by Brent Roth
"I am afraid that I alone am not capable of such a feat, but with a skilled hunter at my side I believe the bear shall be mine. Of course the spoils would belong to you my lord, as undoubtedly all the lands as far as I can see belong to you, and all that sets foot on your land in turn belongs to you as well."
I've baited the hook and tossed the line; now let us see if it sinks.
The Earl was visibly unhappy, but attempted to mask his displeasure and offered a counter proposal, "Ah but the poor woman, she has just returned from a long hunt, why not take one of my men instead and let the young miss enjoy a much deserved break. We can enjoy the bear together; in fact once you kill that bear we shall have a feast with all of the warriors!"
The words were true, no matter the character of the man speaking, she had just returned from a week-long expedition. But I couldn't lose this opportunity else she may end up dead and the quest a failure, not to mention the loss of trust from Katherine.
My new lovely pocket healer cough companion.
"Ah but I am so intrigued by this female hunter, I have never met a female that could hunt wolves alone, I implore you my lord, to lose this chance, no, I must have this chance to hunt the bear alongside a beautiful huntress! Mayhaps, would the Earl care to join as well?"
It was a longshot, but maybe.
Just maybe it would work.
The Earl quietly thought to himself with no care of hiding his emotions on the subject as his face writhed and wiggled like a worm. No a worm is too kind, he writhed and wiggled like a maggot. I wanted to step on his face until the boot came out the other end.
In the end, with all of the village folk looking on, he decided to save face and replied with a loud boisterous laugh, "Haha you have a way with words young adventurer! You remind me of my youth! But alas I am but an old humble lord and am no longer fit to hunt. If you insist on hunting with her so, I shall permit it on condition that you are escorted by five of my finest warriors. They are experienced in battle and will ensure your safety in case anything goes wrong!"
Perfect.
I was able to gather from the trade master that he only had control of twenty warriors, though I knew from my play-through during the Alpha testing that all of his guards were around level 60-80 except for his champion who was level 100.
So long as it was the lower level guards I might be able to pull this off.
I made my way towards Selene who had heard the last bit of our conversation and introduced myself.
"How do you do miss, my name is Roth Sigurd, the first adventurer of the North, and it would be to my utmost pleasure to extend an invitation to you to accompany me on a joyous hunt of a menacing bear, just north in the woods."
Phew that was pompously long-winded, but thankfully her disposition wasn't bad.
She paused for a moment then returned a greeting, slightly bowing her head and saying: "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Roth Sigurd, but as the Earl has noted I have just returned from a hunt and would prefer to settle my affairs and have a meal. I must also see to my friend, so if you would excuse my rudeness I would be grateful."
Sigh, this girl.
Meanwhile the Earl let a devious smile creep up the side of his face.
Though I can't blame her for being reasonable, stop making me work so damn hard!
Katherine! Why couldn't you have some secret safe word or something!
"Ah but miss, uhm, miss…." I trailed off on purpose to let her continue on.
"Selene, Mister Roth."
"Ah Selene, quite a lovely name. Miss Selene, I simply must insist that you hunt with me, I'm sure your friend will be fine if she does not see you within the hour? Come, come, let us sell these pelts to the trade master and I have rabbit jerky for the road, we must hurry you see, the bear may wake and move at any moment!"
At this I look to the Earl and repeat myself once more, "Earl, this friend Selene speaks of, I'm sure she is not ill or anything? Surely Miss Selene can see her after, yes?"
To this the Earl's smile vanished for a moment but was soon back and wider than ever as he confidently stated, "Of course! The Miss is in the best of care in the presence of my other wives. Miss Selene, I must insist that you take our quirky adventurer here out to finish this most grand of hunts!"
Up to this point everything had gone smoothly, though I still had to be wary of this Earl potentially ordering his men to kill me as soon as we exit the village walls.
Looking at Selene and extending my arm, I confidently spoke out, "Ah then it is settled, come with me Miss Selene, we shall take these furs to the trade master and be on our way!"
I knew we likely wouldn't be coming back to this village anytime soon, so it would be best to get some money for these pelts… else they be lost. After settling the trade the now party of seven made their way out through the northern gate and into the forest.
The bear was only minutes away and the warriors didn't seem to care too much about me. I decided now was the time to inform Selene of the plan to escape.
Selene was walking ahead of the five men, so I shortened my gait to that of the warriors and leaned my head over with my hand covering my mouth, "She's a fine lady is she not? Watch and learn from the master gents, I'll show you how to win over a lady such as she."
As soon as I finished the men chuckled and let out grunts of approval and I thusly sped up my pace and slid in next to Selene. Putting my left arm around her shoulders I quickly whispered to her, "Your life is in danger, act normal."
Expectedly, she still reacts to my sudden flirtatious gesture and attempts to lean away.
I quickly turn my head back and wink at the five warriors watching from behind and then lean my head towards her ear, "Katherine sent me to save you, giggle now."
She quietly retorts, "What!?" as she attempts to slyly push me away with her right arm.
Of course, I will have none of it and pull her in tighter with my left arm, "Giggle now, keep up appearances, they will kill us."
She turns her head into mine and lets out a short and soft giggle.
Oh not bad, I think to myself.
She then blurts out a command, "Quickly explain your actions."
Simply nodding in agreement as I must do what the lady commands, "The Earl killed your traveling convent under the guise of bandits, he meant to take Kate as a wife, she ran, I saved her life, I'm here to save yours, do as I say if you want to live."
Selene stopped walking for a split second but I nudged her forward, "Keep moving, giggle again, do it naturally." She looked my way and giggled softly. At this I gave a thumb's up behind her back as I continued to walk with Selene under my arm and heard one of the men let out a laugh.
"If I am to believe you, where is Katherine now?"
"At my cabin."
"And where is that? How is that?"
"She traveled north along the river to the east in search of you and after three days arrived at my cabin under attack by wolves. I killed them. She asked me to save you and now here I am. Look we don't have much time, are you with me or not?"
She took a moment to gather her thoughts and replied, "Alright I will believe you, for now. The Earl was always a bit of a fish. What's the plan of escape?"
Music to my ears… I let off a faint smile, finally we're getting somewhere.
I take a moment to gather my thoughts and then inform Selene of the plan, "After we kill the bear and divvy up the meat, look for an opening or make an excuse to briefly get away and slip out, head north then cutback and take the eastern river north, in two to three days you will come across a cabin at the base of a mountain, Katherine will be waiting. I'm going to kiss you, slap me."
As I finished, I went in for a kiss.
For an NPC she had surprisingly soft lips….
SLAP!
I remove my arm from her shoulder and pretend to be staggered, I look at the men with abject shock and horror on my face, and then look back at Selene who was now as red as a cherry; I didn't think an NPC coul
d blush…?
Was it really embarrassment?
Was the AI that advanced?
I didn't have the time to consider these things so I made my way back to the warriors, "Ahhh it seems I have been shot down boys, but worry not for I am not one to give in to minor setbacks!"
The five men all start laughing and howling, it was cheap entertainment while on the move and even if they planned to kill me, a laugh was always worth postponing an execution for another ten minutes.
Chapter 18: Changing of the Guard
(Sunday, March 7th Game Day / Friday, January 22nd Real Day)
A bit past mid-day in-game we had neared the edge of the forest line. The snow on the ground was still packed tightly but the first signs of spring had started to appear. With birds chirping in the distance and critters scurrying up the sides of trees, it was a lively sight. The type of sight that was unheard of weeks before.
The sun was still shining brightly and with nary a cloud in the sky the prognosis was good. Visibility was excellent, the weather was nearing perfect levels, and the hunting was starting to look promising.
Spotting the small black bear from a significant distance with [Keen Sight], I had signaled for the group to quieten their steps and slow their pace.
[Keen Sight] was a skill from the Archery proficiency that essentially enhanced your alertness. If you were already attentive it wasn't much of a skill, but it did help. As soon as that bear was in visual range, a small glimmer of light shined for a split-second to alert me to its position in a tree.
The small [Young Northern Black Bear] was lazily napping in the tree a few feet from the ground. The hibernating period seemed to have ended recently with the uptick in temperature and the lessening snowfall that spring brought.
This little bear must have decided to venture out into the woods for a picnic.
Approaching within bow range, I signaled the group to stop and the five warriors drew their spears while Selene and I drew our bows. We needed a good ambush here in order to be successful. A bear at this stage in the game was quite strong seeing as I was only level 14 after all.
Of course I also had the cumulative stats of someone in the mid-level 100s, but that was my trade secret.
Selene and I took position with quivers out as we each carefully nocked an arrow in our respective bows. Silently drawing the bow and taking aim slightly behind and below the shoulder, I inhaled.
As my chest rose I released the arrow.
Thwack.
Thwack.
Without a pause I quickly nocked a second arrow as I saw Selene do the same. But before I could draw my bow the second time, the bear had roared to life as it fell out of the tree.
I had aimed for the bear's lungs as the heart was too small and was obscured by the leg bone but I couldn't be sure if I had actually landed a fatal hit.
It didn't matter really, as the bear raised on its hind legs for a second to let out its threatening roar. The roar sent shivers down your spine as even a small bear is quite intimidating, especially when it stands upright.
The bear lowered its head and started to charge at me, I drew my bowstring back as fast as I could and quickly released. I had panicked slightly and with my breathing off, the arrow flew off course, landing in the frontal shoulder area rather than the chest.
Selene had more patience than I and had waited a hair longer than me before releasing; her arrow flew straight into the center of the bear's chest but it wasn't fatal either.
I dropped my bow and drew my axe while the warriors stood in the background, they were rather useless honestly. Most likely they were hoping that I would die so they wouldn't have to dirty their own hands.
With my axe at the ready I took a batter's position as if I was going to slug a ball out of the park, whether this was the best position or not to attack a raging and charging 300-400 pound bear was up for debate.
But the jury was still out.
And I needed an answer.
The small black bear came crashing down on me as I swung with all of my might directly behind the skull of the bear, driving deep into the thick fur and muscle in the neck.
It was a solid, clean hit.
It should have cut into the neck by at least three or four inches.
But it didn't stop the bear's charge or swipe which had hit me with full force knocking me on my back. The bear was on top of me but was staggered from the blow of the axe.
As I was directly under the bear I was in a terrible position and couldn't move with the weight of the bear pinning me to the ground.
Selene had rolled over to the right and quickly let another arrow off into the general area of the heart but it wasn't any good. My health had taken a huge hit but my stamina had nearly entirely disappeared from the force of the charge with the weight of the bear behind it.
The bear roared ferociously but a foot from my face as my ears rang from the deafening noise. Lifting its body up slightly as if to crush a can it soon dropped back down on my chest.
Blood spurted out of my mouth as I gasped for what little air I could.
The compressing of my lungs from the bear's weight along with the sudden body slam had all but completely winded me.
My eyes watered as I frantically tried to move my arms in a way to create space, but it was futile.
I wouldn't be able to do much more, so I quickly put my hand on where I thought the bear's heart would be and started casting a [Lightning Bolt].
I simply didn't have the time.
Struggling to breathe as my chest started to collapse in on itself from the weight of the bear on top of me; I looked to my right to where Selene was.
Another arrow hit the bear and it roared and turned to face Selene as if I was already dead underneath.
It wasn't entirely wrong either, I was being crushed to death by the weight of the bear and as my stamina bar hit zero my health points started to rapidly deteriorate.
I couldn't even shout for the lack of air in my lungs but I was able to whisper the spell, "Lightning Bolt!" and watched as the black bear on top of me suddenly convulsed in spasms.
I had stopped it's movements but I was slowly and steadily dying.
But then Selene let off another arrow that finally hit the mark.
She actually hit the heart.
The bear stopped convulsing and slumped down on top of me, smothering me with its dead weight.
I used what little strength I could muster to push the head of the bear off me so I could breathe. Selene soon came over and used my axe as a lever to push the corpse of the little black bear off me.
As I rolled over and got on my knees I stopped to look at the young black bear that was lying in front of me.
Shaking my head, I quietly spoke to anyone willing to listen.
"It's not quite as big as I remember it being."
Selene replied quickly to me, "You mean it's not as big as it was ten seconds ago? Well, I guess…."
She had a point.
But the bear definitely looked a lot smaller in stature as it laid dead at my feet then when it was standing on its hind legs with its chest puffed out or how it looked directly on top of me with a frothing mouth ready to chomp on my face.
It still weighed over three-hundred pounds.
The five warriors who had simply stood still the entire time now made their way over and I quickly checked my remaining health and mana, they couldn't be trusted after all.
The senior warrior opened his mouth first, "I didn't think you had it in you but you did it adventurer. This bear will be quite the feast!"
I almost wanted to say they wouldn't get to enjoy any of it, but I held my tongue.
Instead of causing a scene I took out my skinning knife and got to work on the hide.
I wasn't going to lose the hide even if I had to flee with it over my head with it fluttering in the wind over my back like some kid on Halloween. Not too long after skinning the beast I had started to divvy up the meat for the warriors to carry and
everyone was in good spirits except for the senior.
I figured he alone was informed by the Earl and the others would just follow orders.
He needed to die first.
About fifteen minutes after the bear had fallen, the work was completed and the warriors now had sacks of meat to carry. We started packing everything up as my health and mana had finally completely recovered, thanks in large part to munching on rabbit jerky during the downtime.
It was time to get Selene out of here.
I winked at Selene when the warriors were looking elsewhere and she understood the signal. As I finished handing the meat to the five men and was about to turn around to head back to the town, Selene spoke up, "Ah, my apologies but I need to relieve myself shortly before we head back, excuse me for a second."
I had left the excuse up to her and I guess she chose "when nature calls" as her plan of attack, it wasn't half bad.
I had already turned to start walking away hoping the warriors would follow as well but their senior leader nodded at two of them to follow her and they simply did what they were told.
I muttered, "Couldn't just walk away, huh," as I had set down my meat bag and let my axe slide down my palm.
Of the three warriors standing and facing away from me, one turned his head around only to open his eyes as widely as he possibly could before the axe-head landed squarely in the center of his cheekbone cleaving a large chunk of his face off and onto the ground below.
He collapsed without a sound as the other two warriors turned around at the strange wind noise they had just heard.
Without giving them a moment to understand the situation I swung my axe down from an overhead position directly into the top of the skull of the warrior closest to me.
A second fatal blow swiftly delivered.
Clean kills.
I kicked the man's body to break my axe free and pressed my attack on the senior leader that was standing in front of me, he yelped out a shrill shriek as he thrust his spear as quickly as he could towards my chest but was met in-kind with an axe to his neck.
He fell to his knees staggered from the blow as I prepared the next swing, lopping his head off.
