The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  About a mile north of where I stopped, I found the southern edge of a cliff, or rather a crevasse that was looked to be about twenty feet across and filled with fog. It was so thick, I couldn’t see through it. I marked it on my map and began the trek east along the border of it. Even when I reach the end of it, 2-miles later, there was no path down from the East as the crevasse ended in a cul-de-sac at least 50-feet across at its widest. I wished I could explore into it, but with the sheer edges and not being able to see the bottom suggested it would probably mean my death.

  Much as I would have loved to go to the other end and find a way down, I knew I had to get back to town before it got dark out. As I got closer to the village, I saw a return of the wolves and an absence of the giant birds, as expected. I was happy to return to the village, it was getting steadily darker. If not for the torches lighting the entrance to the village and my map, I might not have found my way in the dark.

  It took me almost two hours to return to the village, much to my irritation, simply because I had to detour around that crevasse. All that was forgotten when I returned to the inn and was greeted by Micaela and Olaf, both sitting comfortably on the couch they had claimed, and sipping on beers.

  “Hey, he’s finally back,” said Micaela first, nudging Olaf with her elbow.

  “Hey mate, how’d it go?” asked Olaf.

  “Good . . . really good actually,” I replied, grinning from ear to ear. I then told them of my exploring, finding the ‘Rolling Hills of Evermore’ and the valley just south of town. I even showed them my map.

  “So, the area to the east here is the mine. You went right around it. From what I heard from the other miners, that valley is the next mining area for this province, it’s creepy but supposedly monster free, though I don’t know any miners that have gone there, most just leave the province for the level mining camp,” said Olaf, looking over my map and point to the large blank area to the southeast. “There is a split in the road here that lead to the mining camp.”

  I looked where he was pointing, I must have missed it before because my map didn’t show it, though admittedly, my mapping of the road was not very good. I’d have to explore it more carefully next time I went out.

  “How about you guys? Any luck?” I asked.

  “A little, Homer didn’t know much about Graves,” started Micaela.

  “Except that apparently Graves volunteered to be posted here,” continued Olaf.

  “Why would he have volunteered, he clearly hates it here?” I asked.

  “We asked the same thing. Homer said, even from Day 1, Graves hated being here,” added Micaela.

  “Did Margie say anything about it?” I asked.

  “She echoed her husband, though she did mention the man looked sick the first time he came into town,” Micaela finished.

  “Suspicious but not really criminal,” I commented.

  “So, what next?” asked Micaela. “How do we investigate further?”

  “We need to get into either his office or his home, have a look around,” I said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any skill for breaking and entering, which means he would know if someone went snooping.”

  “We need a rogue or thief, maybe even a ranger. Sadly, I haven’t seen many around town. Blimey, most starting areas are still sparsely populated. I can’t wait for them to open the game to the four-hour limit machines,” grumbled Olaf.

  “I can wait,” I retorted. Expanding the player base was a good thing, but right now, the game was still rather small, which meant we had an opportunity to accomplish more firsts in now than we will as the population of gamers increases. We had the chance to get out of a starting area without fighting over spawn points and quests chains.

  “Greedy,” stated Micaela, giving me a look.

  “Yes, I am,” I replied, getting a small rise out of her. “Anyway, back on task. We need to find a someone that can get in, investigate, and get out undetected.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for one, but maybe we could just hire someone to do it,” suggested Olaf.

  It was an option to be sure, but I’d been burned in the past on similar deals. You hire a guy at a set price, and when he gets the info, he jacks up the price. Or decides to sell it to anyone willing to pay the same or more. It was dirty and underhanded and completely to be expected. “Let’s try and hold out on something like that. I don’t feel the risk of a double-cross from whoever we higher would be worth it.”

  “I guess you’re right,” said Olaf, rubbing his chin. “I forgot that many of those types will double-cross you for the right price, or you wouldn’t have been able to hire them in the first place.”

  “So, I ask again, what next?” asked Micaela.

  “For now, nothing I guess,” I replied. “We just keep doing what we do. Keep training and learning skills. I’ll see if I can’t find a lockpicking skill, though I doubt the townhall book stash will have anything useful. After all, I doubt the mayor wants to invite thievery into his village. I’ll ask him tomorrow anyway, maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  “I think tomorrow, Mic and I will both spend mining. I think we’re gonna have to do every other day if we want to have our stash built up before we leave this province,” stated Olaf.

  “I need more stone too,” said Micaela.

  “So, I know Olaf is going to be an Engineer, what are you planning Micaela?” I asked. I was curious as they were both miners and given that Micaela seemed to be able to make her own weapons and probably armor as totems she didn’t need Blacksmithing.

  “Construction,” she answered with a grin. “I’m gonna build me and Olaf an awesome castle.”

  “That is so cool,” I replied. It was very cool. I had read a few articles on the profession, everything I read said it was ridiculously difficult to level, no one had bothered to level it very far yet, property was super expensive to acquire.

  “I know, right?” said Micaela excitedly.

  “Hey, you should check with the mayor, I know he was going to be putting together a team to help rebuild the Johnson Farm. I bet you could get a ton of experience from that,” I suggested.

  “Ooh, Bye-bye, you brilliant man,” cooed Micaela. “I’ll be sure to ask him in the morning.”

  “Well, that’s one less problem to worry over,” said Olaf.

  And it was. The rest of the evening passed in the usual fashion with chatting and drinking though not in heavy quantities.

  At the end of the night, while happily soaking in the bathtub, I reviewed my progress. My hunting yielded nice results, 36 wolf paws to be turned in tomorrow. I also gained +4-Strength, +2-Dexterity which capped for the level, +6-Endurance, and +1-Stamina which also capped for the level. I was still 2-points of Strength shy of the level cap, but I should have that well in hand by tomorrow.

  I was most proud of the progress made on my spells, I had definitely exceeded Trinico’s expectations, all four spells gained some much-needed levels.

  First was a nice boost in my one damage spell.

  Holy Smite

  Level: 7

  Experience: 89.99%

  Spell Damage: 17-22

  Spell Cast Speed: 1.50 seconds

  Spell Mana Cost: 24

  Spell Effect (Active): Smite a single target with holy damage

  Second, my buffs grew nicely.

  Lesser Holy Barrier

  Level: 3

  Experience: 72.43%

  Spell Duration: 10 minutes

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Mana Cost: 56

  Spell Effect (Active): Create a thin barrier of Holy energy around a target that absorbs 13-points of incoming damage.

  Third.

  Lesser Holy Imbuement

  Level: 4

  Experience: 1.25%

  Spell Duration: 10 minutes

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Mana Cost: 50

  Spell Effect (Active): Imbued Weapon now deals holy damage causing an addition 2-4 damage per hit

&n
bsp; Spell Effect (Active): Imbued Shield now deals holy damage causing 3-5 damage per block

  And Finally.

  Lesser Combat Blessing

  Level: 3

  Experience: 99.58%

  Spell Duration: 10 minutes

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Mana Cost: 50

  Spell Effect (Active): Increase Stamina +3, Increase Strength +3, Increase Dexterity +2, increase Endurance +2

  It was a good day.

  Chapter 17

  Why? Just tell me why? Why can’t that bird just leave me in peace? Was yesterday just a fluke? Or was this bird toying with me?

  Admittedly, I didn’t start my day on the right foot. My argument with Dogson was evident of that.

  “It is a rooster, that is what they do!” the dogman nearly shouted at me.

  “Fine, but does it have to be doing that right outside my window, every morning?” I argued back.

  “It . . . is . . . a . . . rooster!” Dogson stated each word slowly as if that would make me feel any better about it.

  “I know that, and I’m still asking you to do something about it,” I replied hotly.

  “You could always stay at another inn,” Dogson threatened.

  “Woah now, let’s not do anything crazy. I like this inn. I like my room. I just don’t like that rooster crowing outside my window, every morning. Please, if you could just do something about it. Much more of this and I might just have to start smiting them on reflex,” I pleaded with the dogman.

  Dogson finally sighed. “I will see what I can do, but no promises.”

  “Thank you,” I said, hoping for just a little relief.

  With that settled, I headed out into the village to get my day underway. First to see Sergeant Butters for training, then Trinico for more training, then the mayor’s office to turn in paws, and finally out to explore the province some more.

  I hoped to finish mapping the eastern part of the province today. If I was able to get back early enough, I had a good amount of reading I had neglected, so maybe I can get some of that done today too. I could only hope.

  The sergeant was again working on a training dummy with a pair of daggers, moving through a number of attack patterns, looking random, but could have been predetermined. Unlike the first time I saw him doing this, I was actually able to somewhat follow his movements. I took it as a sign that I was improving.

  “Morning Sergeant Butters,” I greeted him with a friendly wave.

  “Morning, let us get to work. No time to waste today,” said the sergeant, stopping his assault on the dummy.

  “Micaela and Olaf won’t be coming this morning. They needed to get some mining done,” I informed him.

  “I know, Micaela and Olaf informed me of their plans yesterday,” he replied, walking on toward the gymnastics equipment.

  “So, what’s for training today?” I asked.

  “Either the ‘Vault’, ‘Pommel Horse’ or ‘Parallel Bars’. Maybe all three, if you get the hang of it fast enough,” the sergeant answered. “You have gotten pretty used to moving on flat, unobstructed surfaces. Now, you need to learn to use the environment around you. You need to learn to use your arms better while moving too.”

  “Won’t my arms be occupied by my spear and shield?” I asked, I wasn’t avoiding doing the work, but I still wanted to understand better.

  “You will not always be in combat when you need to move. That also reminds me, ‘Acrobatics’ is an offensive style of combat movement. You will be better served if you start using your spear two-handed. Flipping and moving so quickly, makes it an order of magnitude more difficult to keep your shield in position. You should reserve your shield for when you use ‘Shift’, which is a defensive style of combat movement. Understand?” he explained, and asked, in short order.

  However, before I could reply, he continued.

  “Of course, I have skills to teach you eventually, but for now, it is something to keep in mind while you are out exploring the wilds. Those wolves should not present much of a challenge, but I would recommend you start improving your skill against them without putting yourself at much risk,” he finished.

  I think that was the most I’d heard the sergeant speak at once in the short time I’d known the man. “I can start working on my ‘Two-Handed Polearm’ skill, no problem,” I promised.

  “Good, then I suggest you watch closely for the next exercise. We will start today with the ‘Parallel Bars’,” the sergeant motioned a pair of long wooden bars, about 11 or 12-feet long, that were about shoulder width apart, about 7-feet up in the air, suspended by metal poles.

  Sergeant Butters walked over by one of the support bars and reached into a bag, sitting at the base. When the hand came back, it was covered in chalk, which he rubbed into both of his hands until they had a thick coating. The sergeant then walked to one end, reaching up, putting a hand on either bar. It was awesome to watch, and slightly daunting when he pulled himself up only using his arms until he was suspended in the air by just his arms. Then he rotated at the shoulder, up to a handstand. He walked forward on his hands a few steps, then bent his legs to a 90-degree angle then rotated at the shoulders again but to a seated position, it was very controlled. I could see the muscles straining and bulging, he moved with such precision. Then he swung his legs back, this time quickly, propelling his body back into a handstand, but he kept going over, his wrists rotating with the turn, back into a handstand then he swung his legs forward again. This time using the momentum to flip into the air, only to catch himself on the bars by the underarm. He gripped the bar tightly and did a hanging handstand, I wasn’t sure what it was called, but it was pretty neat, almost bat-like. He let his legs swing backward this time, and again his hands and wrists rotated until he was upright again. He then dropped to the ground and clapped his hands, sending the excess chalk into the air.

  “Okay, your turn,” he said as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Now, I’m sure if this was the real world, it would take months to be able to do any of the training for ‘Acrobatics’ I’ve been doing. Thankfully this was a video game, so it would assist me with learning to move my body in just the right way. Even with that, this looked daunting.

  Once again, just as with everything else I’ve done during this training process, I broke it down into steps. First the strength part, then the swinging around my legs, and finally the flip and catch. It was shocking how much easier it was once I’d broken it down. Before I knew it, I had it down and got my 10-points of progress much to the sergeant’s pride, at least I think it was pride.

  “Not bad at all, Bye-bye,” said the man, grinning happily. “You made good time too. Let us get you on the ‘Pommel Horse’ next.”

  The ‘Pommel Horse’ was a large squared log wrapped in leather and padding with a pair of U-shaped handles near the center of the of the log.

  “This is another strength exercise,” said Sergeant Butters before took hold of the two handles, in a feat of pure strength, he rotated up into a perfect handstand. He started by folding his legs forward, but this time he folded completely in half. He rotated forward, his legs extending straight in front of him again. He let his body go stiff and slightly leaned back. He then rocked slightly left to right before swinging his body parallel to the log, only one hand gripping. His legs swung back, this time behind the log, his free hand gripped the handle once more, only for the other hand to release, the legs to swing up parallel again and coming back down in front of the bar. He did this a few more times, then he started working toward the end of the ‘Pommel Horse’, his legs swinging around the whole time. When he reached the end, he did another handstand, and with a massive effort, used his hand to push off the log, and flip one and half times, landing on his feet.

  “And I can do that?” I asked, feeling more than a little doubt.

  “Of course, you can,” he replied with hardly a nod in the direction of the ‘Pommel Horse’.

  I don’t know why I expected this to be
difficult. The strength part was certainly difficult, at least at first, but then it was a matter of getting the coordination for the swing of my legs and the swap of hands. Once I got that part it wasn’t bad at all. I wasn’t too surprised when the progress stopped at 5-points. I switched directions and got the other 5-points in no time at all.

  “Excellent,” said Sergeant Butters. “Last one for the day.” He then led me to a smooth runway. At the end of the runway was a square platform covered in leather and padding the same as the ‘Pommel Horse’, but larger, or rather, it had more surface area. On the ground, just in front of the platform, was an angled board, the purpose of which, I could not divine at this distance, but I was sure the sergeant would soon explain to me.

  “Watch carefully,” he warned me again. He charged forward, suddenly building up speed quickly. A few feet before the angled board, he jumped, landing both feet on the board, which compressed slightly, recoiling and springing him up and forward toward the platform. He flipped as he traveled, using his hands to push off the platform, getting him more height, which he turned into a couple of twists and flips before landing perfectly on his feet.

  Now how was I supposed to do that?

  “This one might take you a while to get the hang of. Just remember, it is one and a half twists followed by one and a half backflips,” said the sergeant, once he was close enough for me to hear.

  “Any other tips?” I asked.

  “Yeah, do not miss the springboard,” he added, grinning.

  My first run down was little better than a catastrophe, ending with my springing clean over the platform and landing on my chest, sliding a few feet grinding my face and arms in the dirt painfully.