The Lionheart

by Stevie Collier

  “You made a ladder?” I asked, stunned. “How long have you been in this village?”

  Ushmoe didn’t answer. He looked up into the sky and his eyes moved in thought. I decided to drop it.

  I walked over to the hole and sat on the edge. A cold breeze floated over my feet like an unseen ghost. I was not a fan of the feeling.

  “The well connects to the sewers which is why it was abandoned. Don’t ask me how and why the damned thing was built in the first place. Anyways, the sewer connects to the edge of a cliff which is where the wind comes from.”

  An idea popped into my head and Ushmoe must have been able to figure out what that idea was due to my expression. He killed it before I could even say it.

  “I know what you’re thinking and it won’t work. The tunnel ends with eight steels bars that cannot be cut through. Abilities don’t work on them either. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

  “So that leaves us with only one choice. We have to somehow incapacitate Toxhin.”

  “That won’t work,” Ushmoe said, shaking his head. “Toxhin is the kind of character who won’t stop no matter what. Plus, if he gets word out that we’ve harmed him in any way then he will surely report us to his Guild, The Dagger Hearts.”

  “So that explains the emblem he was wearing on his tunic.”

  “Yes, he is an honorary member but he isn’t a full member. Not yet, anyways.”

  “What’s he have to do to get in?” I asked.

  Ushmoe shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not exactly sure. But I do know that he has to come up with a hefty sum and cause some sort of mayhem.”

  “Mayhem? That’s one of the entry requirements?”

  “Let’s just say The Dagger Hearts aren’t the kindest of gents. And anyways, none of this really matters to you as a Level 2. You couldn’t do anything if you tried.”

  I peered at him through beaded eyes. He was challenging me but I didn’t need his words to put a fire under my buttocks. I was already determined to level up and feel that oh so great feeling once again. No one, not even Toxhin, would get in the way of that.

  I turned and placed a careful foot on the first rung of the ladder. Ushmoe tapped me on the shoulder when I was halfway sticking out of the well.

  “I’m gonna friend request you and PM you once you’ve hit Level 7. Then I’ll show you some low key quests that won’t bring a lot of attention your way.”

  I smiled at him and nodded my head. I descended.

  The tunnel wind wasn’t enough to stop the humidity from causing sweat to drip down my back. With every step I took downward, I became more and more amazed as to how long the Badron must have worked to build this thing. Where did he hide it? Did he live in the sewers while he crafted it?

  My foot hit the floor and I stepped off the ladder. Torches were hung on the walls but none of them were lit.

  But I could see. Why and how could I see?

  I opened my character sheet and found myself spinning on an axis as if I were standing on a rotating platform. This image of myself was wearing the same clothes I was now but looked more comfortable than they actually were. I also saw a list of racial traits.

  Half-Elf Racial Traits

  Dark Sight

  Mana Regen Acceleration

  + to Intelligence

  + to Will

  + to Luck

  Not sure if these were the best traits to have as a Warrior class but they would have to make do. It wasn’t like I had a choice or anything. At least the Dark Sight was coming in handy.

  The tunnel was made of the same cobblestone that the above roads were made of except these stones were covered in slimy mold and algae. The shape of the tunnel was that of a horseshoe and a small, green stream of crap water flowed down the middle of it. This was not the first place I wanted to start leveling up.

  A thought jumped in my head. Ushmoe said that it wouldn’t have been enough to incapacitate Toxhin. What else was there to do? PK him? It didn’t seem right to me. I didn’t think I could actually kill someone.

  There was no afterlife. Death was death in this world.

  Something moved in the shadows in front of me, bringing me back to reality. I stepped closer.

  Sewer Roach Level 3

  I covered my mouth as the stench coming off this thing was the real deal. It had two black eyes and two long, probing antennas. It crawled towards me in a hurry.

  I backed up, repulsed by the massive bug that now approached me. My back hit the ladder just as the cockroach flew into the air directly at my face. There was only one thing to do.

  I unsheathed my stick and beat it over the head with my strike ability.

  The cockroach was taken by surprise and fell on its back right in front of my feet. It was struggling to roll over but I didn’t let that happen. I sent a series of strike attacks at its abdomen, sending yellow goo all over the walls.

  You’ve Defeated Sewer Roach.

  You’ve acquired Loot Bag.

  You’ve acquired Experience.

  I opened the loot bag and received a Roach Leg and Roach Meat. Not exactly the most useful of loot.

  I heard another buzzing noise and looked off into the distance. There, I spotted another sewer roach and something else standing on two long feet. I targeted it.

  Sewer Rat Level 3

  I was definitely going to need a bath after all this.

  4

  DING

  Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 5!

  Abilities Acquired: Crafting

  I wiped the roach blood off of my face and placed another roach leg into my bag. Another menu popped up into my vision.

  Congratulations! You can now craft in the world of Drathos! You may select 1 of 6 Professions: Smithing, Weaving, Architecture, Brewing, Cooking, and Agriculture. You also now have access to all of the sub-profession fields including: Fishing, Botany, First-Aid, and Mining.

  Whoa, that was a lot of information to soak up all at once. I re-read the menu a couple of times and was relieved to see that I didn’t have to choose right then and there. I would, for sure, have to ask around about each of the professions and see what would be of most use to me and my class.

  Something sticky tapped my shoulder.

  I turned and swung blindly at whatever had touched me. My wrist was caught with a strong, rough grip. It was a grip that wasn’t human and I was hoisted in the air like a small babe. The non-human hand tightened itself to the point in which I could no longer hold on to my stick. It fell to the floor with a sad and embarrassing tap.

  “Zorgon is unpleased with being hit at! Zorgon do nothing bad to you!”

  I pulled my head back to get a good look at my attacker.

  It was another cockroach but in the form of a humanoid. I grimaced as I stared into a human-ish face with three times the amount of eyeballs. One of its brown antennas reached down and poked me on the forehead. Gently, it let me down to me feet.

  Zorgon the Miscellaneous Vendor Level 25

  “You’re a vendor?” I asked, looking up at it. The thing was twice my height!

  One eye twisted in its socket and its ribbed abdomen made a wave-like movement as it spoke. “Zorgon is a vendor of the odd sorts. Yes.”

  “And what can I do for you? I’m kinda busy killing things.”

  “Zorgon sees this! You’ve killed many of my family.”

  My heart jumped into my throat. “Oh, wow. I am so sorry Mr. Zorgon, sir, I had no idea. Seriously, I-”

  The roach man’s head swung into the air as it bellowed a raspy laugh. “Zorgon kid with you! Zorgon kid! Zorgon need your help, young Warrior.”

  I rechecked its level. It was 20 levels above me! Why would it need the help of a Level 5 Warrior?

  Zorgon must have figured out what I was thinking. “Zorgon is in need of 15 roach legs.” A rumble came from its belly. “Zorgon hungry.”

  “You eat your own kind?” I asked, instantly wishing I hadn’t.

  Zorgon tilted its head curiously. It was eithe
r not understanding my question or it thought it was too stupid of a question to merit a response.

  You have been offered a quest! Help Zorgon get full!

  Quest Details: You’ve met Zorgon the Miscellaneous Vendor and it is in need of your help. The poor guy, er roach, is hungry and needs you to fetch 15 Haunted Well Roach legs.

  Rewards: Sturdy Stick, Trainee’s Bracelet, Experience.

  Accept?

  “I accept your quest, Zorgon!”

  Zorgon’s emotionless face said nothing, but its sticky hug did. I was taken into a bear hug by a 10 foot roach man. “Zorgon thanks you! Zorgon thanks you very much!”

  It released me, flung up onto the wall and crawled into a space half its size. Disgusting.

  Having killed so many roaches before meeting Zorgon, I opened my bag and had a look. I had twelve Haunted Well Roach Legs.

  So, basically, all I had to do now was kill three more roaches and I would be good to go!

  I tried my best to ignore the rats and just pull the aggro of the roaches. It wasn’t long before I had squashed enough of the dirty sewer bugs to get the needed amount of legs. Zorgon must have smelled his food for his tiny head popped out of the hole he’d crawled into minutes before.

  “Ready for Zorgon?” he asked.

  “Ready.”

  His head popped back into the hole and, soon, his body reversed itself outwards. There, he stuck to the wall like the true roach he was.

  “Do you have the 15 Haunted Well Roach Legs for Zorgon?”

  I pulled out my bag and started to count them out to him. Zorgon would grab each one I handed to him and nuzzle them to his abdomen. By the time I was done counting he had a nice, large pile of brown legs.

  “Zorgon thanks you again, young Warrior!”

  He bowed his head to me before devouring the legs with haste. Juice blasted from ground zero and some of it got on my cheek. My stomach heaved out of revulsion and I quickly backed up, wiping the gunk off of my face.

  Quest Complete!

  You’ve helped Zorgon the Miscellaneous Vendor eat his fill!

  Reward: Sturdy Stick, Trainee’s Bracelet, and Experience.

  Congratulations! You’ve Acquired Level Six!

  Abilities Earned: Pierce (Pierce allows the Warrior to strike an enemy ignoring his armor stats.)

  My body shuddered as it always did when the euphoric feeling left. I didn’t think I would ever get used to it.

  I looked up and Zorgon was gone. Oh well, back to killing rats and roaches.

  I pulled myself out of the hole as soon as I hit Level 7. I was drenched in sweat and a cocktail of roach and rat blood. Before I even thought about meeting up with Ushmoe, I would for sure need to find someplace to bathe and, perhaps, catch a little shut eye.

  I chose to go in another direction besides heading back into the Bazaar. There were far too many people. Even I knew it would be disrespectful to have anyone be forced to smell me. I wouldn’t want to have me near all that food either.

  I went the opposite direction, passing the Haunted Well and turning the next random corner. I walked along the road until I came across an open courtyard with a large fountain in the middle of it. Six large buildings surrounded this fountain, each with a different color and a different assortment of statues. As I got nearer, I could see people bathing in the water that splashed out of a marble dragon’s mouth and nose. The architecture was surely something to ogle at.

  A bizarre emotion swelled in my chest, brain, and groin when I came across the half-naked female players rinsing off their smooth bodies. They ignored me, probably used to being stared at by other male toons. There were no guys in the fountain, just a bunch of women of all different races. Somehow, I thought it would be awkward to break the mold and join them. But what choice did I have? I shouldn’t do it… but then again, I should. And so I did.

  I stripped down to my sweaty undergarments and stepped into the fountain. The water was cool and oh so refreshing. The women didn’t flinch but merely ignored me just as they were ignoring each other. I found a free stream of water jetting from the dragon’s right nostril and walked under it. This was the first time I had felt water run down my body and it was magnificent.

  As the sensation of running water overcame me, I couldn’t help but go into a meditative mood. “Who am I?” I found myself asking out loud.

  The ground rumbled and the world around me flashed to black. All was dark for only a moment before life sprang back into my vision. Half the women had been transported out of the fountain and were now looking around, confused as to why they were standing on the cobblestone and not in the fountain.

  “What the hell was that?”

  “What the hell was what?” responded a girl behind me. She had been halfway done washing suds out of her hair. She cupped her hand in the water and splashed some in her face.

  “Did everything just go dark for you?” I asked her. “Or am I going crazy?”

  She wiped the soap from her eyes and gave me a cautious gaze as if I were crazy. “All I know is that those girls were in here one moment and gone another. Did you have something to do with this?” She looked above my head and added, “Tharis?”

  “No, I swear. It’s just, well… I don’t know. Now I can’t remember exactly what happened.”

  She didn’t respond to me. She gave me another questioning look before turning her attention back to her bath.

  What was that? Am I the one going crazy? Or did my world… just shut down?

  I stepped out of the fountain and sat on the edge of it, letting the warm sun dry me off. Speaking of the sun, it was starting to drip lower into the horizon. If I didn’t want to sleep in the well or on the streets I would need to find an Inn.

  A PM came into my chat box in the left of my vision.

  Ushmoe: Hey, Tharis. I see you’re Level 7 now. Grats.

  I didn’t know exactly how to respond to this. But, somehow, my mind had a mind of its own if that makes sense. I automatically pulled a response tab and answered.

  Tharis: Thank you. It wasn’t the funnest leveling experience.

  Ushmoe: I figured it wouldn’t be. Let’s say we meet up for dinner and discuss some things. Let’s say The Tipsy Traveler?

  Tharis: Actually, I was hoping to find an Inn soon. It’s getting dark.

  Ushmoe: K. Meet you at the Ashvell Inn in 10 minutes.

  I stood up but realized I didn’t know where or how to find the Inn. If only there was a way—

  Immediately, a map pulled up into my vision, interrupting my thoughts. At the top left of the brown map read ‘The Village of Ashvell’. It wasn’t hard to locate the fountain which I assumed was the marble dragon symbol on the map. Apparently, I was in the Class Hall Quarters, the area of the village in which the class trainers were located. That explained all of the interesting and distinct buildings that surrounded the fountain. I made a mental note to come back and have a look around.

  I found the Inn and, much to my relief, I discovered it wasn’t too far away from where I was. I was super tired and hungry and didn’t feel much like walking.

  The Ashvell Inn was a pleasant looking building, much nicer than The Tipsy Traveler. I walked up the wooden steps and entered. This place was also bustling just like the Tavern, but the atmosphere couldn’t have been more different. Instead of a rowdy bunch of drunkards, there was an assortment of well-dressed players and NPCs of all races. In the corner of the room was a stone chimney carved in the shape of a bear’s open jaws with a roaring fire within its mouth. On the other side of the Inn was a long and wide bar complete with a kitchen in the back. A bartender eyed me with caution as he polished a glass with a white cloth. He was probably judging me as a hoodlum on account of my looks. It was highly possible I was going to get kicked out of this place. After all, I was wearing still damp starter clothes and I don’t think my Sturdy Stick and Trainee’s Bracelet were going to suffice as fancy garments.

  “Tharis! Over here!” called Ushmoe’s voice.


  I looked over the heads of the patrons and saw his furry, black ears. I made my way to him, being careful not to spill any drinks or bump any tables.

  “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the chair across from him.

  As soon as I did so, a female NPC rushed from out of the kitchen, making her way to our table.

  “What can I get you two handsome gents?” she asked.

  I felt my cheeks warm out of embarrassment. I had no idea what to ask for. Fortunately, Ushmoe did know.

  “We will both have a loaf of Green Bread with a Pint of Ale to wash it down with. Thanks, sweetie.” He flicked a silver coin in the air and the waitress snatched it with ease.

  She smiled at both of us and gave a slight bow. “Thank you, gents! I’ll be right back! Shouldn’t take us long. The kitchen is being efficient tonight for once!” She sped off.

  “So, down to business,” Ushmoe said, sitting back. “You are definitely a minority around here. Level 7s are a big deal.”

  “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

  “I’m not! Take a good look around. Ignore the NPCs and memorize the characters around us. They’ve been here a while, stuck at Level 10. You won’t see many newbies join their ranks.”

  “Why not?” I asked. “Couldn’t they just go to the Haunted Well and do what I did?”

  “They could, but they don’t. First of all, they don’t know about it. And secondly and most importantly, Toxhin usually kills them off before they have a chance to enjoy this world.”

  I sat back in my chair, trying to act a little more like my level. “He’s afraid, isn’t he? Afraid a crowd will grow against him.”

  “Exactly,” Ushmoe agreed with a nod.

  The NPC waitress was back at our table and in her hand was a platter with two loaves of bread. She passed one to each of us with a little plate of butter to go with it. She then handed us our ales. As she turned to walk away, Ushmoe grabbed her by the arm. He handed her another silver coin. She winked at him and was off.

  “So what’s this business you wanted to talk about?” I grabbed the loaf and its smells wafted into my nose, making my mouth water. It must have just come out of the oven for it was warm and soft to the touch.