“Aside from the town crazies, no one believes they exist. They are the things of myths and legends.”
“Well, it sure as hell looks like they exist now.” The AI isn’t wasting any time. If it has put dryads in the forest, then I’m certain there will be more creatures popping up around the world. The programming evolves based on every decision I make, and I chose to engage with magical creatures.
“Could be they were hiding out of sight the last thousand years. It’s kind of strange, don’t you think, that they show up right around the same time you do?” Kendra arches a brow at me, but she doesn’t press the subject.
“Strange, indeed,” I say.
Sunlight breaks through in the distance, showcasing the edge of the forest. I’m glad we made it through in one piece. Too bad the wagon wasn’t so lucky. My shoulder still aches and I feel tired, but aside from that, I’m good. I can feel my wounds healing and Stamina regenerate at a far greater rate than in the real world. However, Kendra’s energy has returned much faster than my own. We’ve made it through two battles so far. Kindra and Carter have pulled most of the weight, but I don’t let that deter me. At some point, I’m sure my skills from the other games I’ve played will come into effect here. So far, though, it’s been the lack of pain in other games that has led to me charging in head-first into battles when I should have been more hesitant.
For someone who has spent most of his life with nothing, patience is not my virtue.
After spending the last few hours in the dense twilight of the forest, my eyes are blinded by the sun once we exit. After my eyes adjust and the blinding whiteness recedes, I’m surprised that there is still plenty of daylight left.
Florian, who was looking a little wilty in the darkness, immediately perks up. His leafy appendages and flower petals fill with life once again.
“How much farther?” asks Carter.
I pull up the map Priscilla drew and find our location. A large field stretches between us and the base of the mountain. There is a dot marked in the middle of the field, but I have no clue what it means and Priscilla was content on keeping her thoughts to herself.
“We’re about halfway there, but considering our wagon was destroyed, it’s going to take a lot longer for us to get there.” I honestly doubt we’ll make it to the mountain before I’m pulled out.
“Then we’ll just have to walk faster,” says Carter. A wide smile stretches across his face as he increases his pace.
A near-death experience with a magical creature not mentioned seriously for a thousand years and he seems to be more upbeat than ever. Is it the prospect of magic that has his spirits lifted, the newly-changed world, or could it be something else entirely?
“You heard the man,” says Kendra. She slaps me on the backside with the flat edge of a sword and joins Carter.
I have no choice but to push through my stiff muscles and join them.
The trail takes us through a beautiful field with sunflowers and wheat that stretches for miles. Birds tweet and bugs rattle. We pass long stretches of wildflowers so fragrant that I could lay down beside them and take a nap. The flat plains turn to rolling hills and the mountain in the distance grows taller.
Then I hear a loud buzzing.
The buzzing continues to grow as we approach the nearest hill. When we reach the crest, the source of the noise becomes clear. Several dozen small, humanoid, winged creatures with pale blue skin fly through the air, attacking a group of travelers. The creatures aren’t bigger than the size of a kitten, but they fly with great speed, biting and pinching the man, woman, and young child that are huddled underneath their wagon.
The woman struggles against two of the creatures as they try to rip a bag from her hands. The man huddles over the child, using his back as a shield. Some of the creatures toss rocks at him.
“We need to help them,” I say. I’m already off and running before Kendra or Carter have a chance to respond.
I analyze the creatures while I run.
Fairy. Considered by many to be the most annoying of all magical creatures. These flighty, angry, self-righteous buggers will use whatever trickery they can to accomplish their goals. i.e. thievery. Bonus effect: Fairy dust. This magical substance can have many uses, depending on the fairy, but the most common lures foes to sleep, often resulting in waking up with empty pockets.
“They’re fairies!” I shout over my shoulder. “Don’t breathe any of their fairy dust and we should be okay.”
My legs burn as I hustle down the hillside. Aches and pains shoot through my body, reminding me that this world is unlike any game I’ve ever played. Hours later and I’m still sore from our fight with the dryad. I take my sword in one hand and use the other to hold a piece of cloth over my mouth and nose, since I broke my shield fighting the stag.
“Ha!” laughs Carter. “Fairies! This keeps getting better and better. What do we do?”
At the bottom of the hill, some of the fairies notice us. Their eyes slant with suspicion and their long, bony fingers point in our direction. They mumble amongst themselves and then dart towards us.
“You swat them!” I say as the first one attacks. His tiny claws reach for me, but I use the flat side of my sword and swing for its head. Splat! It lands with a soft thud, sits up for a moment, dazed, and then passes out in the grass. I hit another with a quick twist of my wrist, stopping it right before it sinks its razor-sharp teeth into my nose. It stumbles around like a drunk for a moment before puking into a patch of wildflowers.
Another zigs and zags in front of me. It tosses a shiny powder in my direction, but I hold the piece of cloth closer to my face. I swing and miss, then feel a sharp pain in my calf. When I turn, the little devil is biting into my leg like it’s a piece of meat. I kick my leg out and the tiny fairy falls off, my blood still staining its teeth.
Beside me, Carter has caught on to my style and uses the flat side of his sword like a swatter as well. Kendra uses her mind magic, causing several to fall right out of the sky. Their small size must mean she can use her abilities on more than one of them at a time.
A fairy tosses his dust from high overhead and it rains down like pink snow. Carter has his cowl wrapped over his nose, but Kendra has nothing to cover her face with. She focuses on the fairy and it falls from the sky, but it’s too late. She breathes in its fairy dust and her eyes glaze over. I’m unable to help as her knees buckle and she joins the fairy in slumber on the grass.
There’s no time to try and wake her, so Carter and I push on.
We make our way towards the wagon, where the travelers are still engaged in their own battle with the fairies.
One fairy pulls the woman’s red hair while two others try to wrestle the bag from her hands. Whatever is inside, she is fighting tooth and nail to keep it. I can hear her cursing the closer we approach.
“Bloody buggers! Let go of me purse or I’ll give you something you won’t soon forget!”
She swings her head back hard, smashing the fairy pulling her hair against the wagon’s underside. It lets go and tumbles to the ground and she presses her knee against its tiny body.
Her red hair matches her fiery personality. I’m admiring the grit it must take to fight off a creature they thought were only imaginary when I suddenly realize where I know the woman from. I woke up in her barn and she hit me with a frying pan. Why the hell is she all the way out here?
Only a dozen or so fairies remain once we are at the wagon. Carter rushes at the fairy throwing rocks and punts it like a ball high into the air. It’s unconscious before it even hits the ground. He has ditched the flat-side approach I’m using and is now slicing at the fairies, separating limbs and leaving a bloody trail in his wake. His eyes glow far less than they did this morning, but there is a hint of a smile on his face. He might have been born for a life of adventure. Florian sits atop his shoulder, cheering him on. For such a cute flower, he certainly has a demented side.
I take position beside the woman and knock out both fairie
s trying to rob her with a single blow. It only takes a few more minutes to finish off the rest of the bunch as they try and confuse us to no avail.
My arm throbs when I finally put the sword to rest.
The woman holds her bag close to her chest when she emerges and rushes to the man and child. The child is fast asleep in the man’s arms.
“Is she okay?” asks the woman. She presses her ear against the little girl’s chest.
“I don’t know. Those creatures, they put something on her and she fell right asleep,” says the man.
“Oh no, my poor baby. My poor, poor baby.” Desperation coats her voice.
“She’ll be fine. It’s just a little bit of fairy dust,” I say. “It should wear off soon.” Behind me, Carter helps Kindra to her feet. “She was hit with the same thing. I suspect it had more of an effect on the child because she is smaller.”
“Fairies. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen them with my own eyes,” says the man. He wears the same type of straw farmer’s hat Carter wore the first day we met. A long, straggly blond beard falls to his chest. His voice is dry and husky like he’s parched for water.
“Wait.” The woman’s eyes widen. “I know you. You were sleeping in my barn!” I don’t know if it’s excitement or accusation in her voice.
“Yes, I’m terribly sorry about that. It was a bit out of my control.”
“Be that as it may, you saved our lives here. I don’t know how we could repay you.”
“No repayment necessary. We’re on a bit of adventure and we couldn’t let those fairies rob you. Say, what was it they were after anyways?”
“We were just on our way back from selling crops. This bag has all of our coin. I’ve heard bad things about Carolton. Figured it was safer to sell in Bloomingdale, but it seems whatever is happening is happening everywhere.”
“What do you mean?” asks Kindra. The glaze has faded from her eyes and she looks alert once again.
“Sightings of strange creatures all across the land.”
Kendra, Carter, and I exchange glances.
“We’ve had our run-in with one already,” I say. “I’d be careful going forward. If what I believe is true, then this isn’t the last you’ve seen of strange creatures.”
“We appreciate your help, but if there is nothing we can help you with then we must get going. I’d like to make it home before sunset. I don’t want to be caught out here in the dark,” says the man.
“Safe travels. And stay out of the forest.”
The little girl begins to stir in his arms.
“Pretty flower,” she says, pointing at Florian.
“Only the brave or foolish travel through the forest, we’ll be taking the outskirts. Farewell, and good luck on your adventure.”
They load up their wagon with items the fairies tossed aside and set off back towards Carolton. What they said about strange creatures worries me. It’s only been a day and now they are showing up all across the map.
The sun reflects off something in the grass, catching my eye near where the wagon had been parked.
Upon closer inspection, I realize there are several glass vials, each filled with what looks like colored sand.
Fairy Dust. Item. A small amount helps with a good night’s sleep. More can knock a foe unconscious for hours.
“What is that?” asks Kendra, leaning over my shoulder.
“Fairy dust. The same stuff that put you to sleep.”
“Ooh, I bet Priscilla would love that for her potions.” She picks up the bottle and examines it. “How do you know so much about all of these weird creatures anyhow? It’s like you know what we’re dealing with just by looking at it.”
How do I explain that I have an ability that allows me to analyze anything I come into contact with? We’re on this journey together, so I feel like I owe them at least some sort of explanation.
“Uhm, it’s kind of like you said. When I look at something, I can see things about it. Things you might not normally be able to see just by staring at it.”
“Oh, so it’s like true sight? Priscilla has told me about it, but apparently, it’s very rare.”
“Yeah, kind of like true sight.” There’s no point in going into detail about something she can’t understand.
All in all, we find thirteen vials of fairy dust. Carter and I take two each and the rest go to Kindra. If the AI is giving out loot now, I can only imagine how that might affect the world. Will new economies spring up? Will NPCs quit their jobs and take on a lives as adventurers or will that be left to those like me who log in?
It’s a strange feeling, not knowing the rules. Like I’m playing a game with someone who can change them at any time.
Chapter Twelve
The sun creeps ever slower to the horizon when I pull up my map.
“We’re near the spot Priscilla marked. Judging by the sun, we either have enough time to check it out or make it to the mountain base by nightfall, but I doubt we can do both.”
Carter and Kindra both look to the sky as if the sun might tell them something to contradict me.
“He’s right. I say we go straight to the mountain. We don’t even know what it is she marked. I vote we stop by on the way back. After I have magic.”
“That’s assuming you even get the magic,” says Kindra. I can tell Carter is wounded by the comment, but he doesn’t respond. “Don’t you think if Priscilla marked it on the map that she did so for a reason? There is something she wants us to find there. Something that will likely help you achieve your goal.” She adds a bit of kindness on the last sentence and Carter perks up.
“You’re right. She’s the only reason we are doing this to begin with. Let’s go.”
The location is off from the main road we are following, so we have to make our own path through the field and flowers. It’s tough work that requires a sort of march not to get our legs caught, but the fragrant aroma of so many flowers makes it worth it. It’s amazing that this game can give me glimpses of things I’ve never had in real life.
We walk along in silence when I hear a ding and a translucent scroll pops up in the left of my vision. I focus on it and the scroll unrolls. It’s a message.
Esil,
We’re pulling you out in thirty minutes. That gives you almost two hours of game time. Get to the location and tell your friends to camp there for the night. I’ll explain more later.
-Aleesia
I almost forgot that they could contact me if needed. There’s no way for me to respond, though. What if I was in the middle of a battle and couldn’t leave? Would they just pull me out anyway?
I focus back on the world to find Kindra and Carter staring at me.
“Sometimes, I swear it’s like you are looking at things that only you can see,” says Kindra.
I can only imagine how I must look, eyes focused on something no one else can see, almost in a trance.
“We have about two hours before I’m pulled from the g—uhm, to my world,” I correct myself. “Once we make it to the location, you should camp for the night until I return.”
We all walk a little faster, not knowing exactly how long it will take to get there. I still don’t know if there is a way for me to bind anywhere or if my body respawns randomly when I log back in.
A herd of bison passes through the field up ahead. We hide in the high grass and let them pass. Not long after, a centaur wielding a bow traces their tracks.
“This is too much,” says Carter as he stares after the centaur. He sports a grin that says just the opposite.
For miles, we don’t pass any semblance of civilization. The vastness of this world is astounding. I wonder if, in time, it will evolve like the real world, with settlements spreading, the advent of technology growing and multiplying the population, or will it stay much like the Mortican Mountains of Pangea, grounded in its own era?
“Is that it?” asks Carter. He points at a brown speck in the distance.
We are almost at the spot on the
map, so it must be. I squint and a tiny shack comes into view.
Increased Eyesight.
The walls look like they might fall down with a stiff breeze. It’s not much to look at. Three windows stained with age, a rickety door with cracked wood around the doorknob, and a roof that looks like it might cave in at any moment, but there is something endearing about a dilapidated building in the midst of such beautiful nature.
A rusty lock hangs from a latch on the door, blocking our entry.
“Anyone know how to pick a lock?” I ask.
They both shake their heads, so I take my sword and place it between the latch and the lock and pry with all my might. The wood creaks in opposition, but the lock eventually gives and falls to the ground.
“You know, I probably could have just melted it off with magic,” says Carter. “It’s funny, all this power and I still think to do things the old-fashioned way.”
“Probably for the best considering how much you have left in you,” I say.
Inside, the room is empty except for two clay pots and a worn leather trunk.
“So this is what Priscilla had us come all the way out here for?” I ask no one in particular.
Standing over the trunk, it takes me back to the mines. Back to when I found the legendary Developer’s Chest that changed my life forever. It’s easy to forget the past, considering how good the present is, but it’s the past that made me who I am. It allows me to be thankful for the position I’m in and never take anything for granted. It also reminds me that what you have and where you live aren’t the most important things in life. The most important things are people and friendships.
“Who wants to do the honors?”
“You go ahead,” says Kindra. “I feel like you’re the reason we are here in the first place.”
I unhook the latch and flip the lid.
There’s no burst of light. No chimes or mystical music. Just the click of the lid as it falls to rest behind the trunk.
Whatever is inside has been here for a long time. Spiderwebs form a thick layer and I shiver as I wipe them to the side and several hairy spiders scuttle into the far corners of the shack.
Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy Page 33
