by Phoenix Grey
A bit startled, Azure launched out after him. All of the dark sprites froze in mid-air, their beady yellow eyes turning in the direction of their attackers. Azure's heartbeat quickened as he watched Uden jump the fence and stop a few yards short of the dark sprites to throw his first blade. It hit the mark with dead accuracy, dropping a dark sprite to the ground.
Azure felt unsteady as he nocked and loosed an arrow. It flew over the target's head, landing in the dirt and splintering into dust. The dark sprite's tiny face contorted in anger, and he charged at Azure. No longer were the sprites fluttering around lazily. They gained speed with their intent to attack, making a beeline for the two heroes.
His second shot hit the mark, the arrowhead slicing completely through the flying creature, sending blood and a glimmer of white light spewing through the other side. Extinguished with its life force, the dark cloud that had been surrounding the sprite disappeared. Its limp body fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Defeated Level 1 Dark Sprite. 9XP rewarded.
The notice flashed across the bottom of Azure's vision. It stayed only long enough for him to read it before disappearing. A momentary distraction.
By the time his attention refocused on the battle, another dark sprite was almost upon him. He took a few steps back as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. The dark sprite paused a few feet away, its hands glowing as it began to cast a spell. Azure took aim and fired. At such close proximity, there was no way to miss. The sprite let out a pained groan before dropping to the floor.
Before the notice at the bottom of his vision even had time to disappear, another dark sprite was gearing up for an attack. Fearlessly, it flew like a bullet straight for Azure's face. Azure raised his arms to defend himself against the attack, backstepping as quickly as possible. Not watching where he was going, his foot landed in something mushy. Lifting it caused the rotten gourd to cling to his shoe, and he ended up losing his balance and falling.
The dark sprite took advantage. A spray of gray viscous substance flew from its fingertips, hitting Azure right in the face. The scents of rotten citrus and salt filled his nose, and his eyes immediately began to burn.
Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage. You are now blind. You will be unable to see for the next 10 seconds.
You've got to be kidding me.
Instinctively, Azure tried to wipe away the glop from his face, but it only seemed to smear.
A sharp pain below his right collarbone, much like the sting of a wasp, was followed by another notice.
Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage.
“Oh, come on!” he growled, pinching his tunic to draw it up to his eyes and help wipe the substance off.
There was another sting to his forearm.
Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 3 damage.
Booming laughter came from somewhere to his right, and Azure immediately recognized the person it belonged to.
“You look so pathetic right now,” Uden mocked him.
Thankfully, Azure's vision was starting to return, but it was muddy. The tiny black figure danced in front of him, a slightly darker blur than the fog around it. Light weaved in front of it, which meant it was gearing up for another spell. Azure leaned to the side, dodging just in time.
“Are you really going to let that dark sprite beat you?” Uden was wearing an ear to ear grin as he watched Azure struggle, obviously amused. There were no more dark sprites to be seen around them, which must mean he had vanquished the rest. Still, it didn't seem like he was about to offer Azure any aid.
The dark sprite pulled a tiny dagger from its belt and dove for Azure. He tried to swat it, but the blade still pierced his skin before the sprite darted away and out of reach.
Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage.
Am I really going to get my ass kicked by this thing, Azure wondered as he reached out to find his bow where he had dropped it during the fall. The dark sprite was too close to fire, though. It flitted back and forth in front of him, annoying and distracting him between attacks. The best he could do was flail at it in frustration, kicking his foot to try to dislodge the gourd so that he could stand and put space between them.
The dark sprite wasn't about to make that easy for him. With more impressive strategical skills than its predecessors, it went for his hand that was holding the bow. A good stab was enough to make him drop it again.
“Fuck's sake, are you really just going to stand there?” Azure yelled at Uden.
The little beastie had finally stopped assaulting him long enough to start casting another spell. Azure kicked his foot a few more times, and the remains of the rotten gourd sloughed off of his shoe. He was just about to scramble to his feet when another shot of goo came sailing at his face, hitting its mark.
Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage. You are now blind. You will be unable to see for the next 10 seconds.
“Fuuuuuuuuuck!” Azure shouted.
“You are truly hopeless,” Uden said with a sigh, tutting at him.
Azure clawed at the substance, his frustration mounting. He couldn't believe he had let the dark sprite hit him twice. Was he really so weak that he couldn't fend off one tiny sprite at close range? Apparently so.
His health bar was in the yellow, and he felt weak as an after-effect. This was a good lesson in keeping his enemy at a distance when he was using a ranged weapon. Maybe the bow wasn't really his cup of tea in this game.
Figuring that Uden was a big enough jackass to just watch him die, Azure scrambled to get the goo off of his face. No matter how much he wiped though, it seemed to take its sweet time about coming off. Azure supposed that the spell would be useless if it didn't have a time limit. Part of him wondered what would happen if he just sat there and did nothing. That wasn't an option though. Not with the little bastard insistent on stabbing him to death.
Azure cursed as he felt another sting to his bicep. His health bar fell even lower. Yup, he was about to be killed by a dark sprite. Wasn't this quest supposed to be Easy? He distinctly remembered the notification saying so.
Another sting struck his chest before his vision began to return. Azure was starting to feel like a human pin cushion. Pain throbbed from every wound inflicted. It was far more intense than anything he'd felt in a game before. Like the injuries were real and not just something that the headset had tricked his brain into believing.
His arms were so shaky from his loss of health that he could barely support his own weight. Refusing to give up, he reached for his bow again. The dark sprite was at a safe distance, weaving its hands in the air to conjure another spell. Azure had to decide which was more important, trying to take a quick shot or dodging the spell. If he got hit again, he was done for. He gripped his bow, realizing seconds too late that he had made the wrong choice. Dodging would have definitely been more important.
Just as the sprite pointed its tiny fingers at him to cast the spell, a dagger went sailing through the air, striking it in the side. The dark sprite had been so busy focusing its attention on Azure that it hadn't even seen the attack coming.
Azure turned his head to see Uden smiling smugly. “I couldn't quite decide if I should let you die or not,” he said as he went to retrieve his dagger, “but I don't feel like listening to a lecture from my father.”
The corpse of the dark sprite lay dismembered at Azure's feet. Only a string of bloody entrails connected the two halves. It was a gruesome sight to behold, like something out of a horror movie. Azure could smell a faint hint of copper in the air mixed with the rot of the gourds. Tiny bodies littered the garden like a small massacre.
Uden returned and picked up the torso of the dark sprite that had given Azure such a hard time and promptly ripped off its wings before tossing its corpse thoughtlessly back to the ground. The way he did this without so much as a hint of remorse made Azure think he'd done it hundreds of times before. He showed the bodies no respect, taking the wings from every sprite he'd killed.
“Why are you taking their wings?
” Azure asked, pulling himself up from the ground. His limbs felt wobbly, and he had a bit of a headache. Being injured to this degree definitely sucked.
“They fetch coin at the market. You should loot your two as well.” He nodded to one of the sprites that Azure had killed.
“What about the bodies?” He stumbled over and knelt to scoop up the body, showing far more care in the act than Uden had. For a few moments, he simply stared at the small thing. It was cold in his hand, the crimson blood leaking onto his fingertips. Nothing made the game feel more real than this.
The glowing yellow eyes were closed. The sprite appeared to be nothing more than a small man with dark gray skin. If it truly was magicked or cursed as Uden had said, then this was once a good creature. Azure felt a twinge of guilt from having taken its life.
“They came from the land and to the land they will return,” Uden replied as he finished collecting the wings from his kills.
“Is there nothing we could have done for them?” Azure asked, feeling uneasy about pulling off the dark sprite's wings, even though it was dead.
“Maybe.” Uden shrugged nonchalantly. “But that wasn't our job, was it?”
The guy was heartless. The fact that he'd considered just letting Azure die told him that Uden couldn't be trusted.
Despite not wanting to defile the dead, the thought of earning some coin was a great motivator. No doubt, Azure would need to buy a lot of things throughout his time in The Realm. Armor was at the top of his list. Getting almost taken out by a dark sprite on his first quest was embarrassing.
Azure pinched the wings of the sprite and lifted it before gripping the body gently with his other hand. A quick tug produced a ripping sound, the feel of which reminded him of tearing the wings off of a butterfly when he was a child. He had been too young then to feel guilty for his curiosity.
As he placed the wings in the satchel that he had woken up with, an inventory screen popped up. There were currently twelve slots available. Thankfully, the sprite wings stacked.
Wanting to uphold some sort of morals, he gently set the body back on the ground before moving on to the next. The dead deserved to be treated with respect. Perhaps that feeling would wear off as he progressed through the game, but for now, he was going with what felt right.
Once they had finished looting the bodies, Uden walked around collecting them. This seemed contradictory to what he had just said about them returning to the land.
“What are you doing?' Azure asked, watching him.
Uden paused for a moment, looking at him incredulously. “Well, we wouldn't want to scare the others off, now would we?”
“The others...” That was right. Azure's quest had been to kill five dark sprites, and he'd only managed to down two. He had been curious if they would respawn like in other games he'd played.
“Now what did you learn this time, Noob?” Uden walked past him out of the garden to chuck the maimed and dismembered bodies into the bushes.
Oh, so Uden had been trying to teach him a lesson by almost letting him die. This should be rich.
“Don't trust you to save me,” he grumbled.
“Besides that.” Uden waved the comment away before gesturing for Azure to join him near the trees.
“Don't trust you at all.” He narrowed his eyes at the half-imp's backside.
“A good lesson, but not one that will save you in the next wave.” Uden seemed unaffected by the remark.
This caused Azure to stop and think. Perhaps Uden was really trying to be helpful. For as much of a dick as he was, he wasn't all bad. He'd given good lessons during their archery practice together. Maybe Azure could take away something from this after all.
“I learned that dodging is just as, if not more, important than attacking,” he guessed.
“A good observation, but not quite what I was going for.” Uden dug into his pocket and pulled out a small red vial before handing it over to Azure. “Drink this. It will heal some of your wounds.”
Azure eyed the vial skeptically as he took it. A notification helped to set his mind at ease.
You have received the following item:
Potion of Minor Healing
Quantity: 1/1
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0 kg
Uses: Heals 30 HP
Without further hesitation, he uncorked the vial and drank the contents down. As soon as the liquid hit his stomach, Azure immediately started to feel better. Watching his health bar fill back up to green gave him a sense of relief.
“What you should have learned,” Uden said as he took the empty vial from Azure and placed it back in his pocket, “is that when you're working with a ranged weapon, it's important to maintain a safe distance from your foe. And to be aware of your surroundings.” His gaze dropped to Azure's foot which was a dark brown in comparison to the other due to the wet compost still clinging to it from the rotten gourd.
“Ah yes. Fair point.” Azure nodded.
Uden leaned against the tree, retaking his hidden position. “We still have a few minutes before the next round of dark sprites show up. Hopefully, you'll feel better prepared this time around. Experience is the best teacher, after all.”
Azure did feel better prepared. There were seven sprites in the next wave, and he took all of Uden's advice to heart, maintaining a much safer distance as he went on the offense. He kept aware of his surroundings as he backed away from the approaching sprites, refusing to make the same mistake twice. Any time one was too close and began weaving its magic, he gave pause to dodge before getting hit with the viscous blinding goop. His shots rang through the night air sure and true, landing blow after blow and netting him three kills without any injuries.
Congratulations! The skill: Analyze has reached Level 2. This skill allows you to see how dangerous a foe is in relation to your own level. Use this skill frequently to avoid getting yourself killed.
Azure was excited about having leveled the skill up until he realized that there were no special perks awarded.
“I don't get any bonuses for leveling Analyze?” he asked as he looted the bodies of the fallen dark sprites.
“Not until level 14. It doesn't work like other skills,” Uden told him.
“Lame!” he replied dryly.
“Well,” Uden dusted his hands off before stretching and yawning, “it's getting late. We should probably head back now. I'm sure you're itching to report in and gain some of that sweet, sweet XP that you're owed.”
Azure chuckled. It was times like this when he truly couldn't tell whether Uden was an NPC or not, but the more time Azure spent with him, the more he was leaning towards Uden being an actual person.
Ah, fuck it. Let's stop guessing.
“Hey Uden, I've got a question for you,” Azure said as they began walking back toward the farmhouse.
“You're just full of those,” he replied with only the slightest bit of annoyance.
“This experience has been pretty amazing so far.” Azure looked at everything around him. The sky was the color of a deep bruise. Nighttime insects had already created a soft non-stop buzzing, and an owl hooted somewhere in the distance. It reminded him of a warm summer night in the country—something he'd seen on television but had never been able to experience in real life. Places like this were almost obsolete thanks to the overwhelming human population having to pave over most of the earth to create enough housing and jobs for everyone. “I'm enjoying the wonder and mystery of everything thoroughly, but I have to ask...are you an NPC?”
A smirk curled the corner of Uden's thin lips. “You'll likely never know.”
It was, Azure thought, a very human response, yet vague enough that it could have been programmed in. Perhaps he'd test the question on others to look for continuity. Of course, he could always ask his boss once he was pulled from the game. Speaking of which, it seemed like he had been in for an awfully long time. Hours. He could feel real life urges creeping in. Hunger churned
in his belly. His throat was dry with thirst, and despite his dehydration, his bladder was definitely full.
“I need to take a piss,” he mumbled to himself.
“Don't let me stop you. The world is one big outhouse.” Uden held his arms up.
That didn't make Azure want to relieve himself in-game any more. Never before had he played a VRMMORPG where going to the bathroom was actually a thing. Typically, feeling the urge was a signal to your brain that it was time to take a break. Azure gave pause, once again focusing on a sign out function. No options were displayed to him.
Uden stopped, giving him a strange look. “What's wrong?”
Assuming that Uden was, in fact, an actual person, Azure said, “I can't sign out of the game.”
“Of course you can't sign out.”
“Why not?”
“Haven't you figured it out yet?” His expression took on a hint of mischief. “This isn't a game. It's your life now.”
CHAPTER FIVE
THE REALM – Day 1
Azure was stunned into silence. Nothing made sense anymore, and Uden didn't wait for him to ask for an explanation. He simply continued on to the farmhouse, leaving Azure behind dumbfounded.
Panic began to seep in. What was going on? What did Uden mean by this isn't a game? Of course, it was a game. Azure was sitting at his desk at Radical Interactive with a headset on. He had to be. Any moment now, his boss would come to pull him out. But it had been so long already. Surely, he had worked through his break. Unless....time in the game passed faster than in real life. This was common of all VRMMORPGs. Perhaps he couldn't perceive it because the programming was so good. After all he'd seen so far, it wasn't farfetched to believe that Radical Interactive was capable of developing that kind of technology.
