by Dan Thomas
“You could say that.” Max pushed himself back to his feet only now noting how bruised, battered, and wet he was. “Wow, it’s good to see you.”
“No hugs.” Pez held up his hands and screwed up his nose. “You’re wet.”
“No kidding,” Max smirked.
“I’ll start a fire. You need to dry off and heal. Have you leveled up at all?” Pez reached up and unhooked a leather pack that had been slung around a band on the dinosaur’s leg.
“Yeah, I’m level thirty Agility already. At least you brought me a ride.” Max reached up and gently touched the short snout of Abe, the Abelisaurus, that Pez had been riding. It sniffed him, taking in deep breaths, and pushed back softly.
Max had originally expected Pez to come with the Crew’s pair of Iguanodons, but the Abelisaurus made more sense. They fit the perfect niche where they were mean enough that most creatures they’d come upon wouldn’t chance a fight, and fast enough to evade the larger predators of Primeva, even if they weren’t as fast as the Iguanodons.
The Crew had caught the two on the plains a few months ago, making them two of the first Tier-three dinos the Crew had tamed. It had taken a lot of preparation and resources to take them down and subdue them, but they had more than paid back for it with the havoc they’d wreaked on a couple of run-ins with other Crews or predators on supply runs.
They were still on the lower end of tier three though, unlike the Majungatholus the Ravagers had tamed, which was a much larger, more fearsome Tier-three predator.
“It’s good to see you.” Max walked over and stroked the head of the other dinosaur, Lis, ignoring the wet blood around her jaw.
By the time Max had finished greeting the dinosaurs and taking a breather, Pez had already gathered up a pile of dry wood from what was lying around on the ground, and with a shower of sparks from his tinder kit, had it burning.
Max left the dinos, drawn to the heat of the cheery red flames where he set his bag down. His teeth chattered a little as the water cooled his core temperature again, refusing to evaporate off him in the humid climate.
“I don’t suppose you brought me a change of clothes?” Max joked as Pez emptied the contents of the pack and rummaged through them.
“I came prepared, but I thought you’d have crafted up some armor by now,” Pez sat on his haunches across the fire from Max. “Is your shoulder broken?”
Max shook his head. “No, it’s only dislocated. It just hurts a whole lot. I’ve also broken my arm, ribs, and sprained my ankle.”
Pez raised his eyebrows. “Rough ride, huh? Well, let’s see what I can do.”
Pez shuffled around the fire to Max’s side, placing a hand on Max’s damaged shoulder. He grabbed Max’s bicep, and yanked it, pushing against his shoulder at the same time. There was a dull pop and an uncomfortable sensation as his shoulder was forced back into place. Max was glad that Pez’s Traits for medicine allowed for such easy fixes, he didn’t want to imagine how painful that would have been in real life.
Pez’s gaze moved to Max’s forearm. “Broken arm as well? Man, is that the best you could manage?”
Max chuckled as he looked at the stick and rope splint around his arm. “Yeah, I didn’t have my good splints on me.”
“No kidding.” Pez got to his feet and walked over to Abe, who was standing watching Max suspiciously. He opened up another smaller pack that was slung on Abe’s leg, before returning to Max with a couple of bundles.
He opened one to reveal a splint made out of thick woven fabric, reinforced with wooden rods running the length of it, as well as rings around the cast.
Max held out his arm, and Pez cut away the makeshift splint, replacing it with the much more advanced cast made of bark pieces carefully woven together, padded with Shrow lichen inside. He adjusted it to a tight fit by pulling three pieces of string that were woven through the reinforcements.
“That’s better,” Max said as he tugged at it to make sure it was secure. With the better splint, he’d suffer less penalty to his maximum health, as well as having nearly full use of the arm, which would heal much faster.
“I’ve got something that should also help with your ankle.” Pez unwrapped the second bundle, which was a mixture of thick padded bandages and refined rope.
Pez wrapped the bandages around Max’s ankle, neatly tying it with the rope.
“Thanks, dude,” Max said, feeling his aches and pains already beginning to subside.
“Don’t mention it. Besides, I wouldn’t want you slowing me down on our way back to base,” Pez chuckled. “Sorry I don’t have anything for your ribs, they’re a little more difficult to repair.”
“Ah, I don’t need them anyway.” Max waved his hand.
Pez smirked. “Are you suffering from blood loss at all?”
Max shook his head. “Only a little.”
“All right, well, you’ll recover that over time as you eat and drink. Oh, and here.” Pez offered him a small glass vial filled with a pale red liquid. “That’ll help the blood loss and heal you up as well.”
“Thanks.” Max took the potion and drank it, the soreness from bruises and cuts all over his body, as well as the ache from his ribs to an extent, faded. His health bar appeared at the edge of his vision, the last third or so which had been previously blanked off, now turned transparent, the health cap caused by his injuries mostly gone.
Max’s gaze fell to the open pack. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any water and food in there as well?”
Pez cracked a smile. “Geez, you’re really in a rough state, huh? Luckily your knight in shining armor has got what you need.” Pez reached a hand into the pack and pulled out a metal canteen and a few strips of jerky.
Max eyed the mix of bone and metal plate that Pez wore. “I don’t know about shining armor, but Striker’s bone armor suits you.”
“Thanks, just can’t wait to see what else of the Ravagers’ will suit me.” He chuckled as Max swigged on the water and chewed his way through the jerky. “Oh, gimme a sec.”
Pez’s eyes unfocused for a moment. Shortly after, a small envelope icon appeared at the top of Max’s vision. Focusing on it, a screen appeared over his sight.
Character Relations Overview
Allies: None
Your Crew: None
New Crew Invite: Coprolite Crew
Accept/Decline?
Max gave the command to accept the invitation and the Crew status changed to show the other players in the Crew; Pez, Chopsticks, Ticket, Holic, Jag, and Battledude before Max closed the screen. Now that he was in the Crew, he’d be able to command the dinos via the Shards.
Murf’s stomach finally stopped rumbling. He felt rejuvenated, ready for another round with those pesky little Coelophysis.
“Once I’ve dried out, we should get moving. I can’t wait to get back to the base,” Max said. He had a strange sensation of homesickness.
“Agreed.” Pez nodded. “Here’s what I’m thinking, I’ve got some kits you can have, but it seems you need to be doing as much as you can to level up anything. I’ll help you craft some more items, and we’ll have ourselves a bit of a rampage while we journey back. How’s that sound?”
Max turned to look up at the pair of Abelisaurus, which were idly ambling around, lowering their thick necks to sniff at the ground. “Kit myself out with the most basic tools of the game, and then blaze our way home like fire across the desert? Sounds like a plan to me.”
Pez flashed him a toothy grin. “Glad you’re on board.”
“Of course, and I’m sure that the Ravagers are going to be partial to a raging fighter.” Max watched the steam rise from his wet clothes as the fire crackled and hissed.
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Pez handed Max another potion. “Here, keep this one in case you need to heal yourself and I’m not there. I don’t expect you to have anything useful in your pack.”
Max placed his hand on his bag and shook his head. “Nothing much at all.” He slid the healing potion inside as his chee
ks turned as red as the flames.
“Why are the Ravagers going to let you in?” Pez asked.
Max tore off another chunk of meat with his incisors and chewed with his back molars. “Because who could resist Murf?”
“You know what I mean. What’s the point in all this if we don’t come up with a plan to get them to let you in?” Pez leaned backward, resting on one arm and rubbing his eye with the other. Max had forgotten that his friend had been up almost all night, too. His journey might have been easier, but he was still tired.
“Can’t we talk about this later?” Max’s eyes strayed to his bag sitting next to him, with the dinosaur eggs and mystery box hidden there. Finishing up the jerky, he grabbed his rough woven clothes and began to get dressed.
“No, we need to talk about this now.” Pez threw a knife down and it stuck into the ground. “I’ve been up all night to get here and it’s only now that I see you…” He looked Murf up and down with a critical eye. “That I wonder if we’ve been wasting our time.”
“No, we haven’t been wasting our time,” Max assured Pez, even though he’d had the same thoughts himself. “Those Ravagers took our stuff. I walked away but you came and pulled me back in, so it’s a little late for this.”
Pez studied Max for a long moment before his expression cleared. “Conviction isn’t the issue here, it is whether this plan is actually feasible, which has only just occurred to me.”
“Damn it, Pez.” Max shook his head and got up, his still damp tunic weighing him down. “Let’s get back to the base.”
“Hey, not so fast.” Pez retrieved his knife and hooked it into his belt. “We need to craft some stuff you might find useful on the journey back.”
“What did you have in mind? If it’s combat of any kind, I’ll need some armor and a ranged weapon.” Max looked down at his basic outfit. “These clothes give me no protection from teeth or claws, as I’ve found out several times.”
“Why don’t we go and see what we can find?” Pez pushed himself to his feet, trudged over to the dinos, and patted them. “Stay here and eat your crocodile.”
Max chuckled. “I didn’t know you cared about them so much.”
“It’s hard not to when you’ve just spent nearly five hours on the back of one.” Pez grabbed his backpack and hooked it over his shoulder. “I don’t want them to run off, it’s a long walk home.”
Max stretched his aching body. “Tell me about it.”
“This will loosen you up.” Pez headed into the edge of the trees lining the river. These weren’t Kukunut trees, they were woodier, their branches straighter.
“You want me to chop down these trees?” Max groaned.
“You want a bow and some arrows.” Pez patted the trees. “This is the best timber we’re going to find this close to the river, it’s flexible and strong enough for a short bow. When we’re done here, we’ll go farther away from the river and gather some grasses which you can weave into armor. It’ll get your dexterity up, and at least give you some protection from what we’ll encounter on the way home because I don’t have any materials or tools for crafting any better with me.”
“Cool.” Max tried to sound enthusiastic. He did need armor and he needed a weapon, but he was tired.
He grabbed the axe from around his belt. Flexing his hands, he adjusted his grip until it was comfortable. “A hacking we will go.”
Raising the axe, he brought it down hard into the tough tree trunk. His arms reverberated as the blade sank into the wood. Yanking it hard, he freed the axe and swung again.
Beside him, Pez hacked away in a steady rhythm, slicing through the tree trunk with the ease of a higher-level character, and a much better axe. Like Max’s usual tools, Pez used mostly obsidian, which was much stronger and sharper than stone or flint. “One day, Murf,” Max assured his character as he pulled the axe out of the tree and brought it down hard again and again.
Chapter Thirty
“Two to one.” Pez stood with his hands on his hips looking down at the three slender trees lying side by side. “I forgot how strong our characters are now compared to when we started.”
“So did I.” Max held up his axe and pointed away from the river. “Let’s go gather what else we need and then we can come back here for the crafting.”
Pez looked around at the small inlet Max had washed up on. “Good idea.”
Pez struck off into the trees and Max followed, keeping his eyes and ears focused on the sounds of Primeva. Even with Pez by his side, he was still vulnerable to an attack. One swipe from a large dino and he’d be back in Cerribue Prime.
“Here. These will make good strong cordage.” Pez grabbed hold of some fresh, young Strangler Vines and cut them off with a long bone-handled knife.
“The trees thin out up ahead. I need some long grass to weave together for armor.” Max chuckled. “Man, it’s been so long since I’ve said that.”
Pez nodded and rolled the vines into a ball before putting them into his backpack. “Once we get back to base, we can kit you out. Until then, keep your distance if anything attacks and let me deal with it. We’ll pick some easy fights for you.”
“Sounds good.” Max jogged past the trees, which were much more spaced out here at the edge of the plains than they were up on the hill. He came to a stop in a wide clearing where large tufts of pale green grass grew. He knelt and spent a few minutes pulling up long blades of grass until he thought he had enough to weave together some very basic armor. It would give his upper body at least some protection, and also give him some experience. “My character is like a baby learning to walk.”
Pez strolled into the clearing. “Yep. You can’t run before you can walk so you need to start with the basics. The difference is that you have the knowledge to level up fast. You just have to teach Murf.” Pez knelt on the ground and grabbed hold of a large branch. Digging it into the ground around a Powdercress plant, he scooped the earth back until he found a seam of flint. “Hello, beautiful.”
“Did anyone ever tell you how weird you are?” Max asked as he finished gathering the thick dried grass and stuffed it all in his bag.
“Nope, but I know it must be true since I hang out with you guys and you’re all nuts.” Pez grinned as he placed the flint in his backpack. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Max slid down to his knees next to Pez and searched around for a stick he could use to dig into the ground. Wrapping his fingers around a stout branch, he lifted it above his head with both hands before stabbing it down into the damp earth to loosen more dirt. “Does this count as mining?”
“Isn’t mining what got us into this mess?” Pez asked as he pulled another chunk of flint out of the growing hole.
“I guess it did.” Max’s grip tightened as he imagined wrapping his hands around one of the Ravagers’ necks and wringing it.
“That’s enough. We should get back to the shoreline and check on Abe and Lis. We can’t afford to lose any more dinos. Especially those two.” Pez’s earlier good mood seemed to have slipped away and Max cursed himself for reminding Pez of the day that started this whole ordeal.
“So, what are you going to make me?” Max asked as they broke out of the trees and trudged toward the fire with the items they’d gathered. After dumping the flint and the vines, Max watched as Pez went back to the edge of the trees.
“A bow.” He grunted as he hauled one of the slender trees onto the mud beach. “I don’t think Murf has the skill to make an effective bow, but if you have a ranged Trait, you can use one at least. So why don’t you make your armor and the arrows and maybe an atlatl.”
“Can do.” Max could do some damage with those weapons.
Stoking the fire, he added more wood from the pile that Pez had made earlier and set out everything he needed to craft the items, the large bundle of grasses, the flint he had hefted out of the ground, and a handful of straight sticks measuring just over a foot from the pile of firewood. He also sifted through the pile to find two sticks wit
h a rough Y shape.
Max shifted his sitting position on the ground, then set to work making the most basic of armor this world could offer. He first straightened out the dried grass and placed them in long lengths on the ground. He then grabbed two small bundles of the long stalks of grass, and tied them together near one end, holding them so that they formed a rough V shape. Keeping hold of the join in the two bundles, Max took the top bunch and began twisting it between his fingers, while drawing it toward him, over the top of the second lot of grass stalks. He then moved his other hand up the grass to keep that in place and then did the same to the second bundle of grass.
He glanced up as Pez walked toward him, carrying a large round river rock in his arms that he dropped down next to Max.
“I figured you might not have Versatile Crafting yet, so here’s something to work on,” he said.
Max nodded. “Thanks, Pez.”
Max smiled to himself as he repeated this process, moving farther along the grass stalks as he formed the woven cordage. There was something satisfying about the completely basic task that he hadn’t spent much time doing as Holic recently, and Max felt a wave of nostalgia again as he thought back to the early days of the Coprolite Crew.
Max sat in his own little world as the coil of finished rope quickly piled up. The cordage was rough, but that was to be expected with Murf’s lack of ability. He didn’t even want to think about how long this process would have taken in real life for his ancestors. As his mind wandered, he spliced in a new bundle of grass as he came to the end of a set of strands, twisting it into the end of one of the bundles.
Before long, Max had made a dent in the heap of grass and had made a few feet worth of rope. It wouldn’t be as strong cordage as the Strangler Vine, but it would be more insulative and was much more abundant.
Flexing his sore fingers, Max picked up the small stack of sticks that he had sorted from the firewood, tucking it under his arm. He needed to make a very basic loom to weave the cordage into something he could wear. With the Basic Construction Trait, if he looked through his Character menu, he’d be able to find a blueprint to build it, but it was a simple thing to put together, and Max was more than familiar with how to set one up.
