by Adam Drake
Closing his eyes, Rob waited as his Energy regenerated, feeling a tiny bit better with each point. He felt sorry for himself, again. Squashing such negative thoughts needed to be in his mental toolbox or he'd never get out of this place.
What was the deal with the sarcophagus and the thing inside? It was a type of magic that bypassed his Damage Shield aura completely. He would have to find a way to get close enough to shut the lid. Hopefully, that alone would be enough to negate the pulsing waves or he could drown next time. A Hold Breath potion would give him time to work, but how could he protect himself long enough to get close?And if he succeeded, he'd need a way to get the sarcophagus out of the water.
He sighed. Okay, fine. He had a partial solution, he just needed time to think on the rest of it. So what if there weren't any fish now? It wasn't like everyone was starving.
“How are the supplies holding out?” he said.
“At starvation levels,” Erwin said almost cheerfully. “In a week we'll be back to eating rats, again. Sooner, if more folks keep returning like they've been. But it'll be okay, my Lord.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you'll think of something.” Erwin grinned while he pulled at the oars.
“Oh. Great.” So much for that. He resigned himself to lounging at the bottom of the boat, watching the clouds scud overhead and listening to the waves slap the sides.
He couldn't help feel a little defeated. Instead of completing a quest, which would feed his people, it had only morphed into something more complex. One step forward, two steps back. He found himself absently rubbing at his left temple where the mark of the Chosen One was, and stopped. All he wanted to do was return to shore. He'd had enough of complications for one morning.
“My Lord!” Erwin suddenly shouted, eyes wide.
“What? What is it?” Rob sat bolt upright, his Energy halfway recovered. He looked around wildly.
“There! Look!”
Rob craned his neck around in the direction he pointed.
At first he couldn't see anything past the swell of the waves, but then the waters dipped enough giving him a clear view of something on the horizon.
A ship.
“Oh,” Rob said, surprised. He stared at its silhouette for a for several seconds. It had three masts, sails full and billowing, moving in their direction. A ship. Cool. But who were they?
He was about to ask, when he noticed something odd. The ship's body and hull were all black, as well as the sails. A uniform black. No details at all. Like a cardboard cutout that someone neglected to fill in with details. Was it a mirage?
When he turned to ask Erwin, he found the little man frozen with fear. “Erwin, what is it? Who are they?”
It took a few moments for Erwin to squeak out an answer. “Not a who, my Lord. Those are not people.”
The stark terror in the other man's voice gave Rob goosebumps. “What are they?”
“Shadow Pirates.”
“Shadow Pirates? What in the hell are Shadow-.”
Erwin suddenly gasped in horror and Rob whipped his head around.
The ship was almost on top of them. One moment it was in the distance, but now it loomed above them and moving quickly.
While Rob was trying to get his mind around what he was seeing, Erwin suddenly grabbed on his collar, again, shouting.
“Jump! He have to get away! Jump!”
Before he could respond, Rob found himself being pulled over the side and back into the icy waters, barely managing a lungful of air.
Below the surface Erwin tugged at his shirt and pulled him along as he swam. Rob batted the man's hand away, and followed. A great darkness suddenly fell over them. The ship.
He wanted to turn and look back, but Erwin would have none of it, so they kept swimming.
Once they were a short distance away and needing air, they carefully surfaced.
Rob accidentally swallowed a mouthful of seawater and coughed and sputtered.
Erwin slapped a hand over his mouth. “Quiet, my Lord,” he hissed in Rob's ear.
Rob blinked away the water from his eyes and looked back in the direction they'd swam.
The massive ship sat a sort distance away. Although its dark sails were billowing in the wind, the ship didn't move, as if the whole thing was a freeze frame from a nightmare.
It was completely black although he could see outlined details along its railing; rigging, ropes, barrels. Atop its main mast was a flag, with a symbol cut out of its center. A skull and cross bones.
Rob gaped in amazement at what he was seeing. The entire thing was one giant shadow puppet.
Then, he saw things move on the deck. Figures. None could be easily identified as human, just misshapen things that skulked around.
Rob suddenly realized the precariousness of their situation. The ship had stopped to investigate the rowboat, and its crew was no doubt wondering what happened to those aboard it.
Several figures hunched over the railing and appeared to look down at the rowboat. Would they search for them? Rob hoped not. Every fiber of his being told him that if he was brought aboard that ship, he'd never see land again.
Suddenly, the rowboat heaved up out of the water. Beneath it was a pillar of black, like a tentacle, pushing the little boat upwards, closer to the figures.
Rob stared wide-eyed as the ghostly crew examined the empty boat. He wanted to dip back under the water and wait for them to leave, but found he couldn't move. Both he and Erwin were frozen in fear.
After a few moments examining it, the figures must of determined it wasn't of interest. The black tentacle suddenly dropped the boat and it splashed back into the water. Then the strange black pillar submerged and vanished.
The figures moved along the deck, still close to the rails. They appeared to be searching.
Erwin yanked him back under the water again, where they waited for as long as their lungs could stand it. When they couldn't wait anymore, they slowly surfaced, expecting to find the ship next to them shadow figures reaching with black tentacles.
But the ship was gone.
They looked all around them, but the vessel couldn't be seen.
“I... I think it's safe, my Lord,” Erwin said, his teeth chattering.
They swam the short distance to the rowboat to find it floating upside down. They struggled to right it, not an easy feat in the choppy water, but they managed. Finally, they clambered over its side to collapse inside.
“Are they really gone?” Rob said, eyes scanning the horizon. There wasn't a sign of the ship anywhere.
“I think so. But it's best we get to shore and quick, in case they decide to return.”
One of the oars was missing so Erwin was reduced to paddling with the remainder.
As the dockmaster concentrated on getting them back, Rob asked, “Have you encountered those things before?”
“No, but I've heard of them. Everyone has. They're probably why ships haven't visited in such a long time. I don't think any trade can happen by sea as long as they're around.”
You have been given a quest. “Death By Sea”
Rid the Shadow Pirates from the waters of your kingdom so ships can visit without fear. Reward: 4,500 experience points.
Rob coughed a laugh. Add another insurmountable task to the pile. He felt that overwhelmed feeling returning.
Challenges, he thought to himself. They're all just challenges, nothing more. But running this mantra through his head over and over didn't make him feel any better. Both the sarcophagus and Shadow Pirates quest may as well be Godhood Quests.
After a while, the familiar looking shoreline of his kingdom appeared in the distance. If he squinted enough, he could barely make out the top of the castle's tower, nearly completed. Trenton and his sons were making fast progress and might be finished in another week's time. This was perhaps the only thing about his kingdom that made Rob happy; his castle. He'd come a long way from mopping up vomit in office bathrooms.
As th
ey got closer to shore, he noticed Saif standing on the dock, waiting for him. Seeing the other man gave him a chill. It was a repeat of when he first arrived from the tutorial island. Only now he was a king with a ton of pain-in-the-butt quests to complete.
Rob was struck with a realization. “My mace! My jerkin! We lost them!”
“Not both, my Lord,” Erwin said with a smile. “I strapped the mace to the side here, where I secure my fishing gear.” He handed the weapon over.
Rob practically hugged it having served him so well up to now. He thought the pirates might have sent it to the sea bottom. “Uh, you didn't happen to save my boots, too, did you?”
“Afraid not, my Lord. But you can have mine!”
Rob gave the dockmasters tiny boots a glance and shook his head. “No worries, my friend. I'll find something back in town.”
Town. Now there was a generous word. Dilapidated village was more accurate. He closed his eyes and sighed. Not a dilapidated village, the beginning of something great. Got to keep those positive thoughts flowing.
Erwin, with much awkward flailing, managed to get the boat up to shore, where Rob jumped out. The wet sand felt soothing beneath his bare feet.
Saif approached, giving the boat and both men a once over.
“My Lord, I take it your quest wasn't fruitful?” The sage said, sounding disappointed.
“In a manner of speaking,” Rob said. He wasn't in any mood to be berated. Not after what he'd been through. “I'm lucky to be alive, actually, thanks to Erwin.”
Erwin beamed while pulling the rowboat further up the beach. “It was my duty, my Lord!”
Saif frowned. “Might I enquire what happened?”
Rob sighed. “I'll give you a rundown.” He turned away to walk down the beach, eyes searching the shallow waters of the surf. Saif hastened to keep up.
After he told Saif about the sarcophagus, the sage's eyebrows climbed up his forehead. “My Lord! That is unbelievable!”
“Well, it happened,” Rob said, as he spotted a tangle of sea weed and splashed over to it, fishing knife in hand.
Saif said, “No, I believe it happened, only I find it disturbing that whatever it was could sap your energy without effecting your Damage Shield. I've never heard of such a thing.”
“I won't be able to complete the damn quest until I can figure something out,” Rob said. “It nearly drowned me.” He pulled the thick strand of seaweed out of the water, exposing bulbous pods along its stalk. When an item message didn't appear he shrugged and cut into it, pulling out a oval shaped seed.
You have taken an item: Sea Bead
A type of seaweed that can be used in various basic Alchemy recipes.
Value: 12 Silver Pieces
You have learned a new skill! Herbatology
This allows you to pick and cultivate different species of plants and flora.
Huh, cool, Rob thought as he slipped the Sea Bead into one of his pouches.
“Drowned?” Saif said, sounding concerned. “That would have been most – uh – unfortunate. I'm delighted you survived.”
Rob cut another Sea Bead out of its pod, but as he did so it suddenly crumbled away in his hand.
You have failed to pick the Sea Bead.
“What just happened?” Rob said, annoyed.
“Your skill will slowly increase over time,” Saif said. “But in doing so you will encounter a lot of failures along the way.”
Frowning, Rob looked around in the surf. There wasn't anymore seaweed here other than this stalk, and it only had two more pods left. Shrugging, he cut another.
Saif cleared his throat and Rob knew what he was about to say.
“My Lord, the matter regarding King Orbin. We should talk about it.”
Rob's hand slipped while cutting out the bead and the knife sliced at his hand. His Damage Shield aura protected him, though, and dropped from 50 to 48 hit points. The Sea Bead crumbled in his hand.
You have failed to pick the Sea Bead.
Cursing, Rob turned to glare at Saif. “Do you mind? I need to concentrate here.”
“My apologizes, my Lord. Of course.” The Sage watched quietly as Rob cut out the last one. This time it didn't crumble away.
You have advanced in Herbatology! Skill has increased from 1% to 2%.
This only gave him two of the three Sea Beads he needed for the Hold Breath potion, but it would have to do as a start. Frowning, he slipped it into its pouch and waded through the surf, searching for more. But after scouring the entire accessible shoreline, he came up empty and sighed.
Sensing Rob was finished Saif said, “Might I suggest returning in a few days time, my Lord?”
“Why's that?” Rob turned back and walked toward the dock.
“More seaweed might be brought in with the tide.”
They walked in silence for several moments, Rob sensing Saif's anticipation. Admittedly, Rob enjoyed making the Sage wait, but knew he couldn't do it forever.
Stopping, he said, “Okay, Saif. What is it?”
“King Orbin, my Lord,” Saif said. “His declaration of war still stands.”
“So what?”
“My Lord, we must do something about it. He could march his armies into the kingdom at any time!”
Rob shrugged, stifling the urge to grin at Saif horrified expression. “And what am I expected to do about that? I mean really? What?”
“Well, address the matter. Respond. Prepare.”
“Saif, I can appreciate your concern. Believe me when I say no one else is as concerned as I am. Some loony has threatened to remove me from the throne and take control of everything. But there isn't anything I can do about it, even if I wanted to.”
The Sage made an effort to calm himself, then nodded. “Yes. You're correct, my Lord. My apologies. I just wanted to impress upon you how dire the situation is.”
Rob expected an argument from Saif, but was a little surprised when he agreed. “Yeah, well I'm impressed, okay? But short of magically creating an army out of no where, I can't see a way of stopping this guy from stomping over us. Unless you had any suggestions?”
“Well, no. I don't. Not really. Only that you need to level up quicker and earn the gold needed to increase our defenses, which I know you are aware are close to nonexistent.”
“We got the castle, sorta.”
“It's barely complete, my Lord, and to be honest, at Phase One, it's not up to holding against a siege.
Rob agreed. Sure the castle looked cool, and all, but it resembled a small lighthouse with a high garden wall around it, than a defensive structure.
“How long to upgrade it to the next phase?” Rob said.
“I don't know, it's best to speak to Trenton. But it won't matter, my Lord.”
“Why's that?” Rob said. He noticed a small boy appear at the crest of the high hill next to the sea cliffs. He was running down the steep path toward the beach.
“We're broke, to put it plainly.”
“I'm aware of that, too, Saif. And do me a favor, would you?”
“Anything, my Lord.”
“Always give it to by plainly. I prefer it that way.”
“Yes, of course.”
Rob could tell Saif wanted to say more, but the little boy ran up to them his cheeks flush with youthful exertion.
“My Lord!” the little boy shouted.
Rob recognized him as one of the farmer's children. “Yes, Michael, what is it?”
“Something's happened at the village!” Michael said in a high pitched voice.
Saif's face fell. “What?! An army has arrived?”
“No,” the little boy said, his face beaming with a huge smile. “Something amazing!”
CHAPTER THREE
They hurried up the steep path. Michael skipped the entire way while the two men huffed and puffed.
“Why don't you just tell us what it is?” Saif said, hiking up his billowy robes so he could move quicker.
“It's not my place to do that,” Micha
el said, easily keeping ahead of them. “My dad said so.”
Rob found the child endearing, but was a little annoyed he wouldn't blurt out what was going on. He didn't want to command him to either. “As long as it's not an army, then we can wait til we get there,” he said to Saif.
The Sage rolled his eyes and harrumphed. This made Michael laugh hysterically as only a little boy could, then bolted off down the narrow path to the treeline ahead.
