Awaken Online (Book 3.5): Apathy

by Bagwell, Travis

  Which left one option.

  She glanced at the area around her, trying desperately to find somewhere she could run. A tree stood to her side, a single low-hanging branch relatively accessible despite her short stature. A tentative, desperate plan began to form in her mind.

  As the bear took a lumbering step forward, Eliza bolted. She darted for the tree beside her, jumping and grabbing at the branch. In the real world, the tree limb would likely have been out of reach, but, with her slightly enhanced statistics, she managed to just barely make the jump and her fingers curled around the rough bark. She desperately pulled herself up as she heard the thunder of the bear’s paws striking the ground behind her and the drumbeat of her own heart. At the last second, she managed to scramble onto the branch just as the bear’s paw crashed into the base of the tree.

  Eliza chanced a glance down and immediately wished she hadn’t. She could see that the single swipe of the bear’s claws had torn deep grooves in the base of the tree trunk, and it was already rising on its hind legs and clutching at the base of the tree as it began to climb – seemingly undeterred that its prey had fled into the trees.

  Moving quickly, Eliza climbed further up tree’s wide limbs, the occasional stray branch scraping the skin of her hands and arms as she hauled herself up. Within only a few seconds, she sat nearly twenty feet above the bear, clutching at the trunk of the tree to maintain her precarious balance.

  To her dismay, the grizzly had made good progress as well, its claws digging into the bark and hauling up its bulk. She wouldn’t have long before it reached her perch in the tree. Moving quickly, Eliza’s hands began twining through the gestures of her Ice Bolt spell, a shard of ice forming in the air before her. It was difficult to maintain her balance since she had to use both hands to cast the spell – the whole process made worse by the fact that tree limb beneath her trembled and shook as the bear made its ascent. She tried her best to aim the spell, the bolt dancing erratically as she attempted to focus.

  As Eliza completed the spell, the shard raced forward… and shattered harmlessly against the ground near the bear. Her aim had been off, and the creature had already inched its way closer, its massive claws scraping against the tree trunk and its mouth opening in another growl – revealing a massive pair of fangs.

  Her thoughts raced, and her heart thumped in her chest as she watched the beast. It was all she could do to keep her balance on the tree limb, much less aim her spells. In her desperation, Eliza tried Cold Grasp instead. Her hands trembled as they wound through the gestures of the new spell and a ring of blue energy began to form along the trunk of the tree beside the grizzly. A moment later, the spell completed, and spikes of ice abruptly jutted from the ring of energy.

  The icy spears thrust into the bear’s torso, blood bubbling around the wounds, and the creature let out a massive roar of pain. The beast gave a mighty heave, the lances of ice breaking in half with a crunch – leaving several spears embedded in its side. The entire tree trembled as the bear tried to avoid falling, its claws curling around a nearby branch and scraping at the bark frantically. It managed to regain its balance and only seemed more enraged by Eliza’s spells as it continued to climb.

  Eliza spared a glance at her mana pool and saw she could cast the spell a couple more times, and so, acting quickly, she began casting again and again. Glowing azure rings continued to appear along the trunk, followed shortly by lances of ice that speared outward and into the bear’s flesh. However, even when Eliza managed to land a direct blow, the creature shrugged off the attacks, seemingly undeterred despite the blood that now stained its matted fur.

  In her haste, she missed the next few spells, the frozen spears lancing harmlessly into the air. Yet the ice inadvertently created a veritable wall between her and the bear – the lances forming a makeshift barrier, and thick ice coating the surrounding bark. This slowed the bear’s progress since its claws had trouble finding purchase on the slick surface. The beast tentatively smacked against the icy barrier to no avail, letting out a massive bellow of frustrated rage as it realized that it wouldn’t be able to make it to its prey.

  Eliza used the momentary lull to pull a mana potion from her pack and quickly chug its contents, noting that the potion began to restore her waning mana supplies. At the same time, the bear seemed to give up its chase, and the entire tree shook as the beast let go and landed heavily on the ground below. It then began pacing around the base of the tree, sniffing at the trunk.

  She almost breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately froze as the creature met her gaze – its eyes filled with rage. It had no intentions of giving up. With an uncanny intelligence, the bear turned to the trunk, extending its claws and swiping experimentally at the base of the tree. The blow caused fragments of bark to cascade out from the impact site, and the tree lurched to the side. The beast snorted as it heard Eliza’s yelp of surprise and immediately followed up with another attack, its claws scraping deep furrows in the wood.

  “Oh shit,” Eliza murmured, quickly realizing that the bear was planning to bring down the entire tree – and her with it.

  She frantically began casting Ice Bolt, a shard of ice forming in the air before launching forward at a frightening pace. Her aim was better this time, and the lance struck the bear in the side of the neck, bright-red blood welling around the wound and staining the forest floor.

  However, the beast ignored the blow and kept going, its claws swiping at the tree again in a frenzy as Eliza kept casting her spells – trying her best to aim as the tree swayed beneath her. The race was on now, and it was all she could do to keep casting Ice Bolt in the vain hope of slaying the bear before it brought down the entire tree. Bolt after bolt of ice crashed into the beast’s form, penetrating its torso and neck. Meanwhile, she could feel the entire tree tremble as the bear tore into the trunk.

  As the tree gave a final shudder and threatened to collapse, Eliza summoned one last icy spear, her heart beating hard in her chest and despair curling in her stomach. The fragment danced and spun erratically in the air as it pieced itself together. This time, she used every last ounce of concentration to aim the shard.

  Time seemed to slow as the bolt raced forward, Eliza’s breath caught in her throat as her eyes traced its trail. The bear reared up, readying itself for a final swipe. Just as it was about to strike, the shard penetrated its eye, a massive spurt of blood erupting from the wound.

  The bear abruptly stopped its attack, roaring in pain as it clawed at its own eye. Its claws had shattered the end of the projectile, but it was unable to pull out the fragments of ice that had already been embedded in its eye socket.

  Eliza capitalized on her opportunity, summoning yet another Cold Grasp. The blue circle appeared under the bear, centered on its neck as it writhed on the ground and pawed frantically at its face. As she finished casting the spell, lances of ice speared upward, piercing the creature’s neck and erupting from the other side in a spray of hot blood. The bear twitched and struggled against the spears pinning it to the ground, its growls turning into gurgling coughs.

  A moment later, the creature finally lay limp and unmoving.

  The Grizzly Bear has died.

  x1 Level Up!

  You have (5) undistributed stat points.

  Eliza still sat perched in the tree, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she stared down at the bear’s corpse. Shards of ice littered the tree trunk and the ground around the tree, the crystalline surface of the spears stained crimson with the beast’s lifeblood. The ground around the tree had been trampled flat, and fragments of bark and wood lay across the area.

  As Eliza took in the scene of destruction, she couldn’t quite believe that she was still alive. On top of that, she had actually taken out another creature in-game! However, that thought immediately gave her pause, the evidence of the hard-won battle still lingering around her. She had only barely made it through the fight and only by immediately fleeing up a tree. At this thought, the sudden flush of victory
vanished – replaced with a sense of despair that curled and coiled in her stomach like a living thing.

  A single question kept bouncing around her head. If it was this difficult to take out a normal beast her own level, what hope did she have of slaying the Silver Stag?

  Chapter 11 - Aimless

  Eliza had been wandering the forest for hours now, to the point where the entire journey had begun to blur together into an endless series of tree trunks and leafy branches. If it weren’t for her map, she was pretty sure she would have gotten lost many times over. At that thought, she slumped against a tree and let out an exasperated sigh.

  Not only had she wasted an incredible amount of time, she hadn’t once caught sight of anything that even remotely resembled a deer, let alone a silver one. She had passed several groups of players, being cautious not to draw too much attention to herself. And, luckily, she had avoided any more encounters with the local wildlife – having become accustomed to scouting ahead and keeping a Dexterity potion in hand in case she needed to run. She had learned her lesson with the bear.

  “I leave for a few minutes, and you’re already lazing about,” the Hippie abruptly spoke up, appearing from behind a nearby tree with Fluffy in tow. “For shame!”

  “Minutes?” Eliza grumbled. Of course, the Hippie would show up now to taunt her for her failure. “Try hours. And I haven’t seen this silly deer once.”

  “Oh, really?” the god replied in surprise, his eyes wide. “I thought this would be an easy quest – a slow pitch, if you know what I mean.”

  Eliza closed her eyes, rubbing at her temple with one hand. “Easy? This forest is huge, and I’m looking for a single creature. Plus, there are a ton of players wandering around killing everything in sight. You could at least narrow down my search a little.”

  “Hmm, hardship builds character,” the god replied, leaning against the tree next to Eliza. “Besides, giving away the location of the Silver Stag would be cheating. I never took you for a cheater!”

  Fluffy took this opportunity to trot up to Eliza and rub his head against her thigh. The sheep looked up at her with an expression that almost looked like compassion. Without thinking, she reached out and petted his head, watching as the sheep’s eyes promptly rolled back in bliss.

  “This just seems impossible…,” she murmured.

  “Hmm, then perhaps you aren’t looking at it from the right angle,” the Hippie replied.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Eliza demanded, glancing over at him.

  The god shrugged. “Well, every time that Fluffy and I put on one of our famous theatrical productions, we have to get in character. You know, really try to put ourselves in our character’s shoes. Maybe it would help for you to do the same here.”

  “Wait, what? You put on plays?” Eliza asked in confusion, glancing at the Hippie uncertainly.

  “Eternity can be a real drag let me tell you,” the god groused. “We have to find things to occupy ourselves.” At Eliza’s skeptical expression, the god continued defensively. “Don’t look at me like that! Fluffy is becoming a rather experienced playwright. He has several companies considering his manuscripts, and we’ve gotten some excellent feedback so far.”

  Eliza risked a glance at the sheep beside her and noticed him shaking his head subtly. Just how much of the conversation was Fluffy able to follow? Not for the first time, she questioned whether the sheep was special somehow.

  “Anyway, this is all beside the point,” the Hippie said, waving a dismissive hand. “What I’m saying is that you need to get in character. You know, think like a deer.”

  “Think like a deer?” Eliza echoed skeptically.

  “Yeah. You know, deer things. Erm… like eating grass?” The god’s gaze shifted to Fluffy. “That’s what deer eat right?” he whispered to the sheep – which earned him something that looked remarkably like a shrug.

  “Or maybe deer drink stuff? Like beer… No, that doesn’t sound right. Maybe water? I guess?” The Hippie now looked really confused, and he sighed heavily. “I’m just now realizing that I know nothing about deer. Fluffy is always much better at animal husbandry. He actually wanted to be a veterinarian in his youth. It seemed like such a good fit given his upbringing.”

  Eliza just ignored the god’s ramblings. Amid all of the random gibberish was the semblance of a good idea. Maybe she had been approaching this all wrong. Simply wandering through the forest didn’t seem like it would be successful. She “might” run into the Silver Stag randomly, but it wasn’t a sure thing. What if she changed tactics? If she could identify an area that the deer would need to visit, then she could lie in wait.

  The fragments of a plan were beginning to piece themselves together in her mind.

  “Hmm, that’s actually not a bad idea,” she murmured.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you like the idea for our new indie brewery,” the Hippie exclaimed. “Fluffy has been skeptical, but I think Beastly Brews is a great name. We were thinking of starting with some stouts and porters for our first batch…”

  As he noticed Eliza shaking her head, the god trailed off. “What on earth are you talking about?” Eliza asked. Apparently, she had tuned out his jabber for a few seconds, and he had gone off on an oddball tangent.

  “What are you talking about?” the god demanded.

  “Finishing your quest… You know, finding the Silver Stag,” Eliza said slowly, once again questioning the god’s sanity.

  “Ahh, yes! Looks like you have a lot of work to do and Fluffy and I should really get hops-ing on that brewery idea. I think I already have an idea for the logo…” the god trailed off as he walked behind the tree and abruptly disappeared. Fluffy spared one last apologetic look at Eliza before following the Hippie.

  Eliza couldn’t help but sigh as she reviewed the conversation. Could a god even drink beer? Would alcohol affect him the same way as a human person? That thought gave her pause. Or maybe he was already drunk. That would actually explain a lot.

  In any event, the crazy god had at least given her an idea of where to start. She had passed a small stream further back along the hunting trail. Perhaps the Hippie was right, and the Silver Stag did need to drink – just not beer. This game seemed realistic enough for that to be a possibility. If she walked along the stream or set up camp near a small pond, that might increase her odds of running into the animal.

  It certainly seemed like a better plan than roaming the forest aimlessly.

  With her mind made up, Eliza walked back down the path until she found the small stream. The water was barely a trickle, running over the smooth stones of the creek bed and heading south. A glance at her map confirmed that the town of Falcon’s Hook was due east – along with the shoreline – so maybe that meant that the stream would pool into a lake or pond further downstream. It seemed possible, at least.

  Eliza made her way down the stream, the creek bed providing a much easier path forward that was unblocked by the dense vegetation of the forest. She was being cautious and kept one of her potions in hand so that she could flee if she needed to. If the stag was drawn to the source of water, then it followed that other animals and creatures would be drawn to it too.

  Nearly an hour later, Eliza discovered that the stream terminated into a small lake. The surface stretched about fifty feet across, reflecting the sunlight. A quick inspection of the area revealed that several other small tributaries and streams fed into the lake. A glance at her map also showed that she was now far to the southwest of Falcon’s Hook and was at least a few hours from Alma’s compound.

  She quickly scouted the area around the lake, noticing the impressions along the muddy edge of the shore. Eliza saw an odd mixture of paw prints. She had no idea what shape a deer’s hooves would make – or if the Silver Stag even really looked like a deer. The Hippie wasn’t exactly a trustworthy source of information. However, it did seem like the local animals used the lake as a source of fresh water.

  “Now what do I do?” Eliza murmured to hers
elf.

  She supposed she should wait by the lake and see if the Silver Stag showed up. That might be safer than wandering the forest. With that thought, she took a seat against one of the trees a few yards from the shoreline. She still had an unobstructed view of the water, but she hoped that this would conceal her small form.

  And so began the wait. Various animals stopped by the lake over time. She noticed a healthy bear population in the woods and some sort of creature that looked like a mutant boar – it’s body much larger than she expected and gruesome tusks jutting from its mouth.

  Then there were the magical beasts. Her blood froze in her veins when she caught sight of a massive birdlike creature, its beaked head affixed to a serpentine neck and bat-like wings jutting from its shoulders. Her Inspection revealed that the beast was called a Wyvern and it was a whopping level 150. She had kept very still while it drank, practically holding her breath until it finally disappeared.

  After hours of sitting against the tree, Eliza almost missed the tell-tale signs of the silver-furred creature when it finally visited the lake – her eyelids drooping tiredly. At first, she thought she had imagined the creature and blinked rapidly to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Surprisingly, the Silver Stag did look a lot like a deer. Yet it moved with a grace that seemed to defy physics, practically gliding up to the water. An intricate framework of horns jutted from its head and gave off an ivory glow in the soft light of the forest.

  Eliza was careful to control her breathing, and she moved slowly as she climbed to her feet, afraid to disturb the beast. She quickly inspected the Silver Stag, hoping that her ability wouldn’t reveal anything too crazy. After her experience with the Hippie, she still suspected that there must be a catch to this quest.