by Phoenix Grey
“I also want to thank you for not judging my brother as harshly as the others.” Lonnell stared past him into the distance. “It's true that he's a half-imp, but I like to believe that he's mostly human.”
“I saw that he was a half-imp when we partied to fight the dark sprites. I didn't think much of it then,” Azure confessed. “How did he come to be a part of your family?”
“As the story goes, my father found him in swaddling clothes near the river when he was hunting shortly after I'd been born. We can only assume that he had a human mother who came to the island to abandon him. Half-breeds aren't widely accepted, no matter the crossing of races. They fit in neither world. Dark half-breeds, even less.
“Anyone else would have killed the baby as a kindness. But that's not who my father is. He brought the child home, gave him a name, and hid him away.
“One of the reasons why Uden is so ill-mannered is because he wasn't exposed to other people through most of his childhood. The plan had originally been to ship him off to the mainland when he was old enough to fend for himself because he'd have a better chance of being accepted there. But by the time Uden hit puberty, you couldn't really tell that he wasn't human. I mean, he looks just like us, doesn't he?”
“For the most part,” Azure agreed.
“It didn't make sense to send him away when he was capable of blending in here. Our father introduced him to the community under the guise of being offspring from an affair when he was off fighting the Battle of the Red Mountain for four years. Though it hurt my mother to do so, she went along with it. She's equally kindhearted and had no intentions of casting Uden out once my father had brought him home. Most would have seen a monster. She saw a defenseless baby. But she wasn't stupid. She knew the islanders would condemn him to death if they found out his secret." Holding his arms out to his sides, Lonnell said, “And here we are now, twenty-three years later.”
“At what age do imps typically start becoming evil?” It seemed like relevant information in judging whether or not Uden was the source of the curse.
“I wouldn't say that they truly become evil. Most are just mischievous. It really depends on how much demon is in them. Imps are born when a demon infects a sprite with darkness and forces them to copulate, which means that all imps are part demon.” He glanced to the side as if it helped to lengthen his explanation, “which means that Uden is part demon. But considering that it appears that Uden is mostly human, even if his imp parent was mostly demon, the darkness should have been bred out of him by his humanity. But to answer your question more directly, imps begin displaying ill-favored activity in their teen years, and it peaks when they hit adulthood. More than likely, if this were all Uden's doing, he would have started it years ago.”
“You don't sound convinced that it's not.”
Lonnell sighed. “No one knows my brother better than I do. The imp in him does cause him to do bad things sometimes, but I can't force myself to believe he'd go to such lengths to drive everyone out of town. What would his motive be?”
“He said he wanted to leave the island,” Azure pointed out.
“Yes. But why drive out everyone on the island just to accomplish that?”
“To cover up that it's him,” came the obvious answer. “It would be too suspicious if the curse only affected your family.”
Lonnell thought on that for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I can't force myself to believe that. Uden can be bad at times, but he's not evil. He wouldn't destroy an entire way of life just to get his way.”
“Aren't bad and evil the same thing?” Azure couldn't help but wonder if Lonnell's relationship with Uden was skewing his reality. So far, everything pointed to Uden being the culprit behind the curse.
“Let's speak of this no more,” Lonnell said with an air of exhaustion. “A long road lies ahead of us tomorrow. We should both get some rest.”
“Indeed.” He nodded in agreement.
Turning to walk away, Lonnell paused for a moment, casting a glance over his shoulder. “Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For doing the right thing in regards to the sprite wings. Half-imps aren't the only ones who can be good or evil.”
A notification popped up at the bottom of Azure's field of vision.
You haven't known each other for long, but Lonnell has a trusting nature. The fact that you did the right thing by not selling your dark sprite wings despite being penniless and in need of supplies shows a lot about your character.
Your relationship with Lonnell has reached Level 2. Your relationship has been updated from Stranger to Trusted. Lonnell will not think twice before offering you aid in battle. Congratulations!
Azure stood there for a few seconds pondering the mechanics of the relationship system as he watched Lonnell walk away. The thought was soon forgotten as he turned his attention to the book in his hand, continuing on to the barn. It was early enough to get a bit of reading in. For as insulting as the title was, picking up new languages had never been his forte, so Azure hoped that the book was, in fact, for idiots.
In high school, he had taken Spanish for three years and had never learned to speak the language fluently, though he could understand a lot of what he read and heard. Briefly, he had also studied Japanese using online learning software. If he was being honest, he had learned more from watching anime than he had from the software. Sub all the way!
Ready to tackle attempting to learn Sprite, Azure settled down on his bed of straw, pulling the lantern close to cast a glow over the book's cover. There was nothing ornate about it. Black text on a tawny background displayed the title in what appeared to be Old English. Azure flipped the cover open to reveal a handwritten introduction, the first half in English, the second half in a strange mix of symbols.
As his eyes scrolled over the heavy cursive, he could feel something shift within him. The black ink began to change, the letters moving and rearranging themselves. Squiggles straightened into type, and the previously foreign text rewrote itself into English. Whispers invaded Azure's ears, first in a strange language, making no sense to him at all. They overlapped, repeating until he suddenly understood with perfect clarity what they were saying.
The book crumbled in his hands, and a notification popped up.
Congratulations! You can now understand and speak the language: Sprite. The item: Book: Speaking Sprite for Idiots has been destroyed.
Oh, thank God! He really hadn't wanted to stay up all night to go over the thick tome. This was one thing that he was glad Radical Interactive had kept true to gaming. No one wanted to spend hours trying to learn a new language. Which reminded him...
Two full days had passed, and he was still in the game. What was scarier was that Azure was beginning to question this being his new reality less and less. He had lived a life before this, hadn't he? Or had it all just been a dream
The desperation to return to the life he'd known before was almost gone. In fact, he kind of dreaded it. In what he had once considered the real world, he had lived a mundane existence. Wake up, eat, go to work, come home, try to escape reality by gaming, sleep, and then start it all over the next day. There had been nothing special about him or his life. Sure, he was still just a noob in The Realm, but the potential for advancing and growing strong was so much more exciting than the path he'd created for himself in the real world. As he began to drift off to sleep, Azure thought that it might not be so bad if he was stuck in this beta forever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE REALM – Day 3
A rooster crowed in the distance.
Cock...
The immature thought passed through Azure's mind before he realized how bloody cold he was. He rolled, pieces of straw sticking to him. There was no hoodie to cuddle into. Somehow, he remembered that.
Opening his eyes, Azure came face to face with the barn wall. Why was it so damn cold? And would he ever get used to this?
He rose and headed to the house where everyo
ne was already up and moving about. Uden made a snide remark about not having to wake him with his boot, and they enjoyed a meager breakfast together before briefly parting ways to make ready for the journey ahead...not that Azure had any additional preparing to do but to restock the two arrows he had lost yesterday during his hunt. Even when he hit his mark, they still disappeared after they had done their damage.
Manny and Meva stood together as they wished the boys farewell. It reminded Azure of something out of a movie. Meva clasped onto her husband's arm, a subtle look of concern on her face. They all knew it was a dangerous quest. If the sprites were all infected, one wrong move could have them overwhelmed.
Traveling through the dense forest in single file, Lonnell took the lead, cutting through any obstructing brush with a small machete that he had pulled from his bag of holding. Damn, Azure really needed to get one of those. He wondered what else Lonnell had inside of it but figured he'd probably find out eventually without having to ask.
The machete wasn't his weapon, though. Strapped to Lonnell's back was a simple staff made of wood. It reminded Azure of a bo staff. Maybe it was. He wouldn't know until he actually got a chance to see Lonnell use it.
Every once in a while, Lonnell would give pause to pick berries from a bush or forage through the dirt for some plant or root. It wasn't long before Azure began following suit, figuring that the items must be used to make potions.
You have harvested:
Juniper Berries
Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +15 MP if eaten
You have harvested:
Garlic
Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +15 HP if eaten
You have harvested:
Red Mushroom
Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +10 HP if eaten
Wow. This stuff was even more useful than he had thought. He should have been collecting a long time ago. Thankfully, the alchemy components stacked if they were the same type. Four out of the twelve slots in Azure's pouch were already filled. He wondered how long it would be before he ran out of room. Again, he caught himself eying Lonnell's bag of holding, yearning for one of his own.
Wildlife was surprisingly sparse. A rabbit crossed their path early in their journey, and Azure didn't waste the opportunity to take it down, wanting to gain as much as experience as he could. A brief argument ensued afterward over whether or not he should be hunting at all hours. Of course, leveling up was important, but Lonnell refused to permit the waste of meat, saying that they didn't have time to stop to gut and cook every rabbit. He insisted that hunting should be left for the afternoon. Also, he pointed out that Azure needed to conserve his arrows in case of any real danger. The likeliness of them passing a traveling merchant wasn't very good where they were headed. Generally, humans steered clear of the sprite settlement.
While he was a bit annoyed by the lecture, Azure understood where Lonnell was coming from. Rabbits only gave him 5XP each, and he had a finite supply of arrows. Having to carefully ration his ammo was one aspect of the game that he didn't like. Nineteen arrows didn't seem like a lot to work with, now that he thought about it.
Agreeing to Lonnell's terms of only hunting in the afternoon, it pained Azure every time he saw a rabbit hop by and thought about the loss of experience. As if to reward him for his patience, when the sun began to set they came upon a boar rooting in the dirt. It snuffled, causing Lonnell to come to a dead stop, throwing his arm out to the side to make his followers give pause as well. Silently, he pointed to the boar through the trees
“This isn't like the rabbits,” Uden whispered to Azure from the rear. “You'll have to be stealthy if you want to take it down.”
Nodding in acknowledgment, Azure activated his Stealth skill before carefully drawing his bow and nocking an arrow. Using Analyze, he could see that the boar was a slightly higher level than him. Excitement rolled through Azure's veins at the thought that this was the most powerful creature he'd faced yet. There should definitely be a good experience payoff if he could manage to make the shot.
Holding his breath, Azure pulled back his bowstring. As if perceiving its impending doom, the boar raised its head. It barely had a chance to look in his direction before he let the arrow sail.
Thwack! It hit the boar right in the side. The animal let out a blood-curdling scream and scurried away a few feet before tripping and falling over in the dirt. A soft grunt left its snout, and its tongue lolled out as it took its last breath, its eyes glassing over in death.
Azure's heart was racing so fiercely that he was worried it would beat out of his chest. Frozen in place with fear that the animal would stand back up and take off running into the woods, forcing them to spend time tracking it, he didn't move until he saw Uden walk past him to examine the corpse.
Defeated Level 3 Boar. 18XP rewarded.
Congratulations! The skill: Archery has reached Level 2. This skill allows you to use a bow and arrow to defeat enemies. Aim strong and true.
No perk yet? That was a bit disappointing. Still, Azure was pleased with the 18XP he'd just earned.
“Well done,” Uden said with a lilt of being impressed. “I was certain you were going to fuck that up.”
“Such confidence you have in me,” Azure replied drolly, his eyes rolling as his feet unglued themselves from the forest floor.
“We shall eat heartily tonight.” Lonnell smiled as he pulled out his hunting knife to begin gutting the boar.
By the time they had skinned and quartered the animal, night had fallen. They decided to make camp in a nearby clearing. After building a fire, Lonnell urged Azure to help with the cooking. Oddly, though he had barbequed many times before, his first bit of meat came out burnt to a crisp. It was as if as soon as he put it on the fire, the flames licked up at the flesh, mercilessly attacking it until it was as black as charcoal.
Congratulations! New skill learned: Cooking Level 1. You have to eat to survive. You now have an 8% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item.
“What in the hell?” Azure pulled the spit from the fire. He poked the meat, and a bit of ash fell from it.
You have cooked:
Burnt Boar
Uses: None. You wouldn't feed this to a troll you were trying to kill. Because the troll would know you were trying to kill it and would likely kill you instead.
The remainder of the boar fluttered away in a wisp of black smoke and was gone. Azure scowled at the now empty spit while he listened to Uden roar with laughter. Apparently, it was so funny that he needed to clutch onto his stomach.
“Your face.” The half-imp pointed at him before wiping a tear away with the back of his hand.
“Cooking isn't this damn hard!” Azure spun on his heels, his hands all angry gestures. “You put the meat on the fire. It cooks. It's not fucking rocket science. This is bullshit.”
“Calm down and try again,” Lonnell urged him patiently. “We have plenty of meat to work with.”
“Don't let him ruin it all, brother.” Uden chuckled. “I would like to eat at some point tonight.”
“You didn't hunt any of it,” Azure pointed out.
Finally settling from his fit of laughter, Uden reminded him, “I'm not the one who needs to level up.”
Fair point, though level three is nothing impressive. Since Uden hadn't been hunting, Azure was quickly gaining on him. Soon, they'd be equally matched.
It took Azure eight more tries before he was successfully able to cook the boar. Each failure made his frustration mount, but Lonnell gave him support, while in juxtaposition, Uden continued to mock him.
“Don't feel bad. He hasn't leveled his cooking skill much either.” Lonnell cast his gaze toward his brother.
“Why should I cook when I have others to do it for me?” Lounging back with his head resting on a log, Uden looked like he didn't have a care in the world.
“Ignore him and just keep practicing. The more you cook, the faster you'll level the skill, the less you'll burn things, t
he less frustration you'll have to deal with later. Also, you'll be able to make tastier things,” Lonnell told him.
Though he was tired from walking all day and overheated from standing over the fire cooking, Azure tenaciously pressed on, burning one spit of meat after another until he saw the notification pop up.
Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 2. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 16% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.
By this time, Lonnell had settled by the fire to extract the alchemy components he had gathered and start mashing them with a mortar and pestle. Azure repositioned himself so that he could watch. It seemed like magic the way the various ingredients began to liquify under the weight of the stone. By the time Lonnell poured the mixture into a vial, it was clear with a strong red tint. There was no waste left behind—nothing to be strained.
“Will you teach me how to do that?” Azure asked curiously.
“Once you finish cooking up the rest of the meat.” Lonnell's eyes fell to the chunks of raw flesh still waiting to be cooked.
With a sigh, Azure continued slaving over the fire. Though there was an increase in his rate of success, by the time he put the last bit of meat on the spit, he wasn't sure he would ever want to cook again.
Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 3. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 24% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.
Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 4. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 32% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.
