by Baron Sord
“Hey,” Ty said, sounding hurt but acting tough.
Layna blushed. “Did you just add points to Beauty?”
I smiled and shrugged, “You tell me.”
“He did,” Ty said.
I flipped him off.
He laughed.
“So,” I held up the bracers and said to Layna, “Do you know how I use these things?”
“Try pointing them at Ty while thinking about freezing his face off,” Layna giggled.
“Hey now!” Ty said, offended.
“I’ll figure it out later,” I said. “We should get going.”
I was thinking about Emily.
It didn’t seem fair I was hanging out with a bunch of cool people having a laugh when she was who knew where doing who knew what. Speaking of which, I needed to log out and check on things. And probably take a leak. I excused myself from the group and did the tap out thing with my tongue.
Back in the real world, I took care of business as fast as I could before logging back in.
My desire to be back in Reternity had nothing to do with Layna’s tight outfit. Not. A. Thing.
—: Chapter 10 :—
Monday, March 16th, 2037
Reternity Online, in-game
The Freelands
Leviathorne Rainforest
“Shhh,” Ty whispered early the next morning on the trail.
The rest of us stopped behind him.
“Looks like breakfast.” He pointed into the distance.
We’d run out of food last night and had giant caterpillar for dinner, courtesy of Layna. I was hungry for something more substantial and less dry and crackly.
A herd of pig-sized animals with droopy noses were busy grazing, chomping away at the array of greenery in the surrounding jungle.
“Look at those dick noses,” I chuckled.
“They’re tapir,” Layna corrected in an annoyed whisper.
“What? Their noses look like dicks.”
She ignored my comment. “One will be enough to feed us for days. But it’ll take time to dress it and roast it. Maybe we should leave it be. We can find something more suitable between here and the village.”
“I’m hungry now,” I said impatiently, “and I don’t want more caterpillar. I want meat. Let’s kill it.”
Qoorie and Ty mumbled their semi-agreement.
“If you insist,” Layna said.
“I do,” I said petulantly.
She heaved a sigh and knocked an arrow in her bow and drew it halfway back.
I pushed her bow aside. “I’ll do it.”
“Have you ever hunted tapir before?”
I frowned, “I’ve got this. I’ll handle it.” Why was she worrying? I could kill the damn thing. I’d killed those damn harpies yesterday. This would be easy. Now I had the ice bracers.
Yesterday, I’d practiced with them on the trail. Ty had been half right about them. They’re weren’t like a magic garden hose that shot liquid nitrogen. They were better. Whatever I aimed at froze solid in a second. The longer I aimed and concentrated, the more volume that froze. It also cost more Mana, but I had plenty to spare. I’d practiced on a bunch of banana tarantulas and tree trunks yesterday. It was amazing how easily the tarantulas shattered after they were frozen. All I had to do was nudge them with the toe of my sandal and the legs would fall off. That was good for a laugh, which was odd because I never killed bugs or anything for fun, but I had yesterday. I’d thought maybe it was the harpy’s curse, but that was ridiculous. Besides, it was just spiders, right? Anyway, the ice bracers were definitely dangerous. I was sure I could take down a tapir if I hit it enough times.
I examined the closest one.
Tapir
Level: 1
Health | Stamina: 90 | 90
Mana | Mind: 0 | 0
Size: Medium
Armor: 16
===============
Good | Evil: - | -
Law | Chaos: - | 17
===============
Yeah, no problem.
I stalked toward it as quietly as possible. The thing looked ridiculous with it’s dangling dick nose. When I was in range, I pointed both bracers at it, aiming for its front legs while concentrating. A half second later, the air rippled between me and it, followed by two white puffs billowing up from its legs.
The tapir wheezed out a high squeak and bolted. The rest of the tapirs followed. The tapir I’d shot fell on its face as its two frozen front feet shattered against the ground. It tried to hobble away on stumps.
+3 Evil points for your unnecessary cruelty!
The other tapirs ran away, whistling that shrill panicked squeak as they crashed past a clump of ferns and disappeared into the jungle.
I was laughing as I caught up to the downed tapir, hitting it again with the bracers. Two more white puffs plumed up from its side, the flesh frozen solid. I pulled back my leg, ready to kick the icy patches of skin to see if they’d shatter as easily as its legs had, but I suddenly fell face-forward in the dirt.
“What the fuck?” I groaned and spat dirt out of my mouth.
Layna yelled at me, “What are you doing, Logan?! Why did you do that to that poor creature?!” She was furious.
“Did you just trip me?” I rolled onto my back, amused.
She stared down at me with high anger.
I chuckled, “If you wanted to get me on the ground like this, all you had to do was ask.” I winked at her.
The tapir was screaming that panicked squeak beside us, trying desperately to crawl away but getting nowhere. It was really annoying.
I rolled my eyes, “Somebody shut that fucking thing up already.”
Layna glared at me and yelled, “You were supposed to aim for the heart!”
“Why?” I laughed.
“Have you no mercy?”
“Mercy? What are you talking about? That’s my breakfast.”
Ty and Qoorie trotted up on all fours, both grimacing with disgust on their tiger faces.
“I can kill it quickly,” Ty offered softly. “End its misery.”
Layna’s face was a knot of hatred. She drew the lightning sword she’d taken from the harpy nest and leaned over the tapir, placing the point against its ribs and aiming carefully. With one swift motion, she skewered it through the heart. It died instantly, cutting off that annoying fucking shriek. She knelt beside the tapir and rested a hand on the thing’s neck, offering some kind of silent prayer and apology. After, she glared at me again. “You’re horrible.”
“What’s up your ass, Layna?”
She didn’t answer.
I looked to Ty and Qoorie for support.
Qoorie wouldn’t look at me.
Ty muttered quietly, “That was real cold, dawg. Real cold.”
I laughed, “I know, right? These ice bracers are the shit!”
Ty shook his head in disgust, “Why you have to be like that?”
“What?” I was pissed. I stood up and dusted myself off. “I was getting breakfast for everybody. If you’re all too stupid to figure that out—”
Layna grabbed my shoulders and stared into my eyes.
“What the fuck, woman? Let me go. Unless…” A huge grin spread across my face. “I know what you’re thinking. You, me, a little privacy…” I nodded confidently, thinking about the possibilities…
“It’s the curse,” she said, ignoring my innuendo.
I snorted, “What curse?”
“The witch’s curse. From the harpy.”
I scowled, “It’s not a fucking curse. That’s bullshit. No game is going to turn me evil.”
“Check your stats,” Layna said.
“Why?”
She squeezed my arm surprisingly hard. “Just check.”
“Fine,” I growled, tapped my tongue, brought up my character sheet. She was right.
===============
Good | Evil: 22 | 27 (Cursed)
Law | Chaos: 5 | 34 (Cursed)
===============
Those numbers
were climbing faster than I’d expected. My total Evil had shot right past my total Good. I wasn’t sure how much the Chaos thing would matter, but if this was how I was gonna act after only 12 hours of the curse, I hated to think what I’d be doing when those numbers doubled or tripled.
I looked at everybody. “I’m really sorry, guys. You know this isn’t me.”
Did they? They barely knew me.
Ty and Qoorie looked ready to bail on me permanently. I wouldn’t blame them if they did.
“It’s the curse,” Layna said softly. She placed a comforting hand over my heart. “We have to get you to the village as quickly as possible. It’s only going to get worse.”
“What about the tapir?” I asked. “We can’t just leave it here.” Now I felt like a complete ass. I never would’ve done this to a dumb animal if Layna hadn’t made me—I stopped my train of thought, noticing how easily my irrational anger had flared up. It was happening again. The curse was turning my thoughts evil. Making me blame someone else when the blame was entirely on me.
Layna saw it in my face. “We don’t have time, Logan. Don’t worry about the tapir. Scavengers will find it and it can feed them and their young ones.”
“She right,” Ty said.
“Then let’s go,” I sighed. “I can barely control it now as it is. I don’t want this getting any worse.”
“It will,” Layna said darkly. “But if we move quickly, it won’t be as bad.”
I asked, “Do you know where this village is?”
“Yes,” Layna said.
“How far? I mean, can we make it by nightfall?”
“If we hurry. But only if we hurry.”
I hoped she was right. At the rate I was turning Evil, if we had to camp out again for the night, I’d probably try to kill everyone in their sleep, just for the fun of it.
The idea made me shudder.
Yeah, this place was nothing like family game night where roleplaying was optional. This was the real deal. Time for me to get with the program.
—: o o o :—
“Yo, we being followed,” Ty whispered an hour later.
“I feel it too,” Layna said.
I smirked, “You guys are paranoid.”
“No,” Qoorie said, “Layna is right. Since we crossed that last river. Something is tracking us.”
I lolled my head back and huffed. “I don’t hear anything. You guys are a bunch of dildos. Nothing is following us.”
Off to our left, the giant leaves of the tropical greenery rustled. Something was definitely moving in the brush.
“Oh, fuck,” I chuckled.
A giant dinosaur head poked out from the giant leaves.
“What’s that?” I asked, enjoying the surprise.
“Run!” Qoorie hissed.
“Relax, Q,” I said. “It’s just a dinosaur. But I’m not sure what kind.” I examined it.
Allosaurus
Level: 29
Health | Stamina: 2400 | 1200
Mana | Mind: 0 | 5
Size: Huge
Armor: 395
===============
Good | Evil: - | -
Law | Chaos: - | 320
===============
“Damn,” I sighed, “that’s a lot of Armor. And I thought my 43 was good.”
It opened its huge jaws and hissed. Not a quiet hiss. More of a booming hissing squeal with a hint of nails on chalkboard, the kind you would expect from a huge pissed-off dinosaur.
“Skiiiiiii-OGGGHH!”
“Nice doggy,” I tittered.
“Idiot,” Ty grunted. “We need to run.”
“Wait,” Layna ordered, holding her arm out in front of Ty.
“I’m with Ty,” Qoorie said. “We can’t kill this thing. It’s too big.”
“We might not have to,” Layna said.
The allosaurus stepped fully into view. It was mostly black on the back and brown on the belly, but the two colors tiger-striped into each other. I had to admit, it looked pretty badass. The dinosaur shaped dude sitting on the beast’s back looked pretty badass too. He had similar coloring, but his chest and abs were a light tan. He wore minimal leather armor on his forearms, shins, and around his waist, and he held a bladed lance of some kind. The hilt of a sword was visible behind his shoulder.
“Dinosauren,” Layna whispered. “These are their lands.”
“Now she tells us,” I snorted sarcastically. “Wasn’t there a way around the dinosaurs?”
“It’s the quickest way to the village,” Layna hissed. “Now shut up and let me do the talking. Stay here.” She raised her palm in salute and walked toward the dinosaurs. She started talking to the rider.
“Can you hear what they’re saying?” I asked Ty and Qoorie. Layna was too far away for me to hear.
“Shut up,” Ty said.
I rolled my eyes and examined the rider.
Dinosauren Warrior
Level: 16
Health | Stamina: 780 | 690
Mana | Mind: 140 | 110
Size: Medium
Armor: 150
===============
Good | Evil: 130 | 25
Law | Chaos: - | 150
===============
Eventually, Layna walked back to the three of us. “We have to pay a toll. How much gold do we have?”
“A toll?” I chuckled. “I’ll pay his toll.” I raised my ice bracers and blasted the rider in the face. Two white puffs burst up from his head, clouding it from view.
You have unlocked a new skill: Surprise Attack. Level 1. Beat them to the punch and they won’t punch back. Increase your Speed and/or Intelligence to improve your chance of success.
The Allosaurus reared up and roared, the sound so loud it shook the leaves on the trees. It also shook the rider right off its back. He landed head first on a fallen tree and guess what? His head shattered to pieces! Icy chunks clattered across the trunk and tumbled into the dirt.
“Ha!” I blurted. “Talk about brain freeze! What a dunce.”
Critical Hit! You killed the Dinosauren rider!
You earned 850 XP!
I turned and grinned at Ty and Qoorie and Layna, “Not bad, huh?”
Their eyes were huge.
“What? Is it my curse again?”
“Run!” They all shouted in unison.
I spun around when the ground thundered beneath my feet. The allosaurus was charging.
“Shiiiiiiit!” I started sprinting and dove for cover, rolling between a bunch of stumpy palm trees.
The allosaurus ran right past me, chasing after everyone else.
I laughed.
This was a ton of fun. Or however many tons an allosaurus weighed. Two? Three? I had no idea. But more than a few elephants.
I chased after.
Ty and Q were screaming like crazy, probably because the allosaurus had them cornered at the edge of a cliff. Both of them were down on all fours, growling while the allosaurus whipped its tail. It was trying to swat them over the edge. Layna stood off to the side, firing pairs of golden arrows at its neck.
I smirked and raised my bracers. “How about some ice, ice, baby?” I laughed as two more white puffs burst near the thing’s hipbone.
It instantly turned on me and charged.
“You want some more, Ice T-Rex?” I fired another two blasts in its face, hitting the snout.
It slowed to a stop, shaking its frozen nose.
“Oops,” I chuckled. “My bad.” I shot him again, aiming for the eyes. Got the left one, missed the right. But the left one froze solid, turning a crystalline white.
It roared that squeaky roar and snorted.
I blasted it again. Hit the right eye, blinding it.
Meanwhile, Ty and Q were busy screaming like bitches.
The allosaurus started spinning around, chomping blindly at the air.
Ty and Q bounded away from the edge of the cliff, trying to get out of the way of the thrashing dinosaur. They nearly got knocked off in the process
. But they made it.
Layna circled the allosaurus confidently, launching her glowing golden arrows at it. Ty and Q joined in, clawing away at the underbelly of the beast while I blasted it with more ice.
We brought the monster down two minutes later.
When it collapsed and was clearly dead, I jogged up and hopped up on top of its head. “Nice work, team! We kicked this bitch’s ass! Can I get a what-whaaaat?!” I did an elaborate victory dance, the envy of sports stars worldwide.
“You done gone crazy!” Ty roared at me, not amused.
I flipped him off. “Don’t be such a pussy… cat.” I giggled at my own joke. “Smell like one too.”
He shook his head with irritation.
“You idiot!” Layna shouted. “The toll was 10 gold! 10 gold!!!”
“That’s my 10 gold,” I chuckled. “I don’t pay no stinking Sleestak a toll to walk through the damn jungle!”
“Sleestak?” Layna muttered.
“Land of the Lost,” Q answered. “It’s an old movie. With Will Ferrell. And an older TV show from before I was born.”
I laughed, “You are all a bunch of fucking nerds.”
Q glared at me.
“Pfft,” I said.
You helped bring down the Allosaurus!
You earned 2200 XP!
Welcome to level 5!
+10 Health!
+10 Stamina!
You have 6 points to distribute to your ability scores and skills!
Layna stormed toward me. “You almost got Ty and Q killed! What’s wrong with you?!”
I smiled, leaning around her so I could make eye contact with Ty and Q. “Hey! Are you two dead?”
Ty smirked at me.
Qoorie shook her head with disgust.
Both of them were cut up and a little bloody, but it wasn’t anything serious.
“Did you at least level up?” I demanded.
