Her and Trexxa quickly started a fire and they made a quick camp. They grilled up some extra boar meat and offered it to the grateful Goblins. After feeding them, they were down to their last 3 steaks. They were going to have to go hunting again soon.
While gnawing on the delicious boar flesh, Cass had time to ponder the thief's words. The most important takeaway from the whole conversation was the fact that they were, indeed, in a simulation. Some kind of game. To what end, though? She found herself thirsting for more information. It was like a drug. He'd mentioned the same fuzzy memories of "before" that she had. Maybe he was wrong and he wasn't just an NPC. Or, more frighteningly, perhaps she was.
They ate in silence, with only the occasional licking of the flames on the make-shift spit to break it up. The Goblins, once they got over their initial trepidation, devoured the meat, licking their lips and sucking the juice off their fingers.
Once the meal had been eaten and their spirits restored, they set their sights back on the quest. This time, the tunnel led them straight to their destination. Which turned out to be a small town.
Cass marveled at how intricate and quaint it all looked. Everything was lit up with torches and other lights, some of them sitting way up in the vaulted ceiling. She wanted to check out each individual shop and see what was here, but the most important thing was to get the ingredients back to the Dwarf. Once this quest chain was finished, she vowed to come back and take in the town.
Five minutes later and they found the outdoor market. They waited while the shopkeeper filled their order and handed them back two large crates. The proprietor let them borrow a wheelbarrow if she promised to bring it back.
*** Quest Complete! Fetch Baking Supplies - XP gained: 15 ***
*** New Quest: Return Supplies ***
They took turns pushing the wheelbarrow through the tunnel. Twice Cass had to clear out some space for it to fit through. Just as they were rounding into the final stretch, Trexxa brought them up short.
"What is it, girl? What do you hear?"
Trexxa put her ear to the ground and gave a low growl, deep in the back of her throat. Then she pointed to some footprints that weren't theirs.
"Kobolds..." One of the Goblins whispered. "They'll kill us!"
"Don't worry. Just stay in the corner over there and we'll do our best to protect you." Cass said with a confidence that she didn't feel. Gripping the wand tightly in her hand, she pulled it out and turned to the raptor.
"Where are they?"
Trexxa circled around the room a couple of times, then stiffened her tail and pointed.
"Come on, let's get 'em, girl!" Cass patted Trexxa on the head. She hissed her approval and they carefully made their way in the direction the raptor indicated. It didn't take long before they came upon 3 snarling, vicious Kobolds. With sashes around their chests and short swords in their hands, they looked like swashbuckling pirates.
"Get em!" Cass instructed her pet, but Trexxa was already on it. She hissed, gnashed her teeth and set her sights on what looked to be the leader.
"Arr, me mateys! Looks like we've got ourselves a little scuffle." The head Kobold pirate growled. Before the others could react, Trexxa struck out with her hind talons, raking the beast across the chest for 3 hp. None of them had noticed Cass yet, but that was soon going to change. With a flick of her wand, she dotted the leader up with fire.
The moment the fire singed his flesh, he squealed and began dancing around. That allowed Trexxa another free blow. She knocked him to the ground and began raking his face with her sharp talons. Cass felt a bit sorry for him as that must've hurt. The closest swashbuckler pounced on Trexxa and tried to pull her off. Cass aimed her wand at him and called forth her fire spell. He cried out in pain and fury as she blasted him straight to the ground.
That caught the attention of the third one, who turned to her and ran straight for her, his sword raised above his head and his face twisted in fury.
She backed up and got off a fire dot before tumbling to the ground under the weight of the Kobold. He brought his sword down with murderous intent, but she was able to twist her body just enough to escape his blows.
Trexxa bit a chunk of flesh out of his ass and yanked him off her. The leader, even though he was still on fire, had jumped back into the fray. He snarled and lunged at Trexxa, slicing her thick hide for a couple hp and causing her to bleed.
Cass had never seen anyone whirl around so fast as Trexxa did just then. As graceful as a cat, she jumped in the air, whirled around and kicked out with her razor-sharp talon. Not only did she catch him off guard, but she caught him square in the face - mid-scream - and knocked him over, landing on top of him. The stunned Kobold dropped his short sword and Cass lunged for it. She wasn't going to be able to rely on just magic - maybe not until her mana pool was much bigger.
The Kobold pirate leader growled and reached out for it, even as blood dripped down his face, but just as he grabbed it, Trexxa stomped on his hand, causing him to cry out and release his hold on it.
Cass snatched it up and brought it up just in time to slice into a wily Kobold who had sprinted across the room to lunge at her. A deep gash cut into his arm as he ran right into the super-sharp sword.
Cass wondered how hard it would be to cast a spell with the sword in one hand and the wand in the other.
Glancing at her mana, she tested it out, sending a sizzling fireball right down the gullet of the screaming Kobold, knocking him back so hard on the cold, hard floor that it knocked him flat unconscious with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. That's one Kobold who wouldn't be awakening. Now for the other two.
Completely out of mana, Cass jumped to Trexxa's defense, hacking and slashing with her new-found sword - and nearly falling over. This was so much heavier and harder to wield than she expected. It was definitely going to take some getting used to.
The Kobold leader staggered to his feet, blooding dripping down his face. Cass wondered how he could even see. She quickly checked his health and saw that he was on his last point. Swinging the sword as hard as she could, she aimed for his head. All she had to do was knock off 1 hp and he'd crumple to the ground, joining his friend in the afterlife.
But the veteran swashbuckler was too experienced for her. With practiced ease, he side-stepped her blow and took advantage of her momentary imbalance and tripped her, causing her to crash to the ground. Both the sword and the wand came loose from her hands and she could only cling on to one. She chose the wand.
Before she could react, the Kobold fell upon her, his teeth ripping and tearing into her tender flesh. She screamed out and brought her wand up to defend her. Without enough mana for a fireball, she fervently wished for some kind of protection.
Reacting to her thought, the wand instantly created a fire-shield around her body, burning the flesh-tearing Kobold and knocking him back into the wall. She tried to stand, but she was too exhausted from the fight. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she could only watch as Trexxa valiantly fought off the last of the Kobolds. As the last of the hp drained away, she was greeted by flashing XP numbers across her HUD.
*** Kobold Pirate Leader killed - XP gained: 50 ***
*** Kobold Pirate killed - XP gained: 20 ***
She waited for the third one, but it never came. Then she remembered: he was unconscious.
"Trexxa, can you take care of that last one? He's not dead yet." She turned her head as the raptor ripped his throat out. Maybe one day she'd get used to all this violence, but not yet. She was still a bit squeamish.
*** Kobold Pirate killed - XP gained: 10 ***
As soon as the raptor had finished up with the Kobold, she healed herself up and came by her side. Trexxa looked up at her inquisitively and pointed to her wound. Cass fished out her canteen and splashed some cold water on it, washing away all the blood and dirt. Thank goodness, it was just a flesh wound. Nothing major. Her hp bar would've been down, but she just realized that she'd ascended a level. Now she was lev
el 2!
She was prompted to roll for her new mana and health. For her mana, she rolled a 4, bringing her mana pool up to 11 and for her hp, she rolled a 5, giving her a total of 12 hp. Now that she was up a level, her wound instantly healed. It was a trip watching it disappear in real time.
She likely had more spells and perhaps abilities, but she could deal with them later, right now she wanted to get the crates dropped off at the tavern and get to the next part of the quest.
Once Trexxa saw that her human was good to go, she scurried around to the dead bodies and rifled through them for any treasure. She found a silver necklace, 5 cp and some worthless baubles. She hissed her displeasure and handed the treasure over to Cass, who added it to their small - but growing - stash. Cass relieved the Kobold leader of his sword sheathe and strapped it around her own waist. At least now she wouldn't be defenseless when her magic ran out.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and the Dwarf remarked at how quickly they'd completed the quest.
"Tunneled through the wall, didn't ye?" He barked out a laugh and carted the wheelbarrow to the back where he unloaded it and began working on the loaves of bread.
*** Quest Complete: Return Supplies: XP gained 10 ***
At this rate she was going to be level 3 before she knew it.
The surly Dwarf came back out a moment later. "It's all started. Give it a couple days and they'll be ready to go." He pulled a couple of keys from behind the counter and handed them to Cass. "Here are ye rooms. Breakfast will be served in a few hours. I suggest getting some shut-eye. Looks like ye've had a rough day." He laughed and slapped his knee.
After their canteens had been filled, Cass led the Goblins upstairs, got them situated in their room and then headed off to her own.
"It's been a long day, hasn't it, Trexxa?" She sighed and plopped down on the bed.
Trexxa hissed and jumped up next to her, laying her head on her lap.
"Aw, you're just the cutest little raptor ever, aren't you?"
Trexxa cuddled up in Cass's arms and she stroked her and spoke softly to her. As they fell asleep on the very nice, soft bed, she told Trexxa what she'd learned from Derek.
"There's a lot more going on here than we know, Rexxa." Cass yawned and curled up with her raptor. For just a moment, she could push everything aside and forget about it all.
Sleep came quickly and easily. She dreamed of running down endless corridors and fighting endless monsters. In her dream, she panicked, realizing that she was in some kind of matrix alternate-reality with no way out.
Except death.
Chapter 4
Cass awoke the next morning, her mouth like cotton and her heart pounding unmercifully in her chest. She laid in bed for a long while, just calming her heart and settling herself. Flashing images of death wove a tapestry across her vision. That's when she realized that death was everywhere. Behind every rock, around every corner. Monsters lurked in the shadows, ready to send her back to the other side.
That was the moment when she realized for the first time that death was permanent. What happened after that? Was she just...gone?
"Oh!" She cried out as she flicked on the lamp, revealing Derek sitting in the corner.
"I see by the ashen look on your face, you got my dream message." He said, his face grave.
"That was you?"
Trexxa woke from her slumber, ran up to the thief and hissed at him.
Derek smiled and patted the vicious raptor on the head. "She's adorable! What did you say her name was again?"
Hiss! Trexxa bared her fangs as she looked at him suspiciously.
Cass laughed and knelt down in front of her. "Trexxa, this is Derek. He's on our side." She looked up at the thief. "You'll have to excuse her behavior. She's just a bit concerned about how you snuck in so quietly.
"Ah! That explains it." He knelt down and kissed the raptor on the nose. "See, Trexxa, I'm not like other NPC's here. I seem to be in some kind of between-states limbo. I can see both sides of the game. I've somehow awoken from this digital world."
Trexxa, still a bit apprehensive about the new guy, allowed Derek to show his affection for her.
"So, that dream... that was you?" Cass looked into his eyes as they both stroked the dino.
"Yes." He sighed deeply. "I did some sleuthing in the code and what I found startled me so badly I had to bring you the news immediately."
"It's true then. Permadeath."
He nodded gravely.
"That changes everything, then, doesn't it?" Cass stood and began pacing the room.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if death is permanent..." Trexxa joined her in her pacing. "Have you found out what happens on the other side? IS there an other side?" She shook her long, red hair. "What if with one unlucky blow you're permanently destroyed? Are we just...gone forever?" The thought sent wicked chills through her entire body.
The words hung heavily in the air for several moments. Neither wanted to admit the fear that those words caused or the evocative images they brought forth.
Derek cleared his throat. "I see what you're saying. I really don't know how permanent this death is. If this is some kind of new reality game, there must be someone - or something - controlling it. Right? Simple deduction leads us to believe that there must be a world outside this. Is it a good world? A terrible world? Maybe evil robots have taken over the world and enslaved all of humanity."
"And I'm the last..."
Hiss!
"Okay, we're the last, then." Cass laughed.
She shook her head. "But that's the thing, though. We really don't know, do we?"
Derek said nothing.
"Do you think you can look into it more, poke around and maybe find out?"
"Hmm..." He put his finger under his chin. "Maybe. I was lucky to stumble upon what I did. Most of the code is very heavily guarded. It's in a language that I'm unfamiliar with. But I'll see what I can do." He looked up at Cass. "I suggest that you find yourself some armor and be VERY cautious. If you die, all bets are off."
Cass nodded and watched as Derek faded out and disappeared into the game.
"What are we going to do?" She rhetorically asked the raptor. The game was obviously much bigger than what she'd seen so far. At only 2nd level, she had very few ways to protect herself. Which reminded her. Cass quickly brought up her HUD, paged through her spellbook and saw that she did - indeed - have a new defense spell: Fire Shield.
Protects the caster from 5 points of physical or magic damage. Removes one random debuff.
She noticed that it only cost 1 mp to cast, but had a long cooldown. That was reasonable. She wondered if the cooldown time would shorten as she leveled up. She paged through her spells and abilities, but couldn't see anything obvious that wasn't there before. Now that she knew death was permanent, she vowed to level quickly to increase her odds of survival.
But for what? What was she surviving for? If life was an illusion, what was death?
Before she could ponder that dark question, she heard a commotion downstairs.
"The Goblins!" She'd completely forgotten about them. They were probably starving by now.
Strapping on her scimitar, she grabbed her wand and flew out the door, Trexxa right behind her.
"What's going on here?" She demanded. Rounding the last step, she saw three burly Dwarves harassing the Goblins who were just trying to drink their ale in peace.
"We don't like their kind here!" One red-haired, craggy-faced mountain of a man snarled, his blazing blue eyes daring her to defy him. "You're not with them, are you?" He spat on the floor, not once taking his eyes off her.
Trexxa hissed and Cass folded her arms across her chest defiantly. "And what if I am?"
"Then out with ya! Take your filthy beast with you, too!" He growled, the sound of which reminded Cass of a deep, mountain machine starting to life.
"And what if we don't?"
Trexxa sauntered up to the living statue of a man, lifted her leg
up and piddled on his shoe.
"What the hell?" He kicked out and nearly connected with Trexxa, but she was far too quick for him and dodged out of the way. With a flick of her wrist, Cass lobbed a flame that landed directly in front of him, burning a piece of paper.
"Next one's on your face..." Cass threatened, her wand held tight and pointed directly at him. "And I hear beards are no match against fire."
A myriad of emotions flitted across the Dwarf's face. The two toughs behind him pulled out their axes and were ready to go, but he held up a hand.
"They're not worth it, boys." He snarled like a beaten dog. "Let's go. Let the sissies have their fun."
Cass had to stifle a laugh as one of the Goblins stuck out his leg and tripped a Dwarf as he strutted past.
"Out. Now." Cass said calmly when the leader turned to her. He saw the tip of her wand glow with magical fire and he did as she bade.
But both knew that this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
Cass nearly fainted when she turned around and the entire room - that she hadn't realized was even there - was clapping for her.
"Bravo, young lady!" One man stood, still clapping. "Those bullies harass everyone they see that doesn't look like them."
"Yeah," Another one, a human female, came over. "You really put them in their place."
Trexxa basked in all the attention and praise that the patrons heaped upon her.
"Here, let us buy you and your pet a nice, hearty meal. Fargus!" He clapped to the Dwarven innkeeper. "Get these fine, upstanding folk anything they want. On me."
"And me!"
By the time they'd packed away all the food, they could barely walk. The Goblins looked like they were going to be sick and Trexxa was rolling around on the floor like a fat, over-grown lizard.
Endless Dungeon Page 5
