Nova Terra- Greymane

by Seth Ring

  “But why are those three not responding to us? Oh, wait. It is so the others can flank us, right?” Turning his head, Thorn could make out three large corrupted wolves stalking silently through the trees behind him. “Hah. Akira, in the future, if someone or something is trying to sneak up on us please let me know.”

  “Okay, master, I can do that.”

  Judging the distance, Thorn knew he would not get more than one shot with his arbalest so he readied his tetsubo in his other hand. He had been debating the effectiveness of the mace-like weapon versus fighting unarmed and had found it better when dealing with multiple enemies, but now was not the time to debate that.

  The corrupted wolves, seeing him turn around, paused, the largest of the group taking an aggressive step forward to stare at him. Lifting its head it barked out a sharp command, sending its two companions further out to the side to flank Thorn’s position.

  “Master, the smelly dogs by the cave got up. I think they are coming over.” Akira had jumped back up in the tree and was watching the wolves by the cave.

  “Okay, I got it. Stay up in the tree and don’t get near the fight, okay?”

  Now completely surrounded, Thorn’s eyes narrowed. This was the worst possible situation. These corrupted wolves were bigger than the ones he fought outside of Berum by almost fifty percent. The spikes growing from their shoulders were heavier and their claws longer and a faint rotting stench drifted from their panting mouths.

  It was obvious from their attempted ambush that these corrupted wolves were smarter as well. They had neatly encircled Thorn, putting him at a serious disadvantage. Considering his options, Thorn knew that he needed to break out. His body tensed as he glanced quickly to each side. The wolves flanking him were both smaller than the leader by almost a foot so Thorn decided to go left. As he was about to launch himself forward a thought drifted into his mind, causing him to fix his eyes on the largest wolf.

  If he went left or right, the three wolves closing in from the cave would be able to attack him from the side, while the large wolf leader would attack him from the other, putting him in the same situation he was in now. And if the wolf he targeted backed up or delayed him, he would still be surrounded.

  If that was the case, it might be better to crush the biggest corrupted wolf in the pack, maybe that would intimidate the others. Settling on this new plan in a split second, Thorn launched himself forward, dashing straight toward the corrupted wolf leader. As he moved, his massive crossbow swung to the side and with a loud hiss, the bolt blurred through the air, burying itself in the chest of the corrupted wolf on the left.

  Thorn’s massive frame barreled forward, moving significantly faster than one would expect from something his size. The corrupted wolf leader, startled by Thorn’s charge, was not interested in backing down and with a howl, charged out to meet him, its sharp maw opened wide.

  The sharp howls of the four remaining wolves rang out behind Thorn, mixed with Akira’s sharp chittering but he ignored all of it, focusing all his attention on the muscular bundle of razor-sharp teeth and claws in front of him. Before they smashed into each other, the giant corrupted wolf launched itself into the air, swinging wildly with its claws.

  Thorn planted himself, his left foot driving into the ground as he got ready to swing, hitting the ground so hard that it sank into the dirt. Thorn swung his tetsubo with all the strength he could muster, smashing it into the leaping wolf’s shoulder and side. With a yelp, the corrupted wolf changed directions abruptly, pinballing through the forest, smashing into trees as Thorn’s blow sent it flying.

  Using the follow through of his swing, Thorn turned around in time to see another corrupted wolf jumping at him. With a roar, Thorn let go of his tetsubo with his right hand and caught the wolf around the throat, smashing it into the ground. He hissed in pain as the flailing claws of the creature gouged his arm, mentally cursing himself for not having equipped his armor.

  With no time to spare for his bleeding wounds, he smashed the wolf’s head with the butt end of his tetsubo and stepped over the corpse to meet the three approaching wolves. Despite Thorn’s show of force, the corrupted wolves showed nothing but madness in their eyes as they charged him. Fury, excitement, anticipation, and a whole host of other feelings began to build in Thorn’s chest as he readied himself. There was something in this bloody, dangerous conflict that he loved.

  Knowing that he was not going to get out of this fight unscathed, Thorn threw caution to the wind and thundered forward, his weapon swinging. A few tense moments later, he had successfully crushed another corrupted wolf, but at the price of a wicked-looking cut along his ribs and back.

  The last two corrupted wolves had learned nothing and lunged forward, their jaws snapping. Jumping to the side to avoid them, Thorn smashed through them, his tetsubo whirling as Master Sun had taught him. Locked in the deadly dance, Thorn focused on defending against the two corrupted wolves. As he had learned, he spun and blocked, smashing out with attacks when he was able.

  The wolves snapped at him, dodging back as best as they could. Not letting up, Thorn pressed forward, breaking the neck of one corrupted wolf with a smashing blow. The last corrupted wolf stood no chance on its own and while it managed to maul Thorn’s arm with its last desperate attack, it died soon after.

  Breathing out heavily, Thorn stood amidst the scattered blood and torn up ground, his heart rate slowly calming down. The fight had been intense, but he had made it through mostly unscathed. Nothing that wouldn’t heal with a bit of rest at least. The corrupted wolves had been unexpectedly difficult to fight. They were stronger and bigger than the corrupted wolves he had fought before and smarter as well.

  If it had not been for his conversation with Akira, they may have succeeded in their attempt to ambush Thorn, which would have been even more dangerous.

  “Master! Watch out!”

  Snapped out of his thoughts, Thorn felt a sharp, piercing pain as the corrupted wolf leader sank its teeth into his back!

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Grimacing at the pain, Thorn had never been more thankful for the game-like elements of Nova Terra. As the large teeth of the corrupted wolf leader sank into his back, Thorn twisted around, throwing an elbow behind him to try and dislodge the beast. Holding on with its massive jaws, the corrupted wolf leader ripped at his back and legs with its four paws, cutting deeply into his skin!

  After two blows, he finally managed to get a hand around one of its legs and, summoning his strength, Thorn ripped it from his back, throwing it away. Blood gushing from his body, Thorn fell to one knee, trying to prop himself up as his strength flagged. He could feel his health draining from his body and the familiar darkness began to creep into the edge of his vision.

  Struggling to its feet, its eyes radiating madness and corruption, the wolf that had attacked him growled menacingly. Its left shoulder was smashed almost beyond recognition, a dark, jagged bone visible through the gash Thorn’s tetsubo had left in its matted black fur. Yet it forced itself to stand and limped toward Thorn again, blood dripping from its slavering jaws. A deep red aura surrounded the monster, reminding him of Amis’ enraged form. No wonder the first blow had not killed it.

  “Whew, these guys are tougher than I thought.” Not used to having an enemy survive a hit, Thorn had been complacent, forgetting about the threat of the corrupted wolf leader after he knocked it aside. As the corrupted wolf circled, Thorn could not help but notice that its footsteps were completely silent, explaining how it had gotten so close.

  A quick glance showed Thorn that his health was at less than 50% and it was dropping fast. Understandable, considering the amount of blood he was leaving on the ground. Still, he estimated that he had at least six seconds before his health bottomed out. But that meant he had to figure out a way to muster up the strength to stand. The corrupted wolf, despite its drive for blood had an uncanny awareness of his weakness and was staying out of range, pacing slowly back and forth.

  “Mas
ter, master! Are you okay?” Akira’s worried voice rang in Thorn’s head.

  “Not really. My health is dropping fast so get ready to be unsummoned.” Thorn responded keeping his eyes locked on the corrupted wolf leader.

  “I should use my abilities to help you fight, master! Royal Grace!” Akira squeaked.

  Startled, Thorn saw a royal purple light wrap around him as Akira finished activating her skill. Miraculously his health stopped going down and even began to slowly fill back up as his wounds instantly ceased bleeding, his skin knitting itself back together.

  “Akira, you can heal?”

  “Of course I can, master. Didn’t I tell you that I am the best?”

  “Then why didn’t you heal me earlier?”

  “Um, I didn’t think you needed it. Plus you told me to stay out of the fight, master.” Akira pouted.

  “Ah, that is true. Next time you have my permission to heal me.” Thorn flexed his fingers as strength rushed back into them.

  The corrupted wolf leader saw Thorn’s expression perk up and immediately noticed that he was healing under his battle pet’s spell. Furious, it howled with rage, lunging forward. Thorn met it head on, one hand clamping down on its throat, the other slamming into the side of its head, crushing its skull with an audible crack. Seeing that it was still twitching, Thorn threw the corpse down and stomped on the back of its spine, making sure that even if it was still alive, it would not be getting up again.

  The sudden reversal was welcome, but the fight had exhausted Thorn mentally. Still, it was not quite time to rest. After looting the corrupted wolves’ bodies, Thorn made his way to the cave where the wolves made their den. While the cave entrance was more than big enough for even the corrupted wolf leader to walk in and out, there was no way Thorn was going to fit, so instead he sat down to rest while he sent Akira into the cave to scout around.

  A few moments later she bounced out of the cave, a handful of colorful flowers clutched in her paws, and perched on Thorn’s knee.

  “Master, the smelly wolves had a lot of flowers! Look, there was this shiny one, and this purple one. There was this yellow and green one and an ugly brown whiskery thing that I didn’t bring because it was gross! There was also this glowing rock thing that was very warm. It is stuck in the wall and I couldn’t get it out.”

  Carefully examining the flowers, Thorn’s eyes lit up. The shiny flower that Akira had brought out looked like the flower that grew on Silverleaf. The others were not the plants that he was looking for, but he was not about to turn down more herbs. Still, since there was no way he would be able to go in and get the flowers himself, Thorn marked the cave’s location on his map and decided to wait for Mina to arrive.

  Finding some large logs, he blocked the entrance of the cave and continued his search for the plants he needed for the potions. Thorn had been thinking a lot about potions and their potential uses. He had noticed that fights in Nova Terra were much like fights in real life. Dangerous, painful, and above all, brief. Fights did not drag on the way that he had expected. Still, his race and larger size did give him a better chance of staying up while wounded, so maybe carrying some health potions would be a good idea. Plus, Thorn had found [The Complete Alchemist], so he was confident that he could develop his own potions if given time to practice.

  By the time night had fallen, Thorn had picked up his last deer heart, a couple more Zimph roots, and three Wolfsbane. According to Akira, there were way more than 25 Silverleaf in the cave, so Thorn only needed to find a spot with Blue Bells. Deciding to ask around Greymane, Thorn made his way back to town and curled up on his bed at the inn.

  The next morning, Thorn ate a big breakfast and resumed his search. He had asked various townsfolk if they knew a good place to find Blue Bells, and after encouraging a couple of people with a few silvers they marked some spots on his map. According to Akira, the corrupted wolves that he had killed were the only ones in the valley, so Thorn was able to relax his guard as he walked around.

  The day passed quietly as Thorn wandered around the forest slowly, collecting the Blue Bells he needed. Thankful for his map, Thorn added as many details as he could while he walked. After all, if he was really going to be assuming the role of Lord Greymane, it made sense to know his territory.

  A bit after dinner time, Thorn was sitting quietly on a hill outside of town, watching as smoke rose from the various homes and buildings, when he got a call from Oberlin. Accepting it, he saw Oberlin’s face pop up. Other than a few streaks of dirt, the Infinite Key Master looked as dapper as ever.

  “Hey Thorn.” Oberlin’s eye lit up with excitement when he saw Thorn’s broad face. “You guessed right. Everything is going according to plan so far. I will need to stay down here for at least another week or two but after that I should be able to rejoin you.”

  “Awesome. Let me know if you have any trouble or need any backup.”

  “Thanks. So far, it has been pretty smooth but I will let you know.”

  After chatting for a few more minutes, Thorn ended the call and leaned back in the grass. Slowly, ever so slowly, a vision for his future was starting to come into focus. Much of the specific detail would depend on the outcome of his quest, but the general shape of his future was becoming clear.

  Mina and Velin met Thorn the next day at the edge of town, both looking as neat as a pin, despite their two-day journey. The lack of fast travel in Nova Terra had been a point of confusion to Thorn until he remembered the 1:7 time dilation ratio the game employed. After all, that made three full days of travel in game a few hours of real time. Of course, that did not stop Mina from complaining about it.

  “Why is your quest so far out in the boonies, Thorn? We had to walk forever! It took us so long! We need to get mounts. I can’t believe this stupid game has not made mounts for everyone yet. It isn’t fair that you can only get them in the South. We need mounts too.”

  “Go buy a battle pet.” It was obvious from Velin’s tone that she felt no sympathy.

  “But they are so expensive!” Mina’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that's right! Thorn, you got a battle pet, right? An Ailuridae, I think? Can you show us?”

  “Sure, hold on a second. She should be somewhere around here.”

  Calling Akira back from wherever she was exploring, Thorn explained how he had found her by accidently knocking over the tree that she called home. After a few moments Akira jumped out of a tree, landing on Thorn’s shoulder. Shy, she half hid behind his head while peeking out at the girls.

  “Try giving her some food.” Thorn pulled out a few of Akira’s favorite pastries and handed them to Mina who was practically drooling at the sight of the furry little creature.

  “Master, who are these people?”

  “These are friends, make sure you treat them well, okay? No stealing stuff from them.”

  “Come on little cute furry creature, come to Mina.” Holding out one of the pastries that Thorn had handed her, Mina tried to entice Akira off Thorn’s shoulder.

  “You are so awkward that I am embarrassed for you.” Velin covered her eyes with her hand. “Let me show you how to do this.”

  Watching the two girls play around as they competed for Akira’s attention, Thorn couldn’t help but smile. He could tell that the last bits of awkwardness in their relationship were disappearing and the girls were starting to feel more comfortable around him, which was a big relief. Mina was back to her chatty self and even Velin was starting to relax a bit.

  After she had successfully coaxed Akira down from her perch, Velin left her playing with Mina and turned to Thorn, her expression becoming serious.

  “I know we talked about it briefly before, but we need to do some digging before we take up any quests here. Because of the way Nova Terra is built, each quest you do has the potential to lock off other paths that could have been taken.”

  “Every choice has a consequence, right?”

  “Exactly. And if there are quests related to ownership of the valley, then we need to
prioritize them.”

  “Okay, say that you are right and there are quests related to controlling the valley. How do we go about finding them? So far, all the quests I’ve gotten have been a bit random.”

  “Not random, focused. Every quest in the game is unique. Two quests could have the same overall goal, but how you get it, and the specifics of it, will always be tailored to the player or group that gets it. Take this situation for example. You have a quest for clearing the keep and recovering the statue of Hati for the temple in Greymane, but even if I go and talk to the village leader, I will not be able to get the same quest. I could get a quest for finding the statue, but the reward might not be the same and I will not be able to get it the same way.

  “Where this gets complicated, is that any quest chain of significant value will generate contested quest lines. That means that if what I suspect is true, there are probably multiple quest lines that lead to this area and their ultimate prize has something to do with taking over the valley. Big guilds are always on the lookout for these sorts of quest lines. This means that if you have the quest, we can pretty much guarantee that there are other people here or on the way.”