Brute

by Paul Bellow

  I also wondered about Monky. While I hadn’t seen her again since the last time, I kept looking. She might hold the key to me escaping level one-nine and getting back to Eric and Sarah. If they escaped the Tower of Gates without me, I didn’t think I could ever forgive them.

  27

  The More You Know

  Josh

  Two weeks after the Four Wizards gave me more freedom, I pushed my luck and asked for a night out on the town in the red-light district. After a particularly big win at the arenas, I figured I should ask to go find female companionship—even if I was only interested in escaping.

  “No,” Ferris said from the doorway to my room in their tower.

  “Come on,” I said. “You can trust me. I like my new life.”

  He shook his head, his curly black hair shaking, and said, “It’s not a matter of trust.”

  Aaron walked up behind him. “We should let him blow off some steam,” he said.

  Despite his black robes, I was starting to like him the best.

  “He can find a suitable woman for companionship around here,” Ferris said.

  “I don’t want a human woman,” I said. “They’re too fragile. I want a half-orc woman, and there’s only one place to find any of them in this entire city.”

  While I had been fascinated with Midgaard at first, the charm was wearing off.

  “Aren’t you buff-sick?” Ferris asked, using the term I had come up with on my own.

  “No,” I lied.

  Over the last few weeks, I had learned to deal with the empty, hollow feeling caused by all the magical buffs cast on me. The real reason I wanted to go to that zone of the city was to find someone to help me escape from the wizards and Midgaard.

  “Fine,” Ferris relented. “You can go but come back before morning.”

  “Can I have some coins?” I asked.

  Aaron walked past Ferris and into my room. “I’ll pay your way,” he said, reaching into a pocket in his robes. “This should be enough.” He dropped a dozen platinum pieces in my palm.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  Aaron smiled and said, “It’s the least we could do,” he said.

  No bleaking kidding, scoundrel.

  I smiled, hiding my true emotions. As I had learned to control my anger, I realized I could also control my other emotions better. Beyond my strength and growing battle-prowess, I valued this self-discipline. Some days it was the only thing that kept me going.

  “Be back by morning,” Ferris said. “I mean it. We’ll be watching you.”

  He stepped into the room and placed a gold chain with a red gem around my neck. I picked it up and glanced at the stone.

  “What’s this do?” I asked.

  Ferris grinned.

  “As I said, we’ll be watching you.”

  I hated his smugness. All of them.

  “Be back before morning,” Sherlock repeated.

  Aaron walked over and took the leather and iron collar off my neck.

  I slipped the platinum pieces into my coin sack then left. Outside, I felt more like a free man than I had in many months. While I was still trapped, I had hope for getting away.

  The ten blocks I usually walked went by quickly as I headed toward the northern wall of the city. Half-races like me could only live and congregate in certain areas most of the time. I had special privileges because of all my wins in the arena.

  As I passed a few high-end magic shops, I wondered if I should buy something to fight against the wizards and help me escape. Then I remembered the gem hanging around my neck. I needed to be careful with my actions.

  I reached the red-light district that literally had red-hued lanterns hung everywhere. The rich, dark light added an air of mystery. I stopped at the northern wall, astonished at its smooth whiteness. Places of ill repute ran east and west along the wall.

  A few scantily clad women strolled by, offering their companionship, but I was looking for something special. I took off to the right, heading west. My eyes adjusted to the dim lights as I walked. I stopped when I saw a ramshackle hut with a thatched roof.

  The half-orc female lounging by the door noticed me and perked up. She strode over, strutting her stuff, then slipped an arm around my back.

  “Hey, big boy,” she said.

  “I need you to fulfill a fantasy of mine,” I said then flashed a single coin.

  “Anything you want, baby.”

  “Can we go to a library? I’ve dreamed of having a woman like you while surrounded by shelves of books and scrolls.”

  She tilted her head back and narrowed her eyes. “Are you for real?”

  I nodded, then said, “This game is too messed up not to be genuine.”

  Her smiled faded. I caught a quick glimpse of her reality. So sad.

  “I like you,” she said. “I know just the place. The library won’t be crowded this time of the night. We’ll have a little privacy.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “Aren’t you that famous gladiator?” she asked.

  I nodded. Her smile returned.

  “Maybe you can give me another platinum after we’re finished,” she said in a seductive voice.

  I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  She linked her arm in mine then sauntered away. While companionship would be nice, I had other things on my mind. The library would give me much needed information about Midgaard and surviving the wastelands outside the city.

  “I’m Yergie,” she said.

  “Yorg,” I grunted.

  She squeezed my arm tighter and moved closer as we walked. At the next intersection, she turned right, heading back toward the center of the city. The prestige I had earned from my superb arena performance allowed me some leeway when out in public.

  A mage with a long, pointed hat looked up from the front stoop of the Mandarin Library. He held a pipe in his left hand and a book in the other. I nodded my head.

  “No funny business in the library,” he said in a serious tone.

  “Don’t worry about us,” I said. “Need to find book about fighting.”

  The wizard went back to reading and smoking his pipe. I noticed the smoke didn’t smell like tobacco, but I kept my mouth shut as we walked up the steps.

  Once inside the building, Yergie stopped and pushed me against one of the walls in the lobby. She looked into my eyes with this look I knew all too well.

  “Hold on,” I said. “We should go upstairs.”

  “Fine,” she huffed then took my hand and led me away.

  We found a staircase leading up. She practically dragged me up the first two flights. On the third floor, in the map section, we both made our moves. As she slipped her arms around my waist, I wiggled away. I needed to find the right book then steal the map behind my back.

  A higher dexterity would’ve helped, but I had to deal with my limitations in the game. Every time I slipped away from Yergie, she found a way to entangle me in her strong arms.

  “What’s the matter, baby?” she asked. “Don’t you like me?”

  “You’re great, but part of my fantasy involved a certain type of book.”

  She backed up and placed her hands on her hips.

  “What’s wrong with you? Screw all these books.”

  I grabbed her shoulders to keep her at bay.

  “Give me a minute,” I said. “Don’t rush it.”

  “What kind of half-orc are you?”

  “The kind that wants to be smarter,” I said.

  She snorted then shook her head, saying, “You don’t need brains, baby.”

  I kept holding her at bay. Her expression changed.

  “You’re getting me upset,” she said. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

  “Just give me a minute,” I said then glanced over my shoulder.

  A cover with Maps of Midgaard caught my eye. Would it have information on surviving the wastelands surrounding the city? Or did I need something else?

  Yergie caught me off-guard and twist
ed away from me. When I turned around, I saw her closed fist come flying toward my head. She hit me. Hard.

  * * *

  Yergie’s fist GRAZES you for 7 damage.

  You have [202/209] health remaining.

  * * *

  “Hey!” I said in protest.

  As she pulled back her arm for another punch, the Four Wizards appeared on the other side of the room.

  Great, what now?

  Yergie punched me in the jaw again.

  * * *

  Yergie’s fist GRAZES you for 5 damage.

  You have [197/209] health remaining.

  * * *

  “Cut it out!” I shouted.

  The Four Wizards burst into laughter. Yergie turned toward them, giving me enough time to take a few steps away from her. Ferris raised his hands and walked over.

  “Calm down,” he said. “Both of you. This isn’t the place for you to be.”

  “Don’t you tell me what to do, you green-robed freak,” Yergie said.

  Thom continued laughing while Ferris kept moving forward.

  “Help!” Yergie screamed. “I’m being attacked!”

  Ferris whipped out a wand and pointed it at her. She fell to the floor, hitting her head on the edge of a table on the way down. I glanced over as she snored, fast asleep.

  “What did you do to her?” I asked while kneeling at her side. “She hurt her head.”

  “That’s not our problem,” Sherlock said.

  All four wizards walked toward me.

  “What are you doing here?” Ferris asked.

  “Yeah,” Sherlock added. “This is mighty suspicious.”

  “It’s just a fantasy of mine,” I said. “Really.”

  Thom kept on laughing while Ferris and Sherlock continued walking.

  I needed some kind of distraction.

  “She has a magic pineapple!” I shouted. “Get back. I think it’s a bomb.”

  The Four Wizards all scattered, scrambling for cover. I turned and grabbed the book of maps. While my so-called owners hid, I flipped through the book. I pulled out the first map of the various city-states I came across, hoping it would help me.

  “Never mind,” I said. “False alarm. It’s a real pineapple.”

  As they stood, I slipped the map into the sack slung over my shoulder.

  “Very funny,” Sherlock said. “No buff tomorrow.”

  “Come on,” I said. “That’s not fair.”

  I didn’t care about the lack of spells. Over the last few weeks, I realized needed to wean myself off their powerful magic if I ever wanted to escape.

  “You’re grounded,” Sherlock said as they surrounded me.

  After waving their hands, I found myself in my bedroom. They removed the new gem of spying around my neck then left, shutting and locking the door behind them.

  I waited a moment before pulling out the single page I had been able to get. Would it have anything useful to help me? The map of level one-nine looked amazing.

  Unfortunately, it only listed the other city-states and didn’t tell me anything I needed to know about them to choose one for my destination. However, something caught my eye.

  On the right bottom corner, in tiny letters, I saw the words, “Map provided by True Selves LLC.” What’s all that about? I wondered as I stared at and studied the map. Escaping Midgaard wouldn’t be easy, but I wanted to get as far away from the Four Wizards as possible.

  When I did manage to escape them, I would find sanctuary in other city. And if I was extremely lucky, I would find someone who could help me get back to the game’s lower levels.

  Eric and Sarah were becoming more distant memories with each passing day. My anger toward the idiot who’d hacked us into the game had waned over time.

  The longer the Four Wizards thought of me as nothing more than a brute, the easier it would be for me to put together a plan. But implementing it would be harder.

  28

  Memory is so Strange

  Josh

  Ten long months after spawning back into the game, I still found myself a prisoner of the Four Wizards. On the bright side, my plan for escape was coming along. The biggest development? Wiley would help me get out of the city for good.

  One afternoon before another battle in the arena, I visited Wiley in the center of the city. As usual, throngs of adoring fans crowded around him. The wizards had replaced the collar that limited me to a ten-block radius of their towers.

  Nothing they could do would stop me from trying to get away from them. As I stopped nearby Wiley in the courtyard, he noticed me and swung his head around.

  “Hello, barbarian,” he said. “Ready to kill some monkeys?”

  The fans around him burst into laughter. I smiled.

  “Not today,” I said. “There’s something else you could help me with.”

  He raised his left eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Yeah,” I said as I nodded. “Can we talk somewhere...in private?”

  “Get on my back. We can fly out of here and talk.”

  “I can’t,” I said then pointed to the collar on my neck.

  Wiley sighed, smoke pouring out of his nostrils.

  “Can you hear me now?” he asked in my mind.

  “Yeah,” I thought back, unsettled by his voice.

  “Good,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need help escaping. Are you interested in getting away from your owners?”

  “They’re worse than what I remember of the Four Wizards,” he replied.

  I stared up at him as the crowd hung around, waiting for him to do or say something.

  “That’s why you should help me,” I said. “We can both escape our masters.”

  “But how?” Wiley asked.

  “At the arena,” I said, not mentioning my secret buffs. “When I’m fighting, they don’t have as close an eye on me. After we win a battle, I jump on your back and we fly out.”

  He laughed out loud, startling some of the people around us.

  “You don’t think I’ve considered that before?” he asked.

  His massively intense eyes narrowed as he stared.

  “I can help you. Working together, we can escape to another city-state.”

  Wiley shook his head.

  “Do you think they treat slaves any better in the other cities?” he asked.

  “Are you saying all the city-states on Level One-Nine allow slavery?”

  “Not all of them,” he said. “But the few that don’t are out of reach.”

  “We can do it,” I insisted.

  “The Four Wizards will chase you,” he said. “It won’t be pretty.”

  “What do you remember about them?”

  He moved his head back a bit.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t remember being their prisoner on a lower level?”

  He shook his head back and forth and said, “No.”

  I saw a man of the City Guard stroll through the courtyard. He looked in our direction, but he didn’t stop or come over. I glanced back up at Wiley.

  “What do you say? Ready for an adventure?”

  The dragon laughed, puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth.

  “I was born for adventure,” he said.

  “Will your owners let you fight tonight?”

  “If there’s money to be made…”

  “Great,” I said.

  “What’s the big hurry?”

  “I want your help before something happens to either of us.”

  “That’s morbid,” he said, his voice echoing in my mind.

  “Are you in, or not?”

  He nodded his scaled head up and down.

  “I’m in,” he said. “I’ve not wanted to fly away on my own, but with your help, maybe we could lose whoever comes after us in the wastelands.”

  While I should’ve told him I was training as an urban barbarian, I kept my mouth shut.

  “Thank you,” I said, staring into his impossibly dee
p eyes. “We can do this.”

  He lifted his head toward the sky and let off a blast of flames. The crowd around cheered, clapping, laughing, pointing, and yelling at the impressive dragon.

  “I’ll see you at the arena in a few hours,” he said. “I need to talk to my masters. The Four Wizards have been trying to purchase me ever since we did so well in the arena together. I want to get out of here before they have a chance. While I don’t remember exactly why I hate them, there’s something that makes me want to blast them to smithereens.”

  “Know what you mean…”

  I nodded then turned to head for the coliseum. Why hadn’t I asked for his help earlier? The plan was so simple it might actually work. It better work.

  Underneath the coliseum, I leaned against the wall in a dark corner with a few of the other fighters on the line-up for the night. A guard walked over.

  “Yorg, there’s a switch-up tonight,” he said.

  I tried to act surprised. “Oh?”

  “Yeah,” he continued. “You’re fighting with Wiley. New foes.”

  “What are we fighting?” I asked.

  Tommy Two-Toes chuckled.

  “Does it even matter?” he asked. “With that dragon, you’ll win. I don’t see how you’re doing so well at your level.”

  “Just talented, I guess,” I shot back.

  “That’s enough,” the guard said. “Your opponent is a surprise.”

  I wasn’t too worried as he walked away. Whatever they threw at us would go down easy with my secret enhancements and Wiley’s raw dragon power.

  As the others traded stories, I thought about my simple escape plan. While finding Monky and getting her help would’ve been nice, I didn’t have time to waste.

  The dragon would be helpful for surviving the wastelands outside the city. I chuckled along with the others as Tommy Two-Toes told his story one more time.