at the Life Tree there. You remember that?¡±

    ¡°I think so. The ratkins, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s actually no big deal. Just wait for us in the square if we get separated.¡±

    ¡°But I want to see the oracle too!¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t die, lad,¡± Klothar said. ¡°It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±

    After a quarter hour more, Klothar found the mark he had made on a tree and told them to dismount.

    ¡°This is where we must leave the horses,¡± he said. ¡°It is too dangerous to bring them into the wood.¡±

    ¡°But what will happen to them?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°My steed is well trained. With any luck he¡¯ll persuade the others to follow him back to Holgate. There¡¯s a pasture he is particularly fond of. Hopefully, we¡¯ll find them all there when this expedition is complete.¡±

    They removed the horses¡¯ saddles and bridles and reins and their gear and then Klothar whispered something to his horse. The steed neighed and snorted at Klothar but then started walking east down the road, with the other two horses eventually following.

    ¡°It¡¯s five miles to the village. I hope they make it,¡± Klothar said. He shrugged into his backpack and slung his coil of rope around one shoulder.

    ¡°I hope we make it,¡± Pari said. ¡°We should figure out a plan.¡±

    ¡°I told you the plan, young lady. Don¡¯t die.¡±

    With that, the ranger readied his bow and entered the forest.

    ¡°Hang on, we need to group,¡± Pari said.

    Klothar shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s more suitable for climbing, my lady. In the forest we need freedom of movement. We do not want to lash ourselves together.¡±

    ¡°Um, I meant something else. Justin, if you get a group invite, just say that you accept.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    She murmured something and a second later, an invite popped up in his overlay.

    :::::. Pari has invited you to join a group. Accept? .:::::

    ¡°Yes,¡± Justin said aloud. ¡°I accept.¡±

    :::::. You have joined Pari¡¯s group .:::::

    ¡°Did you get it?¡± Pari asked.

    ¡°Yes. I accepted.¡±

    ¡°Ok, now focus on me or think of the group. I know it sounds weird, but just try.¡±

    He focused on Pari and said the word ¡®group¡¯ to himself. A new overlay popped up:

    :::::. Group: Pari (Undamaged, Energized), Klothar (Undefined) .:::::

    ¡°You see the status?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yeah, but it says that Klothar is undefined.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s because he¡¯s an NPC. He probably doesn¡¯t have an overlay.¡±

    ¡°What are the two of you babbling about?¡± Klothar asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this.¡±

    ¡°Almost done,¡± Pari told him. Then she explained to Justin that the Group overlay displayed all members of the party and their relative health and energy.

    ¡°It used to give you actual numbers, but they nerfed the display so now it¡¯s just descriptive. ¡®Partially injured.¡¯ ¡®Critically injured.¡¯ Stuff like that.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s energy?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my healing energy. Basically spell points. So you can tell if I have enough power to heal you.¡±

    ¡°Very cool.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to do it now, but if you look at your Circle of Reckoning, you¡¯ll see a dot for me, so you can track my location.¡±

    ¡°Like Find My Friends.¡±

    ¡°Yup. But it only works like within a mile or two radius.¡±

    ¡°Are you two done with your hokum talk?¡± Klothar asked.

    ¡°Sorry, Klothar.¡±

    The ranger huffed and strode into the forest.

    ¡°You¡¯re next,¡± Pari said. ¡°I¡¯ll take up the rear. Just keep your eyes open and let us know if you see anything.¡±

    As they pushed through the underbrush, Justin asked, ¡°What exactly is in this forest?¡±

    Pari ducked under a low-hanging branch draped with a blackish lichen. ¡°It varies depending on where you are, but none of it¡¯s fun.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve already fought the big spiders.¡±

    ¡°I would rank them towards the bottom of the food chain.¡±

    ¡°Seriously?¡±

    ¡°Sure. You¡¯re going to find your standard kobolds, goblins, and arbor spiders in just about any forest. But the Dark Tree has some especially nasty mobs.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°Like haggoths, draug, green rhaders, foot worms, and balvadors.¡±

    ¡°Foot worms? I think you¡¯re making that up.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not, lad,¡± Klothar said. ¡°Stay on the game trail. Don¡¯t be stepping into any puddles or marshy ground or you¡¯ll find your boots full of them.¡±

    ¡°Your boots and your feet. They can burrow through leather and into your body in less than ten seconds.¡±

    ¡°Stop. I am going to hurl.¡±

    Pari laughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t even mention the loam ticks yet.¡±

    They made slow progress through the forest, winding through ivy-strangled trees that looked like birch or oak but had sickly grey leaves and gnarled branches. A thick carpet of rotting leaves obscured the ground, and only Klothar could pick out the game trail.

    Everything was intensely quiet and even the sounds they were making as they trudged through the wood seemed muffled. The air was stagnant and stuffy. Oppressive. Maybe it was his imagination, but Justin actually felt like he was having trouble breathing.

    ¡°Do people have allergies in the game?¡± he asked Pari.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s just what it¡¯s like here. Try to breathe through your nose. It will filter some of it out.¡±

    ¡°How much longer?¡± he asked Klothar.

    ¡°Hard to say. Not more than an hour, I expect.¡±

    Great.

    The ranger abruptly raised his hand and called for them to stop. He slowly crouched down and motioned Justin and Pari to do the same.

    There, a dozen yards away, a net of thick fibrous webs stretched across a stand of trees. From some of the trees hung weird grey papery pendulum-shapes, three or four feet tall. They almost looked like elongated wasp nests.

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Justin asked.

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Pari said.

    ¡°Me neither,¡± Klothar said. ¡°Although those webs appear to be from arbor spiders.¡±

    ¡°We better go around,¡± Pari said.

    The ranger nodded and guided them down a slight slope into a dry stream bed lined with boulders and dead leaves. It ran perpendicular to the wall of webs. He motioned for them not to speak as they carefully moved past the webs along the stream bed.

    Then without warning the ranger toppled backwards, knocked off his feet.

    Justin watched in horror as Klothar was dragged through along the ground in a flurry of dead leaves.

    ¡°Grave vines!¡± Pari shouted as she jumped out of the stream bed. ¡°Watch your legs!¡±

    But it was too late. A vine as thick as his shortstaff whipped around his ankle and jerked him to the ground.

    ¡°Help!¡±

    Everything was a blur. Pain jolted through him as he smacked against rocks and was dragged along the ground. An alien chittering sound echoed throughout the stream bed, chilling him to the bone.

    In front of him Klothar struggled as well. It was like they were being dragged behind a pickup truck.

    Justin slammed into another boulder and felt his ribs crack. The pain was unbearable.

    From the corner of his eye, he spotted Klothar chopping down with his hammer. Pari ran along, trying to keep up with them.

    ¡°Hang on!¡± she cried.

    Justin tried to do what Klothar was doing; he tried to strike the vine with his shortstaff, but it was impossible to aim as his body twisted and turned. It was all he could do to hold on to the weapon.

    Then he flew by Klothar. The ranger had been able to dislodge the vine. Justin caught a glimpse of Klothar staggering to his feet with Pari helping him out of the stream bed. Then black spots started clouding Justin¡¯s vision. He could barely see what was around him¡ª

    And then all of a sudden there was a rush of icy cold air and Justin was sucked underground.

 Bonus Short Story

    Here''s a preview:

    The last rays of sunlight shone through the big windows of the crowded common room at the Hive & Harrow, Holgate¡¯s one and only inn. The beams lit up the hair of the tall blonde girl sitting across from Phil, creating a halo around her head.

    She looked like an angel.

    It was either the magical sunlight light or the multiple flagons of ale Phil Gardner had quaffed¡ª

    ¡°Hey, you guys, here comes Lukas. I think this is it!¡± The blonde girl grabbed the hands of the the recruits on either side of her and squeezed them excitedly.

    A few hours ago Phil and three other recruits had returned from a long day of being twinked by some of the senior members of the Golden Hawks, the most popular and desirable fellowship in the game. There had been a kerfuffle first thing in the morning when their fifth recruit, a little twerp named Justin, somehow managed to get Chad killed and Tyson almost killed by bringing a psycho NPC into their camp. Luckily, there had been a ton of Hawks around the training grounds so Chad got rezzed and Tyson healed up pretty quickly.

    After that rough start, they hit the quests hard, and by the end of the day, they had all earned their daily max, and everyone was well beyond halfway to level 2.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    Phil couldn¡¯t complain.

    ¡°Well, Dannay, how are our little pledglings doing?¡± Lukas strode over with a big smile on his face and put his arm around the tall blonde girl. ¡°Anyone pass out yet?¡±

    ¡°Uh, Linds is looking a little green. She turned towards the mousy-looking girl sitting next to her. ¡°You doing okay, honey?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just a little tired,¡± Lindsey said.

    ¡°What do you have to be tired about?¡± asked Seth McCafferty. ¡°You were in the back most of the day.¡±

    Lindsey¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°I am a scout, Seth! I¡¯m supposed to stand in the back!¡±

    ¡°Hey, kids, no drama, okay?¡± Lukas put his hands on his hips. ¡°You all did outstanding today. Really outstanding. Chad¡¯s very excited for all of you.¡±

    He turned to Phil. ¡°Phil, you did great too, but unfortunately it looks like we¡¯re going to need to pass this time around. Sorry, bro.¡±

    Phil couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing.

    ¡°Hang on, what are you saying, Lukas? I¡¯m not in the Hawks?¡±

    ¡°It was a tough call. It really was, Phil. You have a lot of potential. It¡¯s just that the slots we have open right now just aren¡¯t a good fit for you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Tyson said you needed battle mages. I thought I was doing well. I did more damage than anyone else. I took out the ratkin boss¡ª¡±

    Lukas shrugged. ¡°Yeah, I think it was more a chemistry thing. You know, Chad is looking for people who¡¯ll fit in really well. We¡¯re splintering off a few sub-fellowships and he needs everything to be pretty tight.¡±

    Phil looked around at the other recruits around the table. The only way they could be ¡®fitting in¡¯ better was because they were young. This was bullshit.

    He drained his beer and stood up.

    Lukas said, ¡°Listen, Phil. For what it¡¯s worth, you can keep the staff and bracers. They¡¯re good until you hit level 3.¡±

    ¡°What am I supposed to do now?¡±