by Adam Drake
Gee, thanks, he thought.
But what was he supposed to do now? He needed experience points and fast. “I have to get to level 3 and pronto. I need to kill something!”
“I am not volunteering myself,” Jace said tightening the grip on his axe.
Rob shook his head. “I need a quick quest to finish, or some easy achievement to get.” He was getting frustrated. “Is there anything close by that can give me experience points?”
Confident he wasn't about to be farmed for his xp, Jace relaxed and said, “The den.”
That's right! The trench lizard den. As terrifying a prospect as that was he had little choice, but to try. “Okay,” he said, “Lets go. I don't know how much time we have left so we need to get a move on.”
Jace nodded, and they ran back up into the tomb. Once outside, Rob looked about, hopeful more skeletons had decided to show up for some xp farming. None were there.
Don't they respawn? He thought. Todd would sometimes camp spawn points of creatures, then kill them when they appeared. He'd repeat the process over and over. Sometimes for materials to sell or craft with, sometimes for experience points.
To Rob, it seemed like a boring way to pass time in a game that was meant to be exciting. Now he wondered if the respawn concept applied to this world. But he couldn't wait around to find out.
Jace pointed. “It might be this way.”
“You're not sure?” Rob said following him.
“I only know what I have seen, my Lord,” Jace said as they entered the forest. “Like you, I saw trench lizards. Trench lizards live in dens. So, a den should be near where we saw them.”
Rob fought the overwhelming urge to smack the woodcutter. Now was not the time to get all smarmy. Not when the kingdom was teetering on the verge of annihilation. The delay in getting to Perrin had raised the stakes.
They moved through the forest as quick as they could. Jace kept his eyes on the muddy ground looking for tracks or signs of the lizards passing.
Occasionally, Rob would spot the wall through the canopy, gray and imposing. Each time it sent a chill down his spine.
With the red barrier stopping his progress, the pressure on him spiked. The more he thought about it the more he realized that the fate of an entire kingdom (albeit just 4 people) rested on his shoulders.
How the hell did it come to this in such a short time? Yesterday he was fighting a crab on a beach, now he had to kill a king or the world would end.
If this was a game, then it sure as hell has got a high difficulty setting, he thought.
Jace spotted something on the ground. Rob leaned over to look.
Animal tracks. Splayed toes with long claws heading to the north.
You have learned a new skill: Basic Tracking. Progression in this skill will allow you to track targets in outdoor settings. Later advancement grants the user to spot masked or covered trails.
“Not now!” Rob said and swiped the message away.
Jace looked at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” Rob said, making an effort to calm down. “Keep doing what you're doing.”
Jace followed the trail through the forest, Rob close behind and desperate to keep his anxiety under control.
The forest thinned and they approached a rocky ledge which looked down over a deep gully.
Jace dropped to his belly and crawled forward, axe still in hand.
Rob did the same, but found the shield a hindrance. He was tempted to drop it, but pushed the thought aside. It was literally the only reason he was alive right now.
Carefully, they peered over the edge.
Below was a wide muddy area flanked by rocky walls. A cave yawned open at the end of the gully, the ground before it marred by hundreds of tracks. Several yellow striped trench lizards were outside the cave as if guarding it, tongues flickering.
The den.
Rob counted the lizards below. Five. Could they take on five? What if there were more inside?
“This looks to be the main den,” Jace whispered from beside him.
“How many do you think it has?” Rob said. Or more specifically, how many did he need to kill to attain level 3? He hadn't check his combat log after his fight with the trench lizard back at camp so he didn't know what he received for killing it.
Jace shook his head. “No idea. But those five alone would be a problem for us. If more show up while we fought them, it would not end well.”
Rob's mind raced. If Jace fought the animals, too, and killed them, would he share any of those experience points? Or did Rob have to kill each one himself?
Jace raised an eyebrow at Rob, his expression unreadable. “What do you want to do, my Lord?”
Knowing how much experience points the lizards gave would help. “Give me a second,” Rob said, pulling back from the ledge. “I need to check something.” If these creatures only granted a handful of points, he was screwed.
But as Rob was about to pull up his combat log and scroll back through it, a ruckus below them drew his attention. He looked down.
The sentry lizards were raising their heads, hissing and slapping their tails against the muddy ground.
Rob watched them in confusion. Had he been detected?
Then, from the other side of the gully, several trench lizards appeared. At first it was a half dozen, then as Rob watched in horror, the number grew to dozens.
“Oh crap,” he said under his breath.
A horde of trench lizards approached the den entrance, dragging something large between them.
From beside Rob, Jace grunted in alarm.
It was a brown spotted cow. Mercifully, the poor animal was dead. The lizards took turns as a group pulling at its legs and neck to drag it through the mud.
The noise was deafening. Five lizards were loud, but now there was a whole crowd of them below, clicking and hissing in excitement.
“That's Daisy,” Jace said, an eye twitching in anger. “The kingdom's last cow.”
Rob looked upon the mass of lizards in somber disappointment. Now how were they going to deal with them? There had to be at least fifty of those things down there. They couldn't take them on. Impossible. He'd have to find another way to get his experience points.
Suddenly, from behind him, a trench lizard ran out of the bushes. The creature stopped in its tracks upon seeing them. Another appeared and did the same thing.
Man and beast stared at each other in mutual surprise.
Jace and Rob scrambled to their feet, weapons ready.
The first lizard raised its head and let out a series of loud clicks. A warning cry.
Shoot! Rob thought. He hoped the cacophony below was loud enough to drown this one out.
Jace moved forward first, swinging his axe down at the clicking lizard, but the creature scampered away.
The second lizard fixed its eyes on Rob, then dashed forward.
Here we go! Rob thought, as he braced the shield against his body.
Once close enough, the second lizard sprang up into the air and collided with the shield, claws raking its surface.
The force of the attack ruined Rob's aim as he tried to thrust his sword into the creature. The lizard dropped to the ground and lashed its tail out, striking Rob's left shin.
Pain shot up his leg, but he gritted his teeth and jabbed with his sword.
He struck the lizard on its flank, tearing through its scales and slicing flesh.
The creature hissed in pain and ran back a few paces and stopped.
Rob was elated to find this steel sword was much sharper than the iron one. It bolstered his confidence as he moved in for the kill.
The lizard waited, shifting on its legs from side to side. Blood seeped from its wound.
Just as Rob came within range it curled its hind legs beneath it, then leapt.
Rob knew what was coming and kept his shield close to his body. But as the lizard was about to hit, he suddenly leaned forward with his full weight and bashed into the flying creature.
>
The resulting collision sent the lizard flying.
Momentarily seeing stars, Rob lost his footing on the soft ground and slipped to his knees.
Both opponents attempted to recover and got to their feet. The lizard shook its head, a little dazed, then surged forward.
Rob barely had time to react as it charge at him. But instead of jumping, it ran right at his legs.
It snapped its jaws at his shins and managed to sink its teeth into his left leg. Rob grunted in pain and kicked the lizard back. The creature would not be deterred and lunged for his legs again. Rob had to lower his shield to protect them and the lizard collided against it.
As the lizard fought to snap at his legs, Rob brought his sword down with a heavy swing.
The blade easily cut through the lizard's scales and sliced through the middle of its spine. The creature collapsed, but didn't die. It writhed in agony, hissing at him.
With grim determination, Rob brought the sword down again, this time slicing the creature's head clean off.
The pain in his leg was horrible, but he didn't have time to check his wound. He turned to Jace.
The woodcutter was on his back on the ground his axe beside him. On top of him was the other lizard, which he held in his grip by the neck with both hands. The creature scratched at his flesh with its long claws, tearing through his shirt.
Jace didn't have a shield to repel the jumping lizard and it managed to overwhelm him and knock him down.
Rob ran over to the combatants, sword held up for a swing. But he couldn't attack, not when it was on top of Jace.
“A little help would be most welcome,” Jace said through gritted teeth. “My Lord.”
After hesitating a second, Rob poked the tip of his sword at the lizard, on the side of its belly. Then he leaned forward. As Jace held the thing tightly, the blade penetrated its scales and passed through its body and out the other side. To Rob, it felt like sliding a knife through an undercooked steak.
The creature arced its head back and hissed in pain, its legs going still.
With a grunt, Jace twisted its neck with both huge hands, snapping it. The lizard went limp, dead.
The woodcutter tossed the corpse aside and calmly got to his feet. He had terrible scratches on his face and neck. His shirt had been torn almost to shreds, which was soaked in blood.
“Are you okay?” Rob said, concerned. The guy looked like he'd picked a fight with a meat-grinder.
“Fumi will be angry I ruined this shirt,” Jace said as he picked up his axe. “But she'll forgive me.”
Rob leaned over to peek down at the lizard mosh-pit. The warning cries and subsequent fight didn't attract any of their attention, for which he was grateful.
The creatures had dragged the cow to the entrance and stopped. None of them were eating their catch. Instead they scampered about, hissing and clicking.
Relieved they hadn't been detected, Rob looked to Jace and his savage wounds. “Aren't you going to heal yourself?”
Jace took a swig from his water-skin, then shook his head. “I used up my mana when I healed us before. It will take some time for it to return.”
Not sure what to say to that, Rob looked back down at the scaled throng. What now? Hope to pick off a few more lizards, or find another source of experience points?
“How many experience points do I need for the next damn level,” he said to the empty air.
You require 350 experience points to attain the next level.
Oh, wonderful, Rob thought. Not that he expected killing one trench lizard and assisting in the death of another would shower him with all the experience points he needed. It just wasn't enough.
Suddenly, a loud hissing sound emanated from below.
A massive trench lizard appeared from the den entrance. It was easily three times the size of any of the others, and its yellow stripe actually emitted a bright glow.
“Geez,” Rob whispered, eyes wide. No way did he want to tangle with that monster.
The huge lizard clamored forward and the other lizards got out of its way. It sniffed at the cow carcass, licking it with a long black tongue.
“The alpha,” Jace whispered from beside him.
Rob took a better look at the freakish beast.
Creature: Alpha Trench Lizard
Hit Points: 300, Mana: 20
Armor: 12, Speed: 10
Main Attack: Claws (Front & Back), Bite, Paralyzing Cry.
The alpha opened its huge mouth and grabbed the head of the cow. It then easily dragged the corpse backward and into the den entrance, vanishing from sight.
The other lizards followed, scampering over each other in an effort to get inside.
In moments, the gully was empty of lizards.
Despite feeling relieved they were gone, it still did not help his situation. If he couldn't kill more lizards how was he going to level?
As he looked over the den his eyes moved up the rocky walls. Perched above the entrance was a large cluster of boulders.
An idea struck him.
Quickly, he scanned the edge of his vision, looking for something that would show him his quests. After several seconds of cursing to himself, he said aloud, “Where's the damn lizard quest!”
A message appeared.
'Lizards, and Fangs, and Cows, Oh My!'
The trench lizards have destroyed the kingdom's cattle stocks, and it is only a matter of time before they start munching on your subjects. Find the main trench lizard den and eliminate the problem once and for all.
Reward: Unknown.
Rob focused on the words, eliminate the problem. It didn't say he had to kill them all to finish the quest and get its reward. Sure, the reward was marked unknown, but as far as Rob knew, all quests granted some experience points.
He pointed at the boulders. “We need to get over there,” he said, and started to push his way through the bushes in that direction.
“Why?” Jace said, following. “Do you need a better view of our futile situation?”
Rob ignored him, convinced that this was the best course of action.
In minutes, they arrived at the ledge above the den entrance. The mass of boulders stretched up the incline. They were too big to move or push. What now?
Jace watched him, impassive. “I don't believe looking at rocks grants any experience points. If it did, we'd all be gods by now.”
Rob noticed several smaller boulders were keeping the whole mass of them from sliding. If he could pry the right one loose...
He sheathed his sword and leaned his shield against a tree. Then he moved closer to the ledge and peered down. The yawning den entrance was directly below. So far, none of the lizards had emerged.
Looking over the rocks, he started picking some out and tossing them to the side, careful not to drop any below for fear of attracting attention.
Jace watched for several moments before joining in. Soon they were both pulling and rolling rocks and small boulders out from the edge of the massive pile.
“This is going to get us killed,” Jace said in his matter-of-fact tone.
“We're dead soon anyway, so what's it matter?” Rob said, rolling a small boulder.
Suddenly, a loud cracking noise came from above them, further up the slope.
The entire cluster of boulders shifted down a few inches.
Rob and Jace jumped back, putting some distance between them and the rocks. Then everything went still.
“Hrumph,” Rob said. “Maybe if I pull one more-.”
The entire mass of rocks and boulders suddenly slid down. The two men backed away as the landslide rumbled past them, kicking up dust and shaking the ground.
After several seconds the last of the sliding boulders fell over the ledge.
Rob waited. Once he was certain there would be no more rolling rocks, he cautiously went to the ledge and peered over.
The den entrance was gone, and the gully had filled almost completely with rocks and boulders. Thousands of tons
of it.
Jace frowned down at the destruction they'd created. “Did that accomplish anything?”
Before Rob could retort a message appeared.
Quest complete! 'Lizards, and Fangs, and Cows, Oh My!'
The threat of the trench lizards has been eliminated.
Reward: 400 Experience Points.
Then another followed.
