Next to me, Jack stirred from his sleep. Without even saying good morning, he pulled up the forum interface. I saw his sleepy face turn into a smile, and then he stood up and punched the air.
“I’m 235 GD richer!” he said.
I now had 4 attribute points left unspent. I loaded one into strength, since it was obvious I’d be doing more fighting than I’d anticipated. The other 3 I spread evenly in my agility, endurance and intelligence attributes.
As I checked that my points had taken effect, I noticed something. Our subscriber count had increased from 22, all the way to 523. We were obviously doing something right.
I stood up and stretched my legs. Despite the sleep I’d managed to snatch after the wave, I still felt tired. I had to shake it off though. The hard work was only beginning.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Clive! Get back here.”
I left the alcove and walked to the top of the hill. Waves crashed against rocks on the shoreline behind me. The tide dribbled over the beach and drenched the sand. There was a salty taste in the air. Across from me, near the tree line of the woods, Rex clomped around.
“What are you doing? I called out to him.
He turned. “Clive keeps running away.”
“Who the hell is Clive?”
He crossed his arms. “The Burr needed a name.”
I wandered over to help him catch the creature. I wasn’t fond of keeping it as a pet, but I felt a certain responsibility for it. I remembered how I had watched the rest of its pack shoo it away. As if things weren’t bad enough for the animal, I’d then trapped it and ended up extinguishing its fire. I decided that we owed it a little help.
As I walked a few yards into the woodland, I found Clive resting against a tree. Every so often he’d move his head a little and peek out, trying to get a look at Rex. So, he wasn’t running away, then. He was playing a game. When Clive saw me, he straightened up and hissed at me.
I stopped. “You attacked me, remember?” I said. “Technically I didn’t hurt you; I just stepped out of the way when you ran at me.”
Clive hissed again.
“Fine,” I said. Then I turned to Rex’s direction.
“He’s over here.”
As the morning sun started to warm the air, we sat on the hill above our base. Jack looked tired, whereas Rex seemed full of energy. His Burr sat next to him eating forest nuts from his hand.
“We need a map,” I said. “Otherwise, we’ll be wandering Grey Plains aimlessly.”
“Most games let you start with a map,” said Rex, pinching a nut between his thumb and index finger. Clive eyed it with hunger.
“And we would get one too, if we were on the mainland. Artemis was made as a challenge. We need to get a blank map, and then we can start to fill it in as we go over the plains.”
“Why are we still doing the village quest?” asked Jack. “We’ve already got the respawn rune.”
“I’ll take this one,” said Rex. He looked at Jack. “Helder’s Bane isn’t an object or a thing; it’s his curse. He was one of the wave creatures, cursed by the wizard. To win the competition, we have to stop the curse.”
“Okay,” said Jack. “I get it now. Listen, when I was in the tavern basement, I could hear every conversation in the bar. The floors were thin, but their beer was good. Anyway, I overheard two people talking about a ranger’s hut near the plains. He was a Grey Plain ranger, but he hasn’t been seen in a while. There’s bound to be a map in his hut.”
“And he’s near the plains?” I said.
“Apparently.”
I nodded. “A map that’s already been filled in could save us a hell of a lot of time. We need every second we can get.”
Quest Received – Get a Map!
Rewards:
- A map, of course!
- 20 exp
I got to my feet. I felt full of energy and ready to go. Before we set out, we took a health potion each. I constructed some mobile traps for the journey, and I tucked Death Bringer Mark 3 into a loop in my trouser waist.
Trap increased by 15% (85% until level 5)
With our equipment ready, we set out in the direction of the village, and beyond that, the Grey Plains.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“You know, they really didn’t do this place justice back in the village,” said Jack.
We had found the Grey Plains North of Dostooth. The woods seemed darker this far out. It was as though the trees spread their branches purposefully to blot out the weak rays of sun. Two miles beyond the village, after a detour caused by a thatch of thorn-filled bushes, we found a house. It was made from cobble stones, and it was supported by wooden poles. Grass seeds had been planted on the roof, and weeds covered it.
I went inside. I found cobwebs draped across shelves, and furniture covered in mold from years of abandonment. There wasn’t much to loot in there. Two wooden barrels stood in the corner. Jack smashed them. To my amazement, I saw GD coins inside. Aside from that, the only things of use were a stamina potion and a crafting book that, when read, would increase Rex’s skill by 50%.
While the woodland near Dostooth had paths worn by the repeated journeys, the closer we got to Grey Plains, the fainter they seemed. Finally, the pathways disappeared. I got the impression that we were in a wilder part of Artemis now. We walked by a tree with a trunk dotted by arrow holes. In one section of the forest we saw a lantern on the floor, though it was partially buried by mud.
The forest around us darkened further. From somewhere deep in the forest there was a knocking sound, but I couldn’t tell the direction. I began to feel as if something was following us.
We pushed on until finally we saw a break in the trees. We stepped through it, leaving the woodland behind. Ahead of us was a vast plain of grass.
“This can’t be it,” said Jack.
I knew what he meant. We were looking for Grey Plains, a place that Joldemass had said was full of danger. The fields before us were the opposite. They were so picturesque, they could have been used in an advert for a country holiday. The grass crested into hills, and the sun shone down and nourished it and cast a golden glow all around. Flowers of all different colors sprouted up.
Looking further, I saw wild hares and rabbits bounding over the plains. Birds swooped and dived, before gliding to branches of trees and stopping to sing a song. The smell of pansies and jasmine was in the air.
“We must have taken a wrong turn,” said Rex. Clive bunched up next to him, and the barbarian rubbed the Burr’s head. “The only danger we face here is falling asleep under the sun and having a nap. We’re lost.”
“No,” I said. “My tracking increased on the way here, which means we were going in the right direction. This is the start of the Grey Plains, alright. It’s just not how the old woman described. Jack, where’s the ranger’s hut supposed to be?”
The gambler put his hand to his forehead to block out the sun. He turned west, and pointed. “Somewhere that way, I guess.”
We walked west for thirty minutes. At first I was glad of the sun, but after a while it’s incessant rays starting to make me too hot. The chirping of the birds increased in volume until their songs were so loud that I could hardly think. Sweat pooled on my forehead, and when we came to a stream, I was glad to have a short break.
“I need a drink,” I said, walking over to the running water.
Stood above the stream, I saw that the water surface was so clear that I could see my own reflection. The face staring back at me was clean and healthy, with not a scratch on it.
Something wasn’t right. I was spending my days walking through forests, and my nights sleeping in a dirt-walled alcove. There was no way my face could be this clean. I lifted my right arm up and rolled up my sleeve so that I could see my skin. My stealth tattoo covered most of my forearm. When I raised it up so that I could see my reflection in the stream, the tattoo didn’t show.
Jack walked over to the stream and kneeled. He cupped his hands into th
e stream, gathered some water and brought it to his face.
I turned. “Don’t drink it,” I told him.
He looked at me. The water fell from his hands and down to the stream.
“Something isn’t right,” I told him. “Things aren’t what they seem.”
“What do you mean?” said Rex.
I looked at the barbarian. He’d sold his armor back in Dostooth and had seemed content to just wear his loin cloth. Jack and I weren’t as comfortable with the sight. We’d made him cut some of the base canopy and fashion it into something he could wear.
“Where are your skill tattoos?” I said.
“One on my thigh, another on my back,” he answered.
“Okay, I don’t really want to see your thigh.” I beckoned him over. “Come and have a look at this.”
When I showed Rex how my tattoo didn’t appear in my reflection, his eyes widened.
Awareness increased by 25%! (75% until level 3)
The landscape didn’t seem so picturesque anymore. The sky started to darken around us. It was covered by a mean-looking grey cloud that was bulging and looked ready to burst. The hills became more jagged, and the grass became a sick yellow color and only covered the plains in patches. The hares and rabbits stopped bounding up the hill and instead crawled up it like insects. I realized that they had turned into overgrown spiders. This was a land of decay, where everything was grey and mean.
“Sorry I doubted you,” said Jack, looking at the dreary landscape. “This is more like the place.”
I didn’t know what was going on, but someone, or something, hadn’t wanted us to see the true nature of the Grey Plains. I wondered what would have happened if I didn’t have the awareness skill? Would the picturesque mirage have led us into danger?
I looked at the stream in front of me, and I saw that it spat and bubbled as if it was filled with acid. Just a moment ago, it had seemed clear and still. If Jack had drunk from it, he’d be clutching his throat in agony.
“This is a spell,” said Rex. “Someone cast an effect on the place to make it seem nicer. But the amount of mana you’d need to keep up an illusion like that…Listen, Columbus. I think we need to be very careful. There’s someone around much, much more powerful than us.”
We found the ranger’s hut beyond a hill that rose in a triangle shape. The hut itself was made of wood that had been battered by the weather. A green mold covered it. Vines twisted over the walls, though I couldn’t see where they came from.
I held Death Bringer in my hand. Jack held a stick of his own that Rex had fashioned for him, while the barbarian brandished his sword. Looking at my pathetic weapons, I decided that we needed to tool up. I was never going to be much of a fighter, but I could at least give the impression of one.
“I’ll push open the door,” I said. “Then I’ll step aside. You two be ready for whatever comes out.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
There was an evil taint to the air around the hut. A sour smell came from somewhere, though I couldn’t see the source. Something had happened here.
I took a trap out of my bag. Using Sneak, I walked toward the hut door. I placed the trap a few feet away from it. The plan was that when I pushed the door, if someone came running out they would head straight into the trap. Rex and Jack could then finish them off.
I crept closer until I was just an inch away from the door. The smell was worse now. It became less a sour odour and more of a rotten one. I silently cursed the Pana coders for including such realism in the game.
With the utmost concentration, I gripped the door handle. It whined as I turned it. I stopped for a second. Certain nothing moved inside, I twisted it all the way and pushed open the door.
Then I stood back. Behind me, Jack and Rex had a better view of the doorway.
“Anything?” I asked.
Jack shook his head.
The ranger’s hut wasn’t occupied by anything living. Stepping inside, I saw that the ranger himself was on a wooden table. His arms and legs were spread out wide so that he formed a cross shape, and red markings were drawn on the wood around him. His skin was completely grey, as though he had been turned to stone.
The rotten smell didn’t come from the dead ranger. His body was now made of rock. Instead, the odor came from a row of shelves in the corner. Something that had once been food had long-ago begun the process of rotting, and had turned into a mushy mess.
Various books on outdoorsmanship lined another shelf. I saw tomes dedicated to horticulture, zoology, and a guide on which berries were poisonous. At the end of the row of books was one titled ‘Tracker’s Delight’ by L. I. Coolio. It was an advanced guide to tracking. I took it knowing that if I ever found the time to read it, it would increase my skill.
“Delightful,” said Rex, behind me.
I turned to see that he was looking at a giant stuffed bear that stood in the corner of the room. Its glassy eyes stared at us. Its muscled arms were fixed in a pouncing position, and its claws gleamed.
“You know what they say,” said Jack. “You’re never alone when you have a giant, stuffed, grizzly bear.”
Suddenly, Clive stepped back and hissed. The Burr raised its tail so that it was taut, and it seemed to be aiming its tip at the bear.
I wasn’t one for ignoring warnings, and I remembered the transformation of the world outside. “We better leave,” I said.
“What about the map?”
“I can’t see it anywhere, can you?” I asked.
The bear in the corner began to shake. Its fur started moving as if it was crawling with thousands of ants. The light around it glimmered, and then its muscles began to expand, changing shape as if they were made from jelly.
And then it moved. The creature stepped in front of the doorway, blocking our exit. A haze gathered around it. I gripped Death Bringer, ready to stab it into anything that moved toward me. Fog rose in the air and filled the shack.
When the smoke cleared, we found that we were alone. Adrenaline pumped through me. I looked around. The bear was gone, but nothing had been left in its place.
Clive broke free from Rex’s grasp and bounded out of the shack. I heard the Burr shriek as it left us. I went to the doorway and watched as the animal sped across the plains. It didn’t need to go far.
Just ahead of us, fleeing with more of a hobble than a run, was an old man. He wore dirty robes, and he had a pointed hat that was bent out of shape. He seemed to hunch over as he fled from us. Just as he reached the base of a jagged hill and began to climb, Clive leapt on him and brought him to the ground.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“I didn’t mean to do any of it,” said the old man.
We’d dragged him back to the shack. At first I was angry with him. When he saw us, his face drained white with fear. He wheezed as he struggled to get his breath. He looked as if he had seen at least eighty years. The expression of panic on his face was enough that I’d taken pity on him, and I let him sit down.
Even without reading the label above his head, he was obviously a magic user. Not ones to ignore stereotypes, the makers of Pana had given him a robe and wizard hat. The only thing missing from the ensemble was a staff. I looked at his name.
Vinetwest – Illusionist Level 67
“Did you kill him?” I said, looking at the ranger.
The wizard shook his head. Every movement he made seemed exaggerated, as if his whole life was a play where he had the starring role. He faced my question and shook his head from side to side.
“I found him like this, I swear. I just wanted somewhere to live. That’s why I changed the plains to look nicer.”
“And the boiling stream outside? I suppose you didn’t mind us drinking from it?”
He looked at the ground, and I was sure I saw a sneer cross his face. I wasn’t buying his act.
“If you found him like this, why’d you leave him here?” I said. “I can understand you wanting shelter for a while, but who in their right mind would do
it with a dead body in the room?”
“It felt wrong to move him,” said the wizard.
“You’re full of it,” said Jack. “Let’s kill him.”
The wizard held up his hands. I saw that his palms were covered in tattoos. His left showed a symbol of an hour glass, and the right showed a mirror. I wondered what they meant.
“Wait,” he said. “I can give you a map. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
The Scout of Artemis (LitRPG Series): Press X to Loot Book 1 Page 12
