Nascent (The Stork Tower Book 1)

by Tony Corden

  They could hear the four laughing and talking, long before they saw them. Leah and Wisp coordinated their attack to start in twenty minutes. Wisp equipped the cloak and scurried across the trail. Leah used all the skills she learnt growing and snuck within twenty metres of Bullseye. She used the Ring of Concealment, as she hadn’t used it before she had only ten seconds of invisibility but this was enough to get within five meters. She used the Trapdoor ring while she waited for the twenty minutes to be up. With just seconds to spare she equipped her bow and put an arrow through the back of his head and used Freeze spell to finish him off. The cool-down on the Ring of Concealment was over, so she took everything Bullseye left behind and used the ring to move away at a tangent. She wanted to be out of the way of whoever came to check why Bullseye had gone silent and grey. Leah had recently had Gèng put a small icon for Wisp in the corner of her vision, and it was still green.

  Suddenly both Jason and Kasim began to call out for Shiva and Bullseye, but it was too late. Jason came running toward where Bullseye had been but tripped when his legs became caught in a web. Leah shot an arrow into his neck. He was still alive and began to struggle to his feet, so she jumped and landed in the kneeling position on his back. She positioned her shins to land on his shoulders driving him back to earth and then she shot several mana spikes up into his brain. He turned transparent, and for the third time, she took whatever he had on him. She scurried toward the area she thought Kasim might be.

  She had just reached the road when Wisp stepped out and said, “Don’t worry, I was able to get Kasim too. He was easier than some of those ants. His swordplay was like mine used to be. I could almost hear him muttering, ‘thrust’ and ‘slash’. I’m surprised you didn’t burst out laughing when I did it.”

  They briefly checked the area but couldn’t see anything else to collect. They called their horses, mounted and headed down the road toward where they’d arranged to meet Ron. They rode for another hour but still didn’t see Ron. It was getting late so when they found a small clearing off the trail, and they set up camp. The tent was programmed to provide a safe place to sleep. It defined an area in which they could not be attacked or attack. Once they logged out the campsite became invisible, including the horses, and would only become visible should someone come within twenty-five metres. They agreed to have an early start in the morning and planned on two six-hour periods in Dunyanin, one from six to midday and then from one until seven. They hoped this would allow them to catch up on the time they lost dealing with Jason and the others.

  After exiting the Pod, Leah had a late afternoon snack and went for a walk to the local supermarket. She needed more food for she’d been eating more than usual. She also hoped to meet Jackson; she wanted another ‘read’ on him. When they’d met she had liked him, however, the grey wildercat’s green eyes set made her think of him as a predator. The V-Day party was tomorrow, and she was in two minds about going. Unfortunately, or fortunately, she wasn’t sure which, there was no sign of him. Her thigh muscles were aching mildly, but she decided not to raise the issue with Gèng again.

  Back in her apartment, she stretched, meditated, and practised her Tai Chi. Logging in, she sat down and said, “Gèng, I need to learn some sword skills so when I reach Level 100 I can use Baris and Adalet effectively. Is there a course I can study that teaches the correct technique. I already know how to use fighting sticks, but I don’t think bashing people with swords is quite the same.”

  “There are fencing courses, but no specialist sword schools would appear to meet your needs. Two worlds have good reviews for promoting realistic swordplay. Both have special pathways for players intending to achieve freeform sword mastery. One is called ‘Bushido’ and is set in Japan during the age of the Samurai. The other is a fantasy player-on-player world called ‘Dark Moon Duel’ and provides training in schools for magic, sword, axe, and hand-to-hand to name a few. In ‘Dark Moon Duel’ you can enrol in a private school and study to become a ‘Master of Blades’. The costs are similar; both are twice as expensive as Dunyanin as they cater to smaller niche markets. The most suitable style for you based on the various reviews and commentary is probably ‘Dark Moon Duel’. The average time to reach sword mastery and become a ‘Master of Blades’ is five years. Only 154 people have achieved this rank.”

  “Can you show me any feed of the two styles in action?”

  Leah watched several sequences from inside the two worlds and decided on ‘Dark Moon Duel’. She hesitated over spending eighty gold but believed it was an investment for the future. Gèng registered her, and a stone door appeared. As she walked towards it transformed into a golden surface that rippled as she drew near. She appeared in a small foyer with three doorways in it, each of them numbered and labelled. She headed for the first door which was labelled ‘Step 1 - Name and Registration’. Inside was what resembled the reception of an old-fashioned inn. Behind the counter was a man dressed appropriately as an innkeeper who said, “Welcome Atherleah. I have received payment for you to enter the amazing world of ‘Dark Moon Duel’. I just need to check some of the pertinent details. Are you Atherleah Lin Mu-Ling Carroll, ID is FQC3465278?”

  “Yes, that is me.”

  “Wonderful, now I have your Interface as AI 628B44CE81?”

  “That is correct.”

  “We understand that in entering this world you are aware of the rules and conditions and accept the full responsibility should anything untoward happen due to your involvement in this world, is this correct.”

  “Yes! sir, I understand.”

  “Good, good! You have requested the most basic starter pack, and that will be forty gold coins to register and an additional payment each month. This monthly payment starts at forty gold and will be reduced by one gold for each month you play as long as these are consecutive months. Should you miss a monthly payment, there will be no need to register, but the monthly figure resets to forty gold. Should you play for forty consecutive months, all further play will be free of charge. Do you agree to these terms?”

  “I just have two questions? Firstly, does this basic pack allow me to choose to become a ‘Master of Blades’?”

  “Yes, the basic package allows full play and all classes. You will, however, find it harder to earn the coin to pay for additional skills.”

  “This leads to my second question, will the gameplay allow me to develop additional skills if I play freeform rather than using the preset moves.”

  “Yes, there is a path for full development and advancement using freeform play. Please understand that this requires exceptional natural agility and stamina and the rate of growth is often slow.”

  “I understand and accept your answers and provisos. I agree to all the stated terms.”

  “Finally then, what name do you hope to use in-game?”

  “Atherleah, if it is available.”

  “It is. I have processed your registration and forwarded a copy of this session and all documents to your AI for your reference. Please proceed next door and choose your race and affiliation.”

  Leah left the room and entered the door labelled ‘Race and Affiliation’. The choices seemed endless with every fantasy race imaginable, each with their particular strengths and favoured weapons. Leah simply chose to be a human and kept her original avatar. She changed nothing regarding her physique; she wanted the moves to be easily transferable to reality and other virtual worlds. She chose the class ‘Master of Blades’.

  She entered the third room where she affirmed all her choices and was given an overview of the world. Each player enrolled in a school or schools and learned their chosen skill. They could then investigate the world where NPCs would challenge them to combat, allowing them to practice their moves. If they won, then they earned money to buy better equipment, armour, and the like. When a player felt confident, she could challenge another player to a duel. Each player paid a fee to duel, and the winner received a total refund plus half the losing player’s fee.

  Whe
n she exited the room, a portal appeared which brought her to the main city of Ardenvale. The city teemed with people and was larger than any she had yet seen in Dunyanin. It was reasonably straightforward to find her way to the ‘School of Swords’ for a fee of one silver per hour she became the student of Master of Blades Farron. Although Leah was tempted to interact with the game, she knew it didn’t have the potential for large financial gain and so she only signed up for the lessons. The lessons were one-on-one, and soon she was being shown how to hold a sword and began studying a simple movement that the teacher called a ‘form’. The aim was to move the sword in smooth motions that were able to transform into a whole series of flowing movements. Some forms Farron explained were more a stance, or sometimes it referred to a way of moving or walking that helped to defeat other players or creatures. Altogether the game expected a Master of Blades to learn over 100 forms in ten sets of ten. In the first lesson, Leah was only introduced to two forms and was told she would learn the next when she had these two perfected; she would learn a third when she had learned both forms and could move from one to the other seamlessly and gracefully.

  After the lesson, she logged out and had a small snack and a shower. Her arms and back felt tender, but again she didn’t want to mention it, she knew Gèng would let her know if anything was wrong. She lay down in the Pod and prepared herself for another day of riding. She planned to spend part of the day harvesting various herbs and plants as she needed to increase her skills if she wanted to make her own potions.

  Leah materialised in the tent she and Wisp had been in the night before. It was still hooked from the inside, and she assumed Wisp hadn’t yet arrived. Leah exited the tent and looked around the clearing. She didn’t see anyone nearby and carefully checked the perimeter. Jason and his friends could be back in the game and nearby, but she hoped they had learned their lesson. She had just finished the perimeter check when Wisp arrived. They packed the gear and started off down the trail. They both wanted to increase foraging and harvesting skills, and so they walked rather than rode, taking advantage of the abundance of beginner level herbs beside the trail. It took almost an hour for Leah’s harvesting ability to rise to Level 4, and she knew she needed to move deeper into the woodland beside the road if she was to gain much further ground. Wisp was at a similar stage, and they moved into the woods just enough to find several different and more desirable plants. Being in the woods meant they had to deal with a selection of creatures however the levels this close to the trail were low enough that either girl could deal with the attacks on their own. Over a period of two hours, Leah progressed to Level 6 and had ingredients that according to Falsi’s Diary should supply her with low-level potions of health and stamina. They had killed a variety of Level 20-25 Striped Boars, Black Bears and Horned Foxes, the last of these had grey fur with dark stripes, and the horns were like the antlers on a mule deer. The attacks regularly came every ten minutes or so.

  After a brief stop for some trail mix and water, they mounted and rode at an amble for almost an hour when they saw the side trail branching off to the right and heading into denser woodland than they had seen so far. The ranger map declared that the MOB Levels through this dense forest was between 30 and 60 with the higher levels found further into the woods. Some of the Level 30 creatures had been known to attack travellers on the trail. They expected to travel at about a league every hour if they kept the horses to a walk. They planned to ride for two more hours and then take a break before playing again.

  The side trail was narrow, and the visibility less than before. They could see 100 metres along the trail in both directions except when the trail made one of its many turns to avoid trees, larger hills and stony outcrops. During the first hour, nothing interrupted them except the occasional flash of colour as birds flew through the woodland. They found the constant vigilance to be draining when even the birds here might attack them. Just after making a sharp turn to avoid a small ravine they saw a horse sized Horned Fox standing in the middle of the trail about 40 metres ahead of them. Leah identified the animal as a Level 32 Electric Horned Fox. It was a beautiful beast. Leah and Wisp slowly brought their horses to a stop and dismounted.

  They stood a couple of steps apart and watched the fox. The plan, should something like this happen, was to wait and hope the creature moved away. After ten minutes they realised the hopelessness of that wish and slowly advanced to see if they could defeat the fox. Leah moved forward while Wisp glided into the trees and disappeared. The fox moved its head trying to keep both Leah and Wisp in view. Leah moved forward, and the fox started to shift its front feet as if changing its balance in preparation to charge. From Leah’s previous two fights with a horned fox, this action preempted the charge. What was different was the antlers. They slowly began to glow, and electric sparks began to arc between the various points, the frequency and duration of the sparks steadily increasing.

  In the past when the feet stopped moving the fox charged so when Leah noticed the feet still and the fox turn toward her she dived to the right and behind a tree. Lightning flashed and blasted through the space she had vacated. She got to her feet and saw the fox hadn’t moved. It was watching her, and again it began to move its feet. The electricity began to arc between the antlers, but this time, before it had reached fever pitch, Wisp shot an arrow from the side and pierced the fox just behind and above its front left shoulder. It quickly turned toward her and started to charge its lightning attack when Leah’s arrow slammed into its chest. It turned back toward Leah and began to lower its antlers and move its feet for a physical charge. Wisp shot again but it was now completely focussed on Leah, Wisp kept firing. The fox charged. Leah turned and cast Disc of Death. The fox slammed into the spikes which bent inward and then snapped. Shaking its head, stunned, it turned toward Leah who was already moving. She reached up and grabbed an antler then swung herself over its shoulder, she reached forward and fired several mana darts into the back of its head. The Fox went crazy trying to shake Leah off. She had to hold on to the antlers with both hands but they started to glow and when they sparked she lost her grip, and flew off the fox and slid along the ground. Wisp had resumed firing arrows, and the fox was nearly finished. Leah used the Webspinner ring to trap the fox then she killed it with a couple of arrows.

  You have harvested:

  1 Electric Horned Fox Pelt*

  1 Ten Point Electric Horned Fox rack**

  2 Vials of Crystallised Elemental Electricity***

  2 Portions of fox meat

  1 Minor Spell of Electricity (Grounding)****

  * Note: These are prized to make garments with 50-100% defence against electrical attacks.

  ** Note: These are used by Alchemists and Master Smiths.

  *** Note: These are highly prized for use by Alchemists and Enchanters

  **** Note this is a defensive spell

  After some discussion, Leah took the spell which provided some protection against electrical attack. As the level increased so did the length and effectiveness of the defence.

  There were no more beasts of any kind in the next hour which was when they quickly set up camp and both logged off to have a twenty-minute real-time break. When they returned they set off and had travelled another two leagues when each received a system message:

  You are entering an area of play where Player Level determines the attacking MOBs. This area is square and covers an area of 25 square leagues. The trail cuts the area in two. The highest level player calculates MOB level for groups. You can, therefore, expect to meet situations aimed at players with a level of 30. Please have an enjoyable day.

  “Gèng, is there anything about this area in any discussion, guide or forum?”

  “I have found 259 references by people have travelled through this region. 157 of these refer to the area and describe meeting an increased number of MOBs as well as an occasional bandit. Twenty-one refer to a group of NPC loggers. Except for those who are a part of a recognised Ranger or Cartographer Guild
all of them have been on a similar journey to you and have been using the trail as a pathway. Statistically, only one in every 500 people record and comment on their journeys with one in twenty referencing accessing particular instances, quests and dungeons. Areas like this abound in Dunyanin and are positioned to give a variable experience for all players. Of the recorded 8,752 such areas 452 have been found to have hidden areas, and 136 have fully developed dungeon areas.”

  Leah explained what Gèng had shared, and they moved forward feeling slightly less apprehensive than when travelling through the Level Thirty to Sixty Area. They chose to walk for a while as they had been riding most of the day. Twenty minutes later they heard the sound of raised voices and whips. It was still several minutes before they saw a team of loggers who were struggling with several teams of oxen to load some recently felled trees onto a wagon. The loggers had been working the area for a while and had cleared several acres of forest.

  As Leah and Wisp walked up, the loggers stopped work and spread out with hands on weapons. Most of the loggers were human although there was a couple of dwarves and one who probably had some orcish, or giant blood, somewhere in his ancestry based on his size.

  Leah called out, “Good morning good sirs! We are just passing by and mean no harm.”

  One of the Dwarves stepped forward and said, “Aye, I can see that now. But we’ve learned to be careful as there are some shifty folk around and some of us have been attacked on this road. It never pays to be complacent.”

  “True words, good sir. Should we be concerned as we travel this next stretch do you think?”

  “Aye lass! Two fair ladies out and travelling by their lonesome. I would take great care. Be warned it’s not only bandits, but there is something else out here hunting. We haven’t been able to see what it is but we occasionally lose a friend or oxen if they stray out of sight. It is best to stay in groups.”