A couple of hours later, the small party entered the forest. Kinto led the way, with Tava following slightly behind and to one side, her father’s bow in one hand as she told him where to go. Hawke and Gosto were further back. The apprentice Druid wasn’t as good as moving through the woods as his father and sister, but he was still a lot better than Hawke. His plate armor clinked noisily with every step he took, earning dirty looks from everyone else. He shrugged and kept going, hoping his Stealth Skill would improve.
Every once in a while, Tava asked her father to stop while she rushed toward a set of bushes and flowers, knelt over them, and gently removed certain leaves, petals, or seeds. As a long-time gamer, Hawke immediately understood that he was watching a Gatherer at work. Sure enough, his True Sight quickly identified the ordinary-looking flowers she was taking:
Fey Lilly (Common Reagent) (3)
These flowers have been infused with Life-attuned Mana, and can be used for a number of medicinal Alchemical formulas.
A moment later, a prompt appeared in front of him:
You can learn Arcane Gathering: Herbal
Warning: Once you choose an Arcane Gathering specialization, you will not be able to choose another until you reach Level Ten.
Learn? Y/N
Hawke choose ‘No’ and closed the message. He had his heart set on becoming a blacksmith. It was the only choice that made sense to him, considering Paladins could wear heavy metal armor, not to mention that he owned a magical sword hilt that could really use a better blade than the starter weapon it was currently attached to. That meant learning mining as a gathering skill, and blacksmithing as his crafting choice. Luckily, Orom had at least one Arcane Smith; he’d seen him at the Copper Kettle. Hopefully, the smith would be open to accepting new students.
Not long after Tava picked her third bunch of Fey Lilies, Kinto gestured at the group to stop. He was examining a large tree: a set of deep claw marks marred its bark. Hawke’s breath caught in his throat. The size was about right. He’d seen claws that big. Felt them. He shuddered at the memory.
“The Dire Bear,” he said.
“Old Urso, yes,” the old ranger said. “These marks are fresh, and this is not his usual range, either. He’s claimed this land as his territory, and we are trespassing.” He turned to his daughter. “Are you sure this is the way to the Lair, child?”
Tava scowled at being called ‘child,’ but answered the question: “The vampire was following the ridge to the north. That leads to the Old Stone Circle. It must be there.”
“The Stones have stood there for long and long,” Kinto said. “If something beneath them has awakened, it is old and powerful. Urso may serve that power, perhaps unknowingly.”
Is that the Faerie Ring we didn’t visit? Hawke asked Saturnyx. He checked his map and, sure enough, they were pretty close to that Mana Node.
“Having second thoughts, Father?” Tava said in a not-quite mocking tone.
Kinto glowered at her. “We’ll take a looksee. If I decide we’re not ready for the Lair, we’ll turn back and I won’t hear another word from either of you. And you, Paladin, will be free to go on alone, if you are tired of living.”
Hawke nodded. “Fair enough.”
The group resumed their march. The old Ranger’s quiet competence was actually reassuring. If he didn’t think the party could handle the Lair, he was probably right. Hawke had no desire to die and respawn, not if he could help it. He would happily turn tail the moment the old guy said it wasn’t safe. Maybe grind a couple of levels hunting wolves or whatever.
So, no danger, no XP?
How about boars?
Viewing the world from a gaming perspective, that meant he would have to hunt hundreds of animals to gain a level. And it didn’t look as if the wildlife respawned in a matter of seconds, the way it did in most games. There were probably less than a hundred boars in the whole forest. He could kill them all and earn next to no experience. It made sense, and he was fine with that. The thought of butchering animals for real, watching them bleed and whimper, didn’t appeal to him at all. He had hunted a couple of times, and he would kill animals for food, but just to get a few XPs? He shook his head.
He was so deep in thought that he missed Kinto’s gesture until he was a few steps behind him. The Hunter turned around and glared at him, pointing at his armor. Hawke froze. Kinto must have heard something, and with all the noise Hawke was making, whatever it was probably had heard the group as well.
Please don’t be the damn bear, he thought/prayed – and he thought he sensed annoyance from something above him.
Kinto, meanwhile, was listening intently. Hawke tried to put his own ears to work. It was pretty quiet in the forest. He realized a lot of the ordinary noises he’d been hearing along the way had stopped. That usually meant something had scared off the local wildlife even more than a group of noisy humans – well, one noisy Half-Elf and three quiet woods-people – had done already. He put his free hand over his sword, ready to draw it.
Something growled in the distance and Hawke heard rustling leaves and branches as a big creature made its way through the woods without caring about the noise it made. His stomach fluttered when he recognized the sounds.
“It is Urso, gods curse him,” Kinto said. “Back to the clearing!”
They’d crossed a natural clearing a few moments before Kinto had stopped. They ran there as the Dire Bear roared behind them.
It was on.
Twenty-Two
Maybe we should keep running, Hawke thought as they reached the clearing.
Why would I have to outrun them? Hawke wondered before he figured it out. Yeah, you don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than your buddies. The joke was a lot less funny when he was the slowest and most likely to be dinner in the bunch.
To their credit, everyone stopped when they reached the far side of the clearing. Tava stood by a tree and drew an arrow from the quiver at her waist. Gosto started prepping a spell, using a language Hawke half-understood, but only half. He recognized the words ‘heal’ and ‘beg,’ although they weren’t anything like Latin or Spanish.
Kinto stepped towards the center of the clearing. “With me, Paladin!” he called out.
Hawke joined him. He activated his auras while he heard the bear’s heavy stomping steps getting closer.
“Never wanted to tangle with old Urso,” Kinto muttered. “A job best left to someone younger and more stupid.” He looked over his shoulder. “Tava! Wait till he turns broadside to you before you loose an arrow! Go for the spot between his ribs!” He turned to Hawke. “He’ll try to take one of us down. We split up. You go left. He goes for you, stay away from his paws. Swing at ‘em with your sword. He goes after me, hit him on the side or rear. Me boy will heal us as best he can, but he can’t keep up with the damage Urso’s claws and teeth can do. So be quick!”
Hawke nodded. His auras had only delayed the inevitable when the bear took hi
m down. But he had a new shield and, more importantly, he wasn’t alone. His legs still felt a little unsteady, at least until he managed to flip a mental switch and became all business again. His character’s Willpower was coming into play, he supposed. His old self would probably be crapping his pants just about now. Instead, he moved to the left side of the clearing and waited. The bear would only be able to face one of them.
Urso burst into view, bellowing in anger. It looked even bigger than before, and Hawke realized with a sick feeling that the monster had actually leveled up since the last time he’d seen it:
Old Urso (Dire Bear)
Level 7 Beast
Health 310 Mana 70 Endurance 240
He got that level from killing me, Hawke thought, anger replacing the last traces of fear. Kinto responded to the roars with loud shouts, his spear aimed at the beast, its butt planted on the ground.
“Halla! Halla, Urso!”
Hawke waited until the bear was looking at Kinto before firing up Hammer of Light. The energy missile struck the beast on the side for 21 damage, giving Urso pause. It turned towards Hawke; a burst of panic almost froze him, but he set it aside and prepared to meet the bear’s charge. A moment later, a glowing arrow struck the bear in the shoulder. Hawke saw the Health counter floating above the bear’s head went down from 289 to 259.
“Fool of a girl, I told you to wait!” Kinto yelled, but the damage was done.
Urso roared, in anger more than pain, dropped on all fours and charged at Tava, ignoring the two men on its flanks.
Instinct took over. Hawke lunged forward and drove Saturnyx’s point into the bear’s side. A bright red ‘32!’ floated over the point of impact as he felt the blade sink in until it got caught between the beast’s ribs. This time, the bear’s roar was mixed in with a whimper; bloody froth sprayed from the beast’s mouth as it exhaled. Before he could pull the sword free, however, Urso swung around. A paw the size of a Thanksgiving turkey smashed into Hawke and sent him flying. His Health went from 50 to 19 and things got hazy for a bit.
Hawke sat up, shaking his head and feeling his broken ribs snap back into their rightful place, thanks to his healing aura and Gosto’s spells. There was screaming all over the place. When his vision cleared, he saw the bear whirling around in a circle, chasing after Kinto, whose spearhead was covered in blood. A second arrow was sticking from the bear, and as Hawke struggled to his feet a third one went into its side with a loud, wet smack. Urso’s Health was down to 151 points. Problem was, Saturnyx was still stuck in the bear; only a few inches of blade and its hilt and handle were visible.
Crap, Hawke thought. He needed a weapon.
My inventory! He still had those Shoddy Tridents the Arachnoids he’d killed had wielded. With a thought, he summoned one of them to his hands and charged in. He hit the bear just as it happened to turn its back on him. Hit it right in the butt, as a matter of fact.
He only inflicted nine points of damage, but the bear didn’t like getting stuck in the ass, not one bit. It turned towards him, ignoring a fourth arrow hit and a jab from Kinto; the two attacks shaved off another thirty points off Urso’s Health, but it didn’t stop. Above the bear’s status icon, the word FRENZIED was flashing.
Urso reared up. Hawke followed Kinto’s lead and planted the butt of the trident on the ground, just in time for the massive beast to pounce on him like an avalanche of fur, claws and teeth. The trident impaled the Dire Bear, driven by its own strength, and a large ‘36!’ appeared, indicating a critical hit. Urso’s Health dropped significantly, but the massive creature fell on Hawke, burying him under half a ton of flesh. Its jaws clamped onto his shoulder, denting the metal armor before releasing him.
Hawke smelled the creature’s breath as it lifted its head and tried to bite his face off. Not again! He tried to bring his shield arm up, but it was trapped under the bear’s weight. He interposed his free hand and the bear bit down on it, crushing bones and tearing flesh for an agonizing twenty-four points of damage. He ignored the pain and held the bear at bay. Through the monster’s growls, he heard the slapping sound of more arrows striking the beast, and a war-cry from Kinto. For several seconds, the monster chewed on his arm, inflicting more damage. But then the bear’s jaws loosened and it coughed, sending a thick spray of bloody slobber right into Hawke’s face.
As he choked on the disgusting mix of bodily fluids, the huge mass on top of him went limp, crushing him for another six points of damage. Hawke spat, twisted his face away from the bear, and gasped for air. From the sudden stench that filled his nostrils, the bear had also crapped itself when it died.
“A little help!” he gasped.
He was covered in blood and possibly bear shit, but he was alive.
Twenty-Three
For his troubles, Hawke got some new notifications:
For slaying your foe, you have earned 200 XP. Current XP/Next Level: 450/1,000
Quest Complete: Slay Old Urso
Rewards: 150 XP. Speak to Prefect Felix at Orom to claim a monetary reward.
Your Spear Skill has been raised to 4.
Your Survival Skill has been raised to 3
Current XP/Next Level: 600/1,000
It felt somewhat fitting that killing the bear had recouped all of his experience losses and gotten him close to his next level, Hawke reflected as he wiped bear gunk off his face.
Tava handed him a few rags to help him clean himself. Luckily, when the bear had voided itself, he hadn’t gotten any crap on him, but the blood and drool were bad enough. The pungent smells reminded Hawke of how real this was: the stink alone would have made most gamers refund their purchases and leave blistering online reviews. He got some of the gore off, but his new clothes needed to get washed, and he didn’t even know what people in this place did for laundry; he’d have to ask somebody, when he wasn’t busy fighting for his life. More importantly, he made sure Saturnyx’s blade was clean before he returned her to her sheath.
Love you too, Hawke thought.
“Father, I have risen in the Path,” Gosto said.
“Good for you,” Kinto said, sounding grudgingly pleased. “Make sure you increase your Spirit and Willpower before anything else.”
“I will.”
A few moments later, Gosto’s status box improved:
Gosto Kintes (Human)
Level 2 Druid
Health 20 Mana 44 Endurance 24
Hawke noticed there was a floating purse over the bear’s corpse. He walked over and touched it.
You have found 6 silver and 8 copper coins.
You have found a Minor Healing Potion.
Kinto went to work on the bear, removing its massive canines and several claws large enough to serve as primitive spearheads. After that, Kinto skinned the carcass. Hawke had seen an animal being skinned before, back when he was Ben Velasco. What the Hunter did was something completely different: he took a knife, concentrated, and ran the blade lightly across the bear’s body. The creature’s fur disappeared and then reappeared on the ground in neatly-cut squares! Kinto touched the squares and they disappeared again. More magic.
“Where did that oversized fork come from?” Kinto asked after he was done. The Hunter gestured at the broken shaft of the Arachnoid trident. The three-pointed head was buried somewhere inside the massive Dire Bear.
“Uh, I summoned it from my inventory,” Hawke blurted out. He obviously hadn’t been carrying the long weapon before the bear attack.
“I know about pouches and bags of Holding,” Kinto said, gesturing to a small leather bag tied to his waist. “Got one myself.”
That must have been were the bear skins went. A quick glance with Hawke’s True Sight identified it:
Pouch of Holding (Minor)
Number of Slots: 8. Maximum carrying capacity: 250 pounds.<
br />
Just what every Adventurer needs, he realized. Unless they had a Bonded Vault that was somehow attached to them without an actual container. Not to mention having a lot more slots and no weight limits.
“There are maybe a dozen Holding containers in all of Orom,” Kinto went on. “Cost a pretty penny, even when you can find someone willing to sell you one. Mine is soul-bound, so only I or my heirs can make use of it. You don’t have a pouch, bag, or pack on you, however. You have a Bonded Vault.”
“Yes, I do,” Hawke said. There was an accusatory tone in the Hunter’s voice that worried and annoyed him.
“Yes. Reckoned as much.” Kinto spat on the ground before continuing. “Eternal.”
Gosto and Tava had been watching the exchange with concern, noticing the tension between the two men even though they didn’t know the reason for it. When they heard the title – ‘Aetorno’ in Vulgate – their eyes went wide. Hawke figured he might as well tell the truth.
“Yes, I am an Eternal. I didn’t ask to be one. I didn’t ask to be here, as a matter of fact.”
“I’ve met your kind before. Always strangers. Always ignorant of the most basic things. And always ready to risk their lives, because they know they will come back even if they screw up and get themselves killed. And if us merely mortal Adventurers happen to die along the way, well, that is too bad.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Hawke said. “And trust me, getting killed is not pleasant at all.” He pointed at the bear’s carcass. “That thing ate me, and I remember every last moment of it. You think I want to go through that again?”
“I reckon nobody would,” Kinto said, sounding slightly less angry. “Of course, neither I nor my children would go through that more than once.”
Hawke noticed the younger Adventurers were looking at him as if they expected him to grow horns or maybe start flying like a bird. It was pretty clear that Eternals weren’t common. Or well-liked, either.
Twilight Templar (The Eternal Journey Book 1) Page 13
