The Scout of Artemis (LitRPG Series): Press X to Loot Book 1

by Gregg Horlock

  Awareness increased by 20% - 60% until level 2

  I stared to get a bad feeling about the group. I wished that I could see the man’s face better, because I was sure now that it was a skill tattoo. My Awareness skill had given me enhanced hearing, and I guessed that I’d need to level it before my sight improved. Looking closer, I saw that the group’s player names and classes were above their heads, but I was too far away to read them.

  Rex joined me at the edge of the cliff. He looked carefully, then pointed at something. “Columbus,” he said, stretching out his arm.

  “I know,” I answered. “Looks like we’ve got some competition. We need to get moving.”

  “Not that,” he said. “To the east. Can you see that?”

  I followed the direction of his outstretched fingers. Beyond the newly-arrived group, and into the woodland, I saw a stream that cut deep through the island. On the bank of it, was a solitary figure. I knew instantly that it wasn’t an NPC or a monster. The solitary figure could only be one person. It had to be Jack.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  My tracking gave me a rough idea of the direction to head in to find Jack, but there was still a lot of trial and error. We came across dead ends, where trees stood so closely together that not even a mouse could get through. As we walked, my stamina began to drain. The sun began to fall from its zenith, as if it was also feeling the strain.

  I was starting to lose my sense of wonder about Artemis. A ticking clock replaced it, and I imagined it following me with each step. We were pushed for time in finding Helder’s Bane, and the appearance of the private ship had made me even tenser.

  “I just wished we knew what it was, or where to go,” I said.

  “There was a bookseller in the village,” said Rex. “He might have an idea about who Helder is, and what his bane was.”

  Every so often we encountered various forest critters. These ranged from overgrown rats, to rabbits with teeth sharp enough to cut through bone. I tried encouraging Rex to attack them, but he seemed even more set in his pacifism than ever.

  “You need to level up,” I told him. “We both do. You saw the guys on the ship; they’re better equipped than us. We can’t let them get ahead in levels at the same time.”

  “It just makes me uneasy. The creatures are too life-like, it doesn’t feel right killing them.”

  Whilst walking through the woods I’d found another sharp stick. I held Death Bringer Mark 2 up for Rex to see. “How about this? You weaken them, and I’ll strike the killing blow. If you’re so set on keeping your hands clean, I’ll have to get blood on mine.”

  As we walked, we killed the creatures that looked weak and avoided the ones that seemed like they’d cause a problem. This resulted in a couple of messages that gave me some hope.

  Sneak increased by 20% - 40% until level 2

  Level up to level 2!

  - HP increased to 137

  - Stamina increased to 149

  - 2 attribute points gained

  This gave me 4 attribute points free to use. Now that I had my skills set, I felt that I could allocate them with future tactics in mind. My sneak skill relied on agility and my traps and tracking on intelligence, so I allocated 2 points to each.

  As well as that, we also looted some animal meat and fur. I hoped that when his crafting skill improved, Rex would be able to make some crude amour from the fur. If I found a way to light the Burr tail tips in my inventory, we’d have a good source of fire, too.

  Finally, we reached the stream bank where I’d seen Jack. We found it deserted. I wondered if we’d arrived at the right place, but I saw tracks in the ground left by my brother. He was gone, but I could use my tracking skill to follow his path.

  We tracked his trail along the stream. Ahead of us, I saw four animals in the water. They looked like crocodiles, except their leathery hide was blue, and they had three eyes. Two of them stared out at either side, while one looked ahead. One of the animals opened its jaws, and I saw gleaming rows of sharp teeth.

  “Surely he didn’t go this way?” said Rex.

  I looked at the ground. Cal’s trail did indeed lead forward, beyond the creatures.

  “They must not have been here when he walked by,” I said.

  “So, what do we do?”

  I looked at the monsters in the water. “They’re too advanced for us. We’ll have to walk around them.”

  It was easier said than done. We cut an arc through the forest, making sure to walk far enough away from the stream that the creatures didn’t see us. When I finally judged that we’d left enough room, I diverted us back on track. Our progress was soon stopped when we came to a break in the woodland. Before us was a giant cliff, this one steeper than the cliff we’d climbed earlier. There was no easy path over this mound of rock.

  “How’s your stamina?” I asked Rex.

  “There’s no way we can climb that.”

  “We can’t go around it. There’s no point going along the stream, because the alligator-things will still be there.”

  Rex put his fingers to his chin in thought. “They were more like crocodiles. But anyway, I could make a rope,” he said.

  “That would be great, MacGyver,” I said. “But how?”

  “Who’s MacGyver?”

  I started to explain, but we didn’t have the time. “Never mind. How are you going to make a rope?”

  Rex walked over to a tree and started snapping off branches. Using the edge of his blade, he stripped some of them down to reveal their rubbery insides. These he cut into lengths. With that done, he used his crafting skill to intertwine them into a crude rope.

  “I’m not sure I want to put my trust into that,” I said, looking at the rope and then at the steep cliff.

  “You don’t have to,” he said.

  “Good.”

  “You don’t have to, because you’ll be free climbing. I’m the one who needs the rope.”

  “Come again?”

  Rex sighed. “I’m too heavy and my agility is too low for me to get to the top without a rope. But you’re light. And you’re a scout, so I’m guessing you loaded points into your agility.”

  I nodded. “Sure, but not enough to climb.”

  “Give it a try.”

  There was no choice. We couldn’t go around the cliff, and we couldn’t go back. Rex was right; as a barbarian, he was too heavy for the deft movements required in free climbing.

  I thought about Red Rock back in Gossard Forest. I imagined myself being stood at the top of it and looking at the ground below. It worried me to abseil down it even with ropes strapped to me, so how was I supposed to do this?

  “Something wrong?” asked Rex.

  I wouldn’t show him that heights worried me. I took a deep breath, hoping that the forest air would somehow fill me with confidence. As I grabbed the first rock that stuck out from the base of the cliff, I felt my heart begin to hammer.

  I stood back. I couldn’t do it. I’d always hated heights, ever since…No. I couldn’t think of Francis. And I couldn’t give up. I needed to think of my father, and about the family business. I couldn’t let him down.

  With shallow breaths and shaking hands, I began to climb. In real life, of course, this would have been the height of foolishness. In Pana, things were simpler. A person with no climbing experience could take a challenge like this, because the point of Pana was that you could escape the limits of everyday life.

  I found that with each foot I climbed, I began to feel more at ease. My mind still screamed at me that I was an idiot, but I ignored it. Finally, grunting with effort, I heaved myself to the top. It was only then that I looked down.

  It was a mistake. Seeing the ground so far below me, I felt myself wobble. Blood rushed to my head, and I backed away from the edge. I was dimly aware of a sound behind me, but I didn’t turn around.

  “The rope,” shouted Rex below me.

  I unslung the rope from around my shoulder and unravelled it. I tied it around a rock a
t the edge of the cliff and then let it fall. In one of his many outdoor lessons, Dad had taught me how to make knots. I was sure that mine would hold, but I wasn’t as confident in Rex’s rope craftsmanship.

  With the rope around his waist, Rex began to climb. I held the rope at the top and pulled on it to help his ascent. With a measly 1 strength point I couldn’t haul him up on my own, but together, our efforts helped Rex reach the top.

  It was then that I heard the noise behind me again. I had forgotten my vertigo enough now that I turned around to look at it. When I saw what was behind me, I stumbled back. I felt Rex’s hand hold me steady.

  Across from us, there was a giant nest. It was a thatch-work of branches and twigs all wound tightly together into an oval shape. The nest wasn’t the worrying sight for me, though.

  It was the giant eagle on top of it.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It was taller than me by a good few feet. A foot-long beak protruded from a small-eyed head. The eagle watched us, tipped its head back, and squawked. It spread its wings wide to quadruple its size, then flapped them. I felt wind hit my face. The eagle started to lift from its nest, and I saw claws that looked sharp enough to tear me apart.

  The ground seemed far away now. I’d always hated heights, but that was because of the prospect of falling. A giant eagle, angry at our intrusion on its nesting area, added a whole new dimension to my fear.

  I realized that I was holding Death Bringer Mark 2 tight in my hand. I felt a weight on my shoulder, and I turned to see Rex stood next to me.

  “Don’t worry,” he said.

  “I like your sense of calm,” I said. “but if any situation calls for a bit of worry, then it’s this.”

  The eagle shrieked again. I’d never thought that birds’ faces could hold expressions, but this one did. The eagle was angry.

  I backed away. The rope was to my right. Going back the way we came would mean having to face the crocodile creatures. I wondered which was preferable; hungry crocodiles, or a giant, pissed-off eagle.

  I looked ahead of me. Gripping Death Bringer in my hand, I reminded myself that every danger passed. It was something my father always told me; no threat lasts forever. It either gets you, or you beat it, but either way it’s gone. If I was going to face my first death in Pana Reborn, then I’d meet it fighting.

  Before I had a chance to do anything, Rex walked forward. He kept his blade sheathed on his back, and he took careful steps toward the bird. The eagle flinched at his approach and flapped its wings, sending another blast of air at me.

  “Have you lost your mind?” I said.

  Rex carried on walking forward until he stood near the eagle. He started to speak. To my amazement, words didn’t leave his mouth. Instead, he made bird noises, squawking in soft tones at the creature above him.

  I was so shocked that I felt my eyes widen. As Rex spoke, the eagle seemed to calm. It stopped flapping its wings, and it hovered down until it sat on its nest. Rex reached forward, and the eagle craned its head toward him. The barbarian stroked the head of the giant animal.

  “I’d say ‘what the hell’ but that wouldn’t even begin to cover it,” I said.

  Rex looked back at me and grinned. “I took animal tamer as a skill.”

  “Animal tamer, herbalism and crafting. You’re really making this barbarian class your own. Conan would be proud.”

  “Conan?”

  I sighed. “Have you ever watched TV in your life?”

  The eagle prodded its head forward, eager for another stroke from the man before it. The transformation was incredible. Just seconds earlier it looked ready to tear us apart, but now it seemed as harmless as a Burr with no claws. This could be massive for us, I knew. If we could make the eagle an ally, there wasn’t a crocodile-thing or Burr for miles around that could trouble us.

  “Think you can-”

  Before I could finish my sentence, something whizzed through the air. I heard it make a zipping sound as it sped toward us, and suddenly the eagle shrieked out. It thrashed its wings wildly, hitting Rex across the face and knocking him to the ground. The eagle thrashed around, screaming in pain. I realized that an arrow had pierced its throat. The bird tried to fly, but its fight was leaving it. It let out one more shriek, before collapsing on the ground and rolling off the cliff, out of sight. A few seconds later, I heard it thud on the ground below.

  I ran over to the cliff edge and looked down. Thirty feet below me were a group of people. I saw two women and three men. One of the men wore a black hood, and I recognized him as the leader of the party who I’d seen come ashore. Although I was high above them, I was close enough now to see his face clearly. The man had a tattoo on his face depicting a bow and arrow.

  The man held a bow in one hand. He raised his free hand and waved at me. “Why, hello there!” he said, in a cheery voice.

  To my left, Rex stood up. He walked to the edge of the cliff where the eagle had fallen. He ran his hands through his hair. The color had left his face now.

  I turned my attention to the party below.

  “You won’t find it up there,” said one of them.

  The leader handed his bow to a woman to his right and folded his arms. “I take it you’re here for Helder’s Bane?” he said.

  There was something about his voice that stirred irritation in me. It was gravelly, as though he’d smoked a hundred cigarettes and drunk a bottle of whisky. There seemed to be an undercurrent of malice to it. I looked at him, and I could only think one thing; I wouldn’t let these bastards find Helder’s Bane before me.

  The leader walked over to a barrel-chested man. I could see his name now.

  Ellis Taunton – Hunter Level 3

  Ellis was shorter than the rest of his companions. His character face made him seem old, with wrinkles creasing his sharp features. It was hard to tell which parts of his face were wrinkles of age and which were the ink of his tattoo. He had a sneering quality to him.

  “Pass me that,” he said to a warrior next to him. The warrior handed him a brown sack.

  Ellis looked at me, and he held the sack up for me to see. “We found some stuff washed up on shore,” he said. “A couple of respawn runes, some potions. A rather nice set of greaves. Hope you don’t mind me borrowing them.”

  I realized that I was gripping Death Bringer Mark 2 so tight that my knuckles had turned white. This asshat had our respawn runes.

  “We better be going,” said Ellis. “You know, since we have a Bane belonging to Helder to find and all. Good luck up there, though. Hope you have fun topping up your sun tan.”

  As the party below us began to walk away, I noticed something. Although they all wore armor that anyone in Pana could buy with enough GD, they had customized some of it. On their backs was the imagine of a sun with rays of light beaming from it. Beneath the sun, was a name.

  Star Horizon.

  I felt a lump form in my throat. It was them; the company who were trying to buy us out of Gossard forest. Not content with trying to ruin Ledfield Tours, here they were trying to beat me to Helder’s Bane. I gritted my teeth. I wouldn’t let them do it. I didn’t care what it took; I would beat them.

  I turned around to face Rex, only to see that he’d climbed into the eagle’s nest. “What are you doing?” I said.

  He reached down and picked something up. When he straightened, I saw that he had an egg in his hand. It was white with golden speckles on it, and it was the size of a watermelon.

  “It was a mother eagle,” he said, with a glum look in his eyes.

  “They’re a bunch of bastards,” I answered.

  “This is our responsibility now,” he said, holding the egg.

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I would admit that Rex’s animal Tamer skill had helped us at first, but I needed him to be more like a barbarian. “There’s no time for sentimentality,” I told him. “We need to go. Now.”

  He held up his free hand. “Hear me out, Columbus. Let’s say we keep this until
it hatches. Then, if we can get hold of a game map, we can attach it to the eagle and have it fly around the island. That way, we get our map filled in for us. That’s got to be an advantage, right?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When we climbed down the cliff, we had lost Jack’s trail. We had to walk an hour west, back toward the stream, to find it. Once I spotted his footprints again, it was easy enough to follow it.