Jessica's Challenge (Puatera Online Book 5)

by Dawn Chapman

  “Your leg got caught in a pothole as you stepped off the side of the road,” she said, her voice silvery and sweet. “Nancy here hit you with her milk truck, but she brought you here so that I could help.”

  “It hurts,” I managed to mumble out, the pain masked by my panic over my sisters. This was a game, though, right? My leg wasn’t really damaged, no matter how much it hurt. I was more worried for my sisters. Just them. They were too young to be out here, alone, even if it was a game. “Do you know where my sisters are?”

  “I haven’t seen any other visitors yet this week. You’ve been the first in a very long time. I don’t know what brought on the recent influx. Maybe it was just time, or inevitable.

  She handed me a cup of tea… at least it looked like tea. When I started to drink it my leg felt better, the pain melting out of it.

  The healer finally chased the others away and they left the room, and seemingly her home altogether. She came back to me.

  “You don’t know where you are at all, do you, my dear?” she asked as she sat on the end of the bed.

  I stared at her, the room. The way everything was so different, so olde worlde—wooden flooring, walls, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. Walls and walls of tiny pots and jars filled with herbs, liquids. It was weird, and I couldn’t do anything but shake my head. “No, I don’t. Can you help me?”

  “Once your leg is healed up some more,” she moved off the bed, “I have a couple of jobs you can do for me before I can offer any more help.”

  I was a little annoyed at this. Why wouldn’t she do as I asked right from the start? It didn’t make any sense. But then I saw something. In the corner of my vision was a red box, flashing.

  This time, when I thought about it, it flickered open.

  QUEST — IN EXCHANGE FOR HELPING DESIREE, SHE WILL GIVE YOU INFORMATION YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR SISTERS.

  Wait! What? The game knew where my sisters were? I tried to poke the red box to get it to give me some more info, but it wouldn’t.

  Desiree waited for me by the door. “Come,” she said, opening it.

  I groaned as I tried to move off the bed. My leg felt better, and that was all I needed. I stood, my tattered and bloodied clothes draping over my frame. I was glad my sisters actually couldn’t see me. They’d be laughing their heads off, and it wasn’t funny.

  I moved to follow Desiree out of the room and towards the stairs. “The ingredients in here are light-challenged. You can’t turn anything on. Understand?” she said as we went down.

  “Sure,” I replied, my eyes adjusting until I could make out rows and rows of tiny plants.

  “Also, don’t touch them. They’re deadly, and you’re, no doubt, not immune to anything here either.”

  “Okay, got it,” I added. “What am I going to be doing with them?”

  “I need you to just sit with them. They’ll feel your energy and continue to grow.”

  “What energy?”

  Desiree moved to stand before me. “You are a mage, by the looks of you. I’d say you’ve quite some power in there.”

  I shook my head, not having a clue as to what she was talking about.

  “I’m new here,” I said. “I’ve never used magic before.”

  Desiree shook her head. “You don’t even know the basics?”

  I fingered my hair. It fell knotted in one long mess. “No, I’ve never tried to do anything. To be honest, I’m lost, and so are my sisters. And I’d really like to go home, but I can’t seem to do so, and I have no idea why.”

  “Well, if you listen to me and try to do what I’ve asked, I’ll do as much as I can to help you locate your sisters. Deal?”

  I nodded.

  “Sit. There’s fine. Now think about magic. What you think you might know about it. What you don’t.”

  I did as she asked. The chair was metal and felt cold to my behind. The thin material I wore did nothing to cover or protect me.

  I concentrated and tried to picture what I thought was magic. Desiree asked me to open my eyes.

  I suddenly felt a small tornado grow around me. My heart raced. I tried to push the chair back, but it didn’t move. “Is that me?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “There’s lots of terms for it—magical energy, mana—but in my language, it’s called feleio. It literally means feeling energies.”

  I reached out into the swirling tornado, and found it moved about my fingers as if it was living energy. It fascinated me so much.

  “Whatever I need to do or learn,” I said, “I’ll do it.”

  She nodded. “For now, just sit, please. I’ll come and get you in a few hours. I think that will greatly help the plants. Thank you.”

  No matter what I wanted to do, I couldn’t move. Sitting was much damned harder than anything. Magic, people, plants that were so beautiful yet deadly. Could it really be happening?

  I stared around the room, feeling like a failure. What was happening with my sisters? What were they doing?

  I didn’t want to cry, but there were many things I needed now and couldn’t have.

  This place, this darkness might be my new home. For now. I let the tears flow, curling my knees up into my chest. I cried harder than I thought I ever could. This wasn’t something I usually did.

  I heard the door go, Desiree returning, shedding a brief sliver of faint light before it was gone.

  “My dear, I’d no idea that you’ve been so affected. Please, stand. We’ll get some food, and then I’ll show you the town so you may get to know more about this area.”

  I knew I should eat, but I didn’t feel like I wanted to. I felt no real hunger or thirst. “I don’t want to.”

  “Have you checked your interface? Do you see how low your levels are?”

  I shook my head, “I don’t know how, I’ve forgotten.”

  “That’s something you’re going to have to learn, and learn quick.”

  I’d tried to access it before, to think about it, to do anything to get it up. But I’d forgotten how Mum had said it worked. Mum had drilled into us all the time how important these things were in gaming, especially in VR. She’d always spoken to me about her gaming systems, the inner workings and the AIs that were constantly working, churning out numbers.

  I swallowed. “I don’t know how to.”

  “I’ve seen players click their tongues, or speak their thoughts aloud. Like, as simple as saying character sheet.”

  Was it that simple? A tongue click?

  No.

  But I did it, and to my very surprise, there in the corner of the screen was a little box.

  When I looked towards it, it opened.

  Wow.

  Lots of boxes filled with gibberish appeared. Random letters that made no sense. Missing icons, replaced by hashtags, stars.

  Huge red letters flashed before me.

  GLITCH NUMBER 21781 LOGGED.

  “I can’t see much of anything,” I admitted. “Most of it’s blank. I think there should be numbers in it, but there’s not.”

  “I might be able to help with that. Maybe the interface was damaged inside your head when you were knocked out.” Desiree stepped closer, and I allowed her to place her hand on my forehead.

  I almost laughed out loud as the numbers moved and melded, and then some of the lettering started to make sense. I grinned as I spotted the start-up menu. I could see it, click it.

  “That was amazing. Thank you.”

  I almost jumped up and down, but I noticed how low my energy levels were. I would seriously need to do a lot of things to make this character better. It was so low. Much worse than low level. Probably lower than a regular NPC. That thought tickled me. This glitch was starting to turn into one heck of a problem. But I was good with problems and with doing this sort of thing. I would get out of this. Mum would be so worried...

  Then I also remembered, not a lot of time would have passed in our real world. In fact, would she even know we were missing? I choked down my emotions and stared
into Desiree’s eyes.

  “So, I need food, and then I need to learn.”

  Chapter 3

  “Come on then, dear, let us get you some food. You look half-starved,” Desiree said as she moved away and motioned for me to follow her. We left her plants behind, a part of me glad. Sitting in such a dark place for so long hadn’t helped me stay in control of my emotions, or find my sisters.

  It wasn’t long before I was sat at a small unvarnished wooden table. It had seen better days, just like the stool beneath me, but they’d been made sturdy and held me up while I tucked into the stew I’d been given. There was no meat, but the root veg and the red lumps of something that tasted like potato were enough to pull my energy bar up and make me feel more like I could cope.

  Desiree gave me seconds without me asking, something I was grateful for. I wasn’t sure I could have asked the kind woman for anything more. She had already done a lot.

  “Finish that up and we’ll go around town. I can show you where you can get a job, make some friends, and which shops won’t rip you off once you’ve got some money to spend. You can stay, here if you want, while you learn, and then we’ll see what we can find out about your sisters. News comes through here often enough, but you’ll probably have to travel, and you can’t do that until you’ve learnt to take care of yourself. Got that?”

  I nodded, knowing this wasn’t going to be the quickest process, but the magic I’d managed to spark earlier filled me with a sense of confidence. Maybe I would be able to take care of myself with a little training first.

  It didn’t take me long to wolf down the rest of the food, and then Desiree was grabbing a shawl and heading to the door. I hurried to my feet, wincing as the leg hurt just a little when I put weight on it.

  “It will take a day or two to get back to normal, unless one of the healers in the guild is feeling kind, but I don’t know the details of this new quest they’ve put out a call for, so don’t count on it.”

  Once more, I nodded, glad the woman who’d found me was happy to divulge so much information. I had a lot to figure out.

  As soon as we were outside, I stopped and gaped. We were in the middle of a town that looked like something out of a storybook. It was so detailed and felt so real, even down to the smells of dirt and animals. Desiree laughed when she saw my face.

  “Come on, girl. No sense in gawping at it. They won’t bite, and we don’t have much time.” She moved on again, almost leaving me behind as she wove around a cart being pulled by a large horse-like creature I’d never seen before in my life.

  “They’re called Ebolos,” Desiree added when I caught up to her. She then pointed to a small row of shops on our right hand side. “Go there when you want to get some travel supplies together. Raphael’s a good man. He’ll see you right and not sell you something you don’t need or charge you too much for what you do.”

  She pointed at all the shops in turn, telling me who ran them, whether they’d help me or not, and if I should mention her name, but by the third one it all became a blur. I just couldn’t take it all in. Wondering if there was something in my character sheet where I could make notes, I clicked my tongue and called for it. Instantly, I heard several pings in quick succession, and I had to stop as a dozen messages in garbled letters came up on my screen. I didn’t understand a single one of them.

  “Still not working right?” Desiree asked.

  I shook my head, the motion swiping everything away again and making me sigh in exasperation. The game had really glitched on us.

  “The guild might be able to help with that, too. Come on, not far now.”

  We hurried onwards again, several other people walking down the street in various different directions. One in particular seemed to be going in the same direction as us. He looked like an elf, dressed in dark greens of slightly different hues. He had a bow and quiver slung over one shoulder and a small pack over the other, and moved with a gracefulness I’d never seen a human achieve.

  Desiree led me forwards, our pace just a little faster than the elf’s, but not fast enough to beat him to one of the few stone-built houses in town, a large grand old building with a crest to the right of the door. The crest was made of wood and featured three weapons, a sword, bow and staff, all arranged across each other in a sort of six-pointed star.

  “Right, this is the guild. They pride themselves in taking in people of all abilities and stages of life, so they should look kindly on your predicament. Just head on in and introduce yourself. Tell them I sent you.” Desiree walked away before I could thank her or even say goodbye. For a brief moment, I felt the panic rise in me again, but when I heard Desiree’s name being called and someone asking for her help, I knew I couldn’t go back. If she was the town’s main healer, then she already had plenty to do without me hanging off her apron strings.

  After taking a deep breath, I walked up the steps and through the grand doors. The elf was still up ahead, now standing by a small desk. A short, portly man stood behind it, a beard and moustache covering almost all the lower half of his face. This must have been what passed for a dwarf in this game.

  “The auditions for the seasonal newcomer’s quest are starting in ten minutes. You’ve left it a bit late to join in, but here’s a form. Fill it out in the common tongue and get it back to me,” the dwarf said, handing the elf a clipboard, feather pen and a small pot of ink. I hurried up to the desk as well.

  “I’m sorry, I’ve only just arrived in town. May I audition as well?” I asked without really thinking. The dwarf sighed but fetched a second form, ink and pen. I took them gratefully and stepped back a few feet. Leaning the clipboard against one arm, I quickly inked the pen and tried to answer the questions, hoping my language was what passed for the common tongue. The dwarf hadn’t felt it necessary to tell me to do so after making sure the elf knew, so I was hopeful it was English.

  The first few questions on the form were obvious and easy—my name, age and race. But the next one made me pause. It asked for my specialist area, my proficiency, and then any advantages and abilities of note I thought might further my cause and consideration in being accepted. I frowned, having no idea what to put.

  The young-looking elf quickly handed his form back in, drawing my attention. The dwarf nodded in approval. “Elven Archer with Elven Sense and basic tracking capabilities. Well, it’s a start, I suppose, although nothing special. The waiting room for auditions is up the stairs, third door on the left. They’ll call your name.”

  As the elf practically skipped up the stairs, his footing light and quick, the dwarf looked at me and then at the clock on the wall to my left. It was three minutes to ten. I didn’t have long.

  With no idea what else to put, I scribbled Mage into the specialist area and mathematics into the advantages and abilities section. It was a bizarre answer, but I had been doing well at Maths while at school and Desiree had seemed to think I had some kind of magical power worth using. Perhaps it would be enough. It had to be enough. I had a feeling I couldn’t fail this if I wanted to find my sisters quickly.

  With my heart hammering in my chest, I handed the clipboard back over to the dwarf and smiled. He glanced over the form, grinning at the answers I’d put down.

  “Interesting choices, very interesting,” he said, before repeating the exact same instructions he’d given the elf. I didn’t have time to ask him what he meant about my form, instead rushing up the stairs with only seconds to spare.

  Counting the doors on the left, I pushed the third one open and immediately saw seven others sitting in chairs around a large table. In the middle were basic refreshments, but it didn’t look like anyone had touched them.

  The only seat left available was between the elf and something that looked a bit like some kind of troll out of a twisted children’s book. He had a shield strapped over his back and sat on the edge of his seat, towering above the rest of us. I tried not to look frightened when he turned my way.

  Could we die in here? I thought, wo
ndering if Mum had said anything about that and if it would be the same after the glitches. There was no way to know. It was probably best if I didn’t let myself get killed. But I had a feeling, considering how well armed everyone was around me, that it was going to be easier said than done. I was a novice in a world of fighters, fighters who’d wipe the floor with me.

  It took all my strength of resolve and several mental kicks and reminders that my sisters needed me to keep me in my seat and stop me from just leaving again over the next half an hour. One by one, all the others were called into a room off a side door, until there was just the elf and me left.

  “So, how come you signed up just today?” he asked, the first to break the silence the entire time. I looked at him, seeing a pop-up box full of weird symbols appear above his head. I looked away and it disappeared again.

  “I’m new in town, only arrived a few hours ago, and I need to find... I’m looking for a place to fit in and grow as a person.”

  “Oh, are you another visitor?” he asked. “I thought visitors were meant to have labels.” I tried not to frown, not sure how to answer his question, but this only resulted in my face contorting in a strange way that evidently made me look confused. “Sorry, I just mean I’m new, too. I’m looking to help out, learn a few things.”

  “Right, well, good luck,” I said as the door opened yet again. His name was called—Aimer. I smiled, instantly liking the name. If I hadn’t been wary about being close to a visitor, an actual person also playing the game, I’d have decided I liked him, but for the moment I decided to be wary. If anyone would be able to figure out I wasn’t who I said I was, it would be him.

  The next few minutes dragged on, now that I was sitting alone in the room. To stop myself from getting too nervous, I tried to access the game mechanics, wanting to see if there were any stats or bits of info that might help me with my audition. As soon as I opened the settings again, there was another succession of pings and more messages full of gibberish.