The Warped Forest

by Thomas Carpenter

  The Ruthless Capybull takes 18 shock damage from Cloud Taunt!

  Her view was filled with eleven versions of the Cloud Taunt spell hitting the capybulls, which summoned angered bellows from them.

  She'd hoped that the secondary trigger of Cloud Taunt would be misdirected into the others, making it appear that that capybull had cast Cloud Taunt on them, but it didn't work, leaving Alex standing before an angry herd with nowhere to go.

  "Nothing ever goes to plan, does it?" she mused aloud as she sprinted along the edge of the pond as the capybulls strained to reach her.

  The first two capybulls had reached the land before she'd begun running, but the muddy edge slowed their pursuit, giving her the opportunity to skirt around the pond. When she reached the trampled spot the herd had entered the water, and after the third and final Cloud Taunt had triggered, Alex cast the spell again.

  To her delight, the two that had exited the water charged in a direct line at her, which slowed them. This gave her the opportunity to kite them around the pond while using the water to transfer the shock damage through the whole group. It wasn't the plan she'd hoped for but it was working.

  When the end of the fight came, Alex punched her fist in the air at the host of notifications.

  You have gained experience: 750 XP

  Special Achievement Reached: You have killed more than ten creat*ures at the same time!

  You have gained bonus experience: 35,000 XP

  You have gained a skill point: +1 Cunning Strategist

  Alex couldn't believe it. She'd gained 43,250 experience in under five minutes, which put her over halfway to level 6. While she wouldn't get the special bonus again, the mass experience was important enough to prove that her strategy had worked.

  There were some tweaks needed, but she was pleased overall with the result. As she surveyed the carnage of eleven floating corpses, Alex let a grin of victory rise to her lips.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  During the first four months of Gamemakers Online, Alex managed to struggle her way to level 5. The task of reaching each successive level had felt Herculean, leaving her frustrated from the lack of progress and doubly so after she met Lily, who had managed to reach level 11 in the same amount of time.

  But once she perfected her AoE techniques, the experience flowed like a river and she reached level 11 in a fifth of the time.

  After taking down a group of tortured spikellamas, Alex reviewed her character sheet. She'd turned off the mass notifications during battle, but liked to review her information afterwards to see if anything had changed.

  Character: Alexandria Duke

  Level: 11

  Strength: 1

  Intelligence: 6

  Cunning: 23

  Agility: 2

  Endurance: 3

  Charisma: 1

  Class: Arcane Mastermind

  Subclass: Undecided

  Health: 81/144

  Faez: 54/153

  Armor Class: 15

  Fatigue: 45%

  XP: 834,199/900,000

  Skills:

  Analyze: 23

  One-handed Slashing: 1

  Fire Spells: 2

  Devious Device: 7

  Sense Direction: 25

  One-handed Whip: 9

  Water Spells: 8

  Cooking: 13

  Stealth: 6

  Climbing: 6 (+5 Ascending Boots)

  Air Spells: 26

  Unique Skills:

  Cunning Strategist: 4

  Mastermind: 2

  Spells:

  Dewdrop Orb: 7

  Minor Creation: 5

  Transference: 17

  Cloud Taunt: 33

  Misdirection: 5

  Wind Gust: 13

  Heal Minions: 8

  Spells:

  Dewdrop Orb – Tier 1

  Faez: 10 ׀ Duration: 15-60 seconds

  Effect: Capture a small creature in a globe of water, removing them from the fight and suffocating them if they can't hold their breath for long.

  Minor Creation – Tier 1

  Faez: Varies ׀ Duration: Permanent

  Base Skill: Devious Device

  Effect: Create new magic items or copy mundane items.

  Transference – Tier 2

  Faez: Varies ׀ Duration: Permanent

  Effect: Transfer magic from one item or creature to another.

  Cloud Taunt – Tier 4

  Faez: 25 ׀ Duration: 1 minute

  Dmg: 31-55 (Repeat Shock Damage every 15 seconds)

  Effect: Enrages the creature to attack you.

  Misdirection – Tier 1

  Faez: 20 ׀ Range: 20 feet

  Effect: Divert a spell or attack from one creature into another

  Wind Gust – Tier 2

  Faez: 15 ׀ Range: 40 feet

  Effect: Summon a wall of wind to blow against your enemies, staggering them and pushing smaller creatures backwards

  Heal Minions – Tier 2

  Faez: 20 ׀ Range: 50 feet

  Effect: Heal target minion 50 damage

  The additional spells she'd gained had been useful, especially Wind Gust when she had to deal with flying enemies. But mostly, she'd been keeping to her AoE strategy.

  Alex was finishing looting when she heard the sound of heavy wings approaching. She let the Wind Gust spell fade from her mind when she smelled butterscotch.

  "Hey, Ethel," said Alex.

  The Great Raven landed on a log near the pond, which looked different than it had a month ago. While the water remained, it was brackish, and the bushes and grass that had surrounded the pond were tramped into the mud. Only the colorful insects remained, biting her unprotected flesh when she wasn't paying attention.

  "Remind me never to ask you to remodel my nest," said Ethel.

  Alex wandered over to the bird. "I don't think I'll be getting my deposit back."

  While she stepped over the last spikellama corpse, Alex analyzed Ethel.

  Ethel Stormfeathers III, Great Raven, ??

  That the level was still hidden surprised Alex.

  "You know it's rude to do that while I'm staring right at you," said Ethel, with a head tilt.

  Alex raised an eyebrow. "You could tell?"

  Ethel ruffled her feathers as she high stepped to the edge of the log. "Lesser beings wouldn't know the difference, but I know how you visitors are, calculating everyone for profit."

  The coldness confused Alex. Last time they'd talked, they'd enjoyed friendly banter. Was she missing something or did reputation decay over time?

  "I have some more baubles for you," said Alex, reaching into her Handysack.

  The Great Raven lifted her head, her beak jawing at the air with excitement.

  To test her theory about decaying reputation, Alex handed over a single stack of fifty worthless baubles.

  +100 reputation with Great Ravens

  You have an indifferent reputation with Great Ravens

  Ethel tilted her shiny black head at Alex as she stood there with her hand hovering over her Handysack.

  "Holding out on me?" asked Ethel.

  "No," said Alex, shaking her head out of thought. "Here's the rest of them. I've been busy."

  The constant kills had provided an ample amount of meat, worthless baubles, and a fair number of chimeric stones. The additional three stacks brought her back to friendly territory.

  +100 reputation with Great Ravens

  +100 reputation with Great Ravens

  +100 reputation with Great Ravens

  You have a friendly reputation with Great Ravens

  Alex kicked at the ground. "So...how have you been?"

  Ethel lifted her beak as if she were standing before a fawning crowd. "I am well enough. These lands provide me enough amusement, though I suspect my enjoyment is different than that of you visitors."

  "Do you know where we come from?" asked Alex.

  She knew magic could bestow limited intelligence on constructs, but had never thought to c
onsider artificial ones inside a game.

  "Yes, I am aware that you live outside this world and only come to play some strange game," said Ethel.

  "Then what is this world to you?" asked Alex.

  "For me, it is the real one, which makes you my illusion, rather than the other way around," said Ethel.

  "You're quite philosophical," said Alex.

  "And you're nothing more than a chicken hitting a button for a bit of feed corn," said Ethel.

  Alex held her hand to her chest. "Ouch. I thought we were friends."

  The Great Raven stared at her with pebble-black eyes. Alex pictured an old woman putting out a cigarette while blowing a plume of smoke.

  "We are, which is why I came back to visit you," said Ethel. "Or is that not something you do in your world?"

  "It is," said Alex. "It was good of you to come back. I enjoy having someone to talk to. This zone is rather lonely, and my minions are short on conversation."

  "Minions?" Ethel cawed. "You mean your little flying bloodsuckers."

  "Yes...and thank you again for the ointment. It's been pretty crucial." Alex cleared her throat. "Speaking of, do you happen to know anything about the high white spire on the western side of this zone?"

  "Ahh, yes. The Spire of Creation," said Ethel, adding a trilling croak.

  "I take it that's where the end boss for the Warped Forest is located," said Alex.

  "You got it," said Ethel.

  Quest Offered: Defeat the Warped Mother (+150,000 XP) [Y/N]

  Alex wasn't sure if Ethel had offered the quest or if the question she'd asked had triggered it, but she accepted it right away. That amount of experience would give her a whole level.

  "Anything you can tell me about the Warped Mother?" asked Alex.

  "Nothing you don't already know," said Ethel. "Look, kid. I like you, but I can't go spoiling the fun. That's frowned upon around these parts."

  "Yeah," said Alex. "I get it. But I had to ask."

  Ethel winked. "Actually, you didn't have to, but I get the sentiment."

  "What about the chimeric stones? Can you provide any insight into them?" Alex asked hopefully.

  "I can tell you as much as you already know," said Ethel.

  "Which is that they have to do with the Mother," said Alex.

  "You got it."

  "Wonderful," said Alex, thinking about her previous investigations, which had proved nothing about the stones. Her theory had been that they caused the warped creatures, but hearing about the Warped Mother changed her ideas. With a name like that, she imagined the creatures were birthed, or created somehow.

  But it wasn't her quest that intrigued her most. She'd thought about the Great Raven often during her time in the Warped Forest. Even the highest tech online games didn't have NPCs that seemed to have free will like Ethel Stormfeathers the Third. In fact, Alex wasn't entirely certain that Ethel was an artificial construct.She could be something else entirely. Maybe another person, or supernatural creature, living in the game like she was, with entirely different purposes.

  "So do you have a role in this world? Like a job, I mean? Flying around dispensing quests and items to us visitors?" asked Alex.

  Ethel stilled, her unblinking black eyes making Alex's face prickly with embarrassment.

  When Ethel didn't answer, Alex added, "Or...is asking a question like that rude?"

  -10 Reputation with Great Ravens

  "Got it," said Alex, hanging her head. "Sorry. I've been cooped up in my head for a while without anyone else to talk to, and I have all these questions about the nature of this place."

  Ethel shifted her black wings behind her back as if she were addressing a troop battalion.

  "I enjoy coming to visit you, kid. You've got spunk, but remember this is our world. We Great Ravens do not have jobs, nor are we merely quest dispensers. We have a higher purpose here, one that one of your limited experience would not understand. Remember that and we'll get along fine," said Ethel.

  With heat rising to her face, Alex bowed low before the Great Raven, bending until her face was only a foot from the ground. When she returned erect, the Great Raven gave her a little nod.

  +25 Reputation with Great Ravens

  "It's been a nice little visit, Alexandria Duke, Arcane Mastermind of the Eleventh Level." The big black bird shifted her body in preparation of flight. "I might come back and visit you again, so try not to die."

  "I would like that," said Alex, keeping her voice small. "It was good seeing you again. Have a good flight."

  Ethel lifted her huge black wings, thrusting downward with a little hop that lifted her into the air. Then three beats later, she was ascending quickly, once more leaving Alex alone.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A few weeks after the visit from the Great Raven, Alex lured a herd of Midnight Razorelks to the killing pond. Their lustrous black hides appeared to absorb the light while their black racks cut through small trees as if they were paper. When Pinky burst into the space above the dead pond, the herd slowed to a stop at the edge of the clearing, milling about and lightly stomping their hooves.

  The leader of the herd was an enormous male with a rack as wide as Alex was tall. The big buck lifted his head, sniffing the air tentatively, while the rest of the herd stayed behind, tails swishing nervously.

  Alex stood a good two hundred yards away, but their earthy musk reached her as if she stood right next to them. They smelled like raw earth mixed with starlight. She almost felt bad that she was going to slaughter them.

  Midnight Razorelk, Warped Animal, Level 12

  This was going to be her toughest challenge yet. She'd seen the herd a month ago, but knew she wasn't ready for them. Not only were they higher level, but they seemed to have an uncanny awareness of danger.

  The other herds she'd lured to the pond had come with reckless abandon, but the way the huge razorelk stared at her told her that this fight would be different.

  "You're not the only one," said Alex, hands flexing at her sides.

  She'd been working on a new tactic with her minions. The razorelk herd would be her first chance to try it. If it worked, she figured she could mow through the rest of the herds and advance on the Mother's spire by the middle of April.

  Alex flexed her fingers before starting the Cloud Taunt spell. At tier one, it'd been a gray smudge of cloud streaking across space with crackles of electricity barely above static. Casting her tier-four version felt like she was a storm goddess, harnessing a thundercloud for her benefit. The gray fist shot across the still pond—bolts slamming into the water—until the cloud hit the huge razorelk buck.

  You have hit the Midnight Razorelk buck with Cloud Taunt!

  The Midnight Razorelk buck has resisted Cloud Taunt!

  "That's new," said Alex.

  She needed the leader to rush after her if she was going to take down the herd. Alex focused her sight on the big buck.

  Midnight Razorelk Buck, Warped Animal, Level 15

  Herd Resistance: Magic resistance for herd animals within 50 feet

  You mess with my amigos, you mess with me

  "That's going to be a problem," said Alex, scratching her head.

  Not only was the leader a higher level, he had a resistance to her spells and passed that protection to the rest of the herd within range. She doubted she could separate the leader, and attacking a lesser elk wouldn't accomplish much if they carried his resistance.

  There was a trick she was working on with her minions. She wasn't entirely sure it would work, but it seemed like a good time to try.

  Alex started walking around the pond towards the herd with the Shocking Strangler dangling from her hand.

  "This is either going to be the most brilliant thing I've ever done or the stupidest," said Alex, then lowered her voice in her best narrator impression. "It was the stupidest."

  At her mental command, Inky and Pinky flew behind her, right above her left and right shoulders, while Clyde stayed higher above.
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  As if they were two armies meeting at the center of the battlefield for a prebattle discussion, the huge razorelk and two lieutenants ambled forward until they were twenty feet from the herd. Alex wasn't sure if the buck was trying to keep her away from the rest of the group, or if it was matching her approach, but its behavior worried her. It was cagier than she'd anticipated.

  As they neared, the big buck lowered his head and snorted. Alex got a good look at the deadly rack on its head, made of what appeared to be sharp black glass rather than bone. The dense glass caught the light filtering through the trees, sparkling across the razor edges. One hit from the rack would tear her flesh to tatters.

  Alex made the first move, darting forward to snap at the buck with her deadly whip.

  You deal the Midnight Razorelk buck 15 damage!

  The buck reared onto its back legs, gesturing with its front hooves. When it landed, it charged forward, lowering its razor-filled rack at her chest.

  Before the razorelk buck could reach her, Alex cracked her whip, hitting Pinky.

  You deal Pinky 18 damage!

  As the spell triggered, Alex cast Misdirection.

  You hit Pinky with Misdirection!

  You have gained Reactionary Armor!

  You are invulnerable!

  Alex flinched when the buck slammed into her, knocking her backwards into a roll. The rack failed to cut her, but the impact knocked the spit from her lips.

  The Midnight Razorelk buck hits you for 0 damage!

  You are invulnerable!

  Coming up into a fighting stance, Alex cracked her whip twice.

  The buck rushed her again, but the Reactionary Armor saved her from certain death. As the countdown in her head reached zero, she hit the buck two more times before sending a mental command to Inky, who used her special ability, which Alex stole with Misdirection.