RotMG Novel: Chapter II
At noon that day, Claire and Aaron left the town behind and arrived upon the Darylin Plains. It was a vast expanse of lush grassland, wide and boundless, that extended many scores of miles across the immense vistas of the Realm; the place was bordered by mountains to the south, and the ocean and the highlands to the west. Here the grass grew tall and limitless, and trees — mostly of a deciduous nature, such as oaks, maples, and elms — dotted the diverse rolling landscapes of the plains. There was a cool breeze in the air that day, so it was not overwhelmingly hot.
"Here we reach the Realm's wilderness," Aaron said as they set out to explore this world, heading steadily westwards from town. "I don't claim to know much about the Realm outside of the Nexus, but I do believe that there are lots of dangerous monsters prowling around everywhere."
"Then we had better tread cautiously," Claire responded. "Though I currently don't see any monsters right now."
"They're out there, though."
The two began heading up a hill, and when they reached the top they were able to acquire a better view of the plains below. To the south there was a river that came out of a rocky valley; northwards, some forests located below a wide expanse of cliffs. There were a few travelers exploring the place, but — to Claire's dismay — a far greater number of monsters roamed about. Some of them looked rather humanoid, such as the green-clothed elf archers and warriors; wandering around in groups were several mean-looking dwarfs, as well as a few small hobbits and goblins; by far the largest quantity of enemies, however, were pirates (though they are technically bandits). These rogues were dressed in red-and-brown clothing and usually roamed about in groups; most bore swords, bows, staffs, or knives as weapons.
"They don't all look like monsters…" Claire said after observing these creatures for a while.
"I heard that they're actually quite vicious. The elves and the dwarves and the pirates won't hesitate to kill and make you their dinner at a first glance."
"Do I have to kill them, though?"
"I'm not sure…" Aaron replied. "Killing monsters and acquiring their 'loot' is the only way we can survive inside this Realm. And we only have enough food for about a week, so we had better start scavenging as much equipment as possible."
"That feels so weird, though; having to kill in order to survive…"
"What do you mean?" They began making their way down the hill and towards the river.
"I don't claim to remember much about my past before entering this realm, but I do recall living a more…peaceful life, I would say. Which is weird, because I have no idea who I am, or even what world I came from…"
Aaron nodded. "Me too. I don't think anyone in the Realm remembers their past at all. I'm definitely new to the whole idea of 'killing for survival', too, but I know that it's a necessity."
"A necessity? Does it have to be that way?" Claire asked.
"I believe so. The Realm is overrun with monsters; someone must go out and slay them all, or we'll become mere food for Oryx's minions."
A cool wind blew through the plains, rustling the tall grass as it swirled — like a sea of green waves — about their feet; there came a buzzing noise in the air, loud and piercing, which reminded Claire of some distant (and forgotten) summer days. These cricket sounds brought to Claire a few vivid memories, appearing suddenly through her mind, of how life was like before she woke up inside the Realm — but they were instantly gone.
"There must be something people do inside this Realm, other than killing monsters…" Claire said. "It's not our human nature to enjoy savagery…is it? Though who am I to speak of human nature, if I can't even remember myself?"
"You're thinking of this too deeply…" Aaron responded. "And I'm new to the Realm too, so I don't claim to understand the 'nature' of this world any more than you do."
"Well, then. Where should we go first?"
They stopped at the edge of a wildflower meadow; the land seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction around them, and the horizon was comprised of tall and distant mountains: a barrier against the endless reaches of the sky.
"Let's just keep going west," Aaron said. "We'll reach a place called Ranorn Forest soon. Lots of travelers go there to hunt for valuable loot."
There was suddenly a hissing sound in the air; multiple hissing sounds in fact. It seemed to be coming from below the grass.
"What's that?" Claire asked as she observed for any signs of movement about her feet.
"Snakes, obviously. A common enemy out on these tame plains."
"'Tame?' The idea of having to fend off snakes doesn't seem very 'tame' to me!"
"Neither do I. But they aren't poisonous — I heard that poison doesn't exist in the Realm — and it's at least better than fighting against all the other enemies!"
Claire raised her Trap-stone that she had been keeping in her pocket since that morning when Kathleen gave it to her; on instinct, she suddenly threw it to the ground. Immediately a fountain of magical dust exploded into the air, and all of the snakes around her — those who had fallen into this Trap — were instantly slain. Their bodies appeared bleeding and mangled as they became exposed beneath the grass.
Amazing…I never thought such a simple stone could do that. Perhaps it's a magical ability, unique to myself?
"That might've been a bit overkill," Aaron said. "Use your magic too much, and you'll become worn out very soon. Stick to your bow and arrows from now on, okay?"
Claire nodded. "I'm surprised, though, that I could even use magic at all. This Realm is just full of surprises, isn't it?"
Not longer after passing through the meadow, the two chanced upon some more prowling enemies. This time, they were pirates; small little rogue-like fiends with hardly humanoid forms (their faces were deformed) and who attacked them viciously on sight.
"They shouldn't be too hard to kill," Aaron said as he raised his wand.
Claire notched an arrow to her bow, and then shot it at the first pirate; this felt strange to her, for she had never tried archery before (or did not remember doing so), and yet suddenly these battle skills appeared to her as naturally as breathing. The arrow struck the first pirate through his stomach, and he fell dead instantly to the ground.
"They go down quite easily, don't they?" Aaron commented. He blasted another rogue with a ball of fire from his priest's wand, incinerating the creature into ashes.
Claire's hands trembled as she prepared to shoot the next pirate down with a second arrow. "It does put a dent on your conscience, though!" She said nervously. "Monster or not, I'm not comfortable with killing things so blatantly…"
Except that Pirate to your left is coming right at you with those two knives in his hands! Survival of the fittest, Claire, survival of the fittest!
Obeying that voice in her head, Claire unleashed several more volleys of arrows — almost instinctively — upon her enemies. Aaron had been right — these were very easy creatures to kill — and soon a pile of dead bodies lay strewn about on the bloodied field around them.
"Damn, that was easy," Claire said distastefully after the battle, as if trying to mock her own competence. "I almost feel somewhat sorry for those pirates, charging at us like idiots — without care for their own safety."
"At the same time, we're getting more bloodthirsty with experience…" Aaron added. "It may just be another mental effect of being inside this realm. Oryx's minions are…well, I'd say, somewhat stupid. They're obviously brutal savages who give virtually no thought to their own safety when they charge at us. Obviously, we can only deliver to them exactly what they want — death."
"I wish there was some other way. But…though they look like humans, these creatures are just monsters, after all. I don't think they'll listen to us if we try to talk them out of fighting…"
Aaron bent down beside a pirate and scavenged two bottles out from his belt-pouch: one was a red healing potion, the other a purple potion of magic-recovery. "Look!" Aaron said. "Our first loot of the day."
Claire turned around. Now I feel like a pillager, she thought, going around killing and stealing from enemies. Well, if Aaron doesn't mind — though I'm sure that he secretly does — then I shouldn't care too much about it, either. After all, in this realm, killing is a necessity for survival, right?
They continued exploring more of the plains; in the afternoon they departed southwards, down a hill and towards the river that came out of the valley earlier. A group of other travelers were currently meeting at this spot, talking about their battle-stories as well as exchanging loot with each other.
As they approached the river, there came suddenly — from out behind some trees — two small, strange, gelatinous cube-shaped enemies. One of them was purple, the other red.
"Huh?" Claire said as he saw these bizarre life forms approach her. "What are these cubes?"
"Oh…they're like the spawn of the devil," Aaron responded contemptuously, much to Claire's surprise. "Don't be deceived by their 'innocent' appearance. They want nothing but to kill and eat you!"
One of the cubes suddenly blasted out a magical ball of energy — from its gelatinous, jelly-like form — which struck Claire upon her left knee. It did not hurt much, but it did make her wince, as if some claw had pinched her — and she backed away from the enemy. Without a second though, two arrows flew from Claire's bow, pinning the two cubes to the ground.
"Damned little critters," Claire said after the battle; even she herself was surprised by how quickly she had reacted to the approach of enemies by sending them swift, merciless death.
"I guess you just really hate cubes, now," Aaron stated.
They made their way to the gathering of travelers beside the river. Most of them were busying themselves with talking and trading, save for one green-armored rogue who was sitting alone on the shores of the river.
"Hey!" Aaron cried as they approached the rogue. "Do you know what's going on around here?"
The rogue stood up and waved to them as he saw the approach of some fellow travelers. "Hello," he said to them in a weak and almost nervous voice. "I came to this gathering to look for some help, actually."
"For what?"
"There's a Deathmage nearby to those mountains over there. I accidentally chanced upon him, and we did battle…but I lose, and I had to escape. My friend, however, was not so lucky."
Aaron lowered his head and sighed. "I'm sorry," he replied. "You want us to help kill this Deathmage, don't you?"
The rogue nodded. "Not today, though. The mountains are too far away — and unless you're very strong, it's quite daft to try and take on a Deathmage at night. We wait until tomorrow morning."
Claire approached the Rogue. "I'm sorry about your friend, too," she said.
The rogue closed his eyes and sighed. "We're both new to this Realm, and I hardly knew him. I guess that's how things work in this Realm. People come and go faster than you can remember them."
That night, they sat at the edge of that river, upon the summit of a small hill beside a tall oak tree.
"What's…a Deathmage?" Claire asked Aaron after they finished eating their dinner.
"Deathmages? Oh, it's a bit hard to explain…"
They were sitting around a small bonfire, under the veil of the glittering night skies; a full white moon was out, surrounded by luminous stars.
"Tell me. I want to know."
"Oryx has certain minions that rank higher above others. Deathmages are an example…not because they are monsters, but because they have become monsters."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's a long story. From what I've heard, there exists — in the far west, upon the Eoryun Highlands — the kingdom of some powerful creature called a Ghost King. This creature supposedly fathoms the secrets to immortality, and so many travelers have tried to sneak into his treasury and steal his scrolls of necromantic power. Those who are successful in mimicking his spells of darkness become benevolent wizards — though not exactly immortal ones — called Necromancers. Those who fail transform into Deathmages, and they are loathed by the living. Thus do why most Deathmages hang around graveyards, where they can feed upon the souls of undead creatures."
Oh, great. I thought I'd be spared of undead lore inside this Realm, but…
"Thanks for your information," Claire told Aaron. She closed her eyes and lay her head down upon the soft grass. What a tiring day it's been today, she thought. I killed a lot of monsters…though I don't feel anything on my conscience at all, for some reason. Maybe it's because of the effects of this Realm. Or maybe humans really DO endorse savagery when it's for survival purposes…
She looked up at the sky and saw the bright white moon of the Realm, very large and almost completely full that night. She listened to the soft chirping of the crickets, and the cool breeze rustling the lush grass that she slept upon, and was lured to sleep by the tranquil sounds of flowing water from the nearby river.
At dawn the next morning, the group woke up and prepared to depart again on their journey. Today they were heading towards the vast Nidel Mountains located south of the plains (with the Rogue) to find and slay the Deathmage that dwelt there.
"The Nidel Mountains…if I remember correctly, didn't you tell me yesterday that that place was full of dangerous monsters?" Claire asked Aaron during breakfast.
"We're only going to make towards the base of those mountains; we're not actually leaving the Darylin Plains behind. Plus, Deathmages aren't known to dwell in places that are inhabited by powerful monsters; they are not amongst the strongest of Oryx's minions."
Claire had hardly any appetite for food that morning. Today is going to be my first big battle, she thought. Yesterday was only training, since I really didn't get a chance to fight any tough monsters. I just hope that I'm prepared to take on the Deathmage…
"Let's get going," the Rogue said as he approached Claire and Aaron. "If we make a steady pace, we'll reach the mountains by noon today. The sooner, the better — Deathmages are at their weakest during daylight hours."
He suddenly took out from his backpack a silver ring with a small Citrine-jewel embedded upon it.
"What's that?" Claire asked.
"It's a ring of Dexterity," the Rogue responded. "I found it off some monster that I killed the other day, but I have no need of this accessory. Here, I'll let you have it."
"Why, thank you," Claire said as she took the ring and equipped it onto her hand. Its magical powers, that of Dexterity, suddenly flowed into her mind, and Claire began to feel a slight enhancement in her hand-eye coordination.
"By the way…what's your name?" Claire asked suddenly. "We never even asked you about it yesterday."
"I am Jonathan," the rogue replied. "And you are?"
"Claire. And this is…Aaron," Claire said, pointing to her friend who was sitting beside her.
"Well then, we should begin our journey," the Rogue suggested, and he was off. Claire and Aaron followed after him.
Throughout the morning, the trio remained rather silent as they made their way towards the mountains. Claire was in quite an apprehensive mood; she did not like the idea of actually going on a 'quest' with the intent of slaying a specific monster. The task felt quite burdening to her; Claire would've rather preferred to have just remained on their journey, where she was free to do as she wished and suffered no distress from the anxious wait of a tough battle.
"Ummm, Jonathan…" Claire said to break the silence, "Do you know if we'll survive this battle with the Deathmage?"
"Can't say," the rogue responded. "They're not supposed to be too difficult. And we might not have to fight alone; other travelers of the Realm are constantly out looking for monsters to kill, and if we're lucky, some may stumble upon our destination to help us out with our quest."
"Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me that."
As they arrived closer to the mountains, the scenery upon the plains began to change and become drearier as well. At first, the grass became yellow and wilted, as if the soil there lacked nutrition; then the entire landscape became very barren and rocky. Claire soon realized that they were climbing up a hill located at the base of the Nidel Mountains; it led towards a small forest situated at the entrance of a tall canyon.
"Wait!" Jonathan (who had been leading the group) said, stopping dead in his tracks. "Hills like these are the perfect hunting grounds of some predatory goblins. I think I can hear footsteps nearby…"
"Goblins?" Claire asked. "Are they tough?"
"Not very. But we should best try and avoid an ambush with those sneaky creatures."
They made their way into the forest, which was made of mostly coniferous trees such as firs and spruce. Not long after they entered, the silence in the air was broken by the sounds of monstrous shrieks and yells; actually they were more like little chit-chats of excitement. Claire looked up and saw a few tiny green goblins — each no more than two or three feet tall — hiding up in the branches of several trees. Some were clothed in rags; others were armored and bore actual weapons such as knives or small axes.
"Shoot them down!" Jonathan yelled when he noticed them as well. "They're about the attack us!"
Claire did not hesitate to notch an arrow to her bow and let it fly at the first goblin that she saw; her shot struck the creature and it fell dead to the ground from the trees. The other goblins all cried out in terror, and then jumped down to attack with their tiny little weapons. Claire quickly threw her Trap-stone forward, causing a cloud of (lethal) magical dust to fly up into the air and block the goblins from reaching her.
"These little goblins aren't much for us to worry about," Aaron said as he waited for Claire to catch up with him. "It's the Goblin Mages that we should watch out for. Look! There's three up ahead."
Claire watched as Jonathan ran towards a red-caped goblin; he instantly decapitated the creature with the silver dagger that he held in his hands. The other goblins raised their staffs up into the air, and then unleashed a bolt of blue energy towards the Rogue; they struck Jonathan and he staggered back in pain.
Then Aaron shot two bolts of fire from his wand towards the Goblin Mage that was closest to him, incinerating the creature into dust. Not wanting to be useless, Claire notched another arrow to her bow and struck down the second goblin mage. As it fell to the ground, she noticed that it dropped something from beneath its red cloak.
"Look!" Claire yelled when she saw the creature drop a weapon. As ran towards its fallen body, she picked this object up and realized that it was a Crossbow; the weapon was a bit heavier than her current one, but it was also very durable, and obviously more powerful in battle than a Shortbow.
"And I found a ring for myself, too," Aaron said, approaching Claire after finishing the inspection of his own loot. "It's a Ring of Health, I believe. Quite useful for a healer like me."
Claire nodded. "Then we each have some new equipment, now," she said, almost sadly. It feels strange, all this killing and looting that we're doing. Well, they ARE just monsters…
After the battle, Claire and Aaron approached Jonathan, who had been resting by a small tree. "Are you hurt?" Aaron asked as he approached the Rogue. "I can heal you, if you like?"
"No, it's okay," Jonathan replied. "Goblin Mages aren't too powerful. I was just bruised by their spells, that's all. And of course, I can still fight."
"Then let's move on," Aaron suggested. "How much farther away until we find the Deathmage?"
"Not very. He supposedly dwells inside a graveyard located deep within this valley; only about a mile or so away, now."
This is it, then, Claire thought. I'm almost there. My first "real" battle.
About an hour later, the group proceeded out of the forest and arrived at the entrance of the canyon where the Deathmage dwelt. Here, there were no trees, and the land was bare and rocky; as they entered the canyon they found themselves heading steadily down a narrow gorge located beside a river. There was a foul smell in the air which carried traces of sulfur and rot; instead of grass, strange mushroom-like plants and black-leaved bushes grew within this valley.
There suddenly came in the distance sounds of battle; of swords clashing and spells singing through the air, and even the familiar cry of human words.
"There's someone up ahead," Claire whispered to Aaron. "If we're lucky, then they might be strong, and will help us take out this Deathmage."
"We should hurry on, then," Aaron replied.
They ran ahead past the river and reached a small swamp located at the center of the gorge; it was surrounded by thick ash trees, which just barely veiled the site of the nearby graveyard. However, the obvious cries of battle easily gave away the location of the Deathmage; indeed, as the group arrived, three other travelers came running out from behind the trees. They were pursued by two gruesome-looking creatures: a pale, zombie-like corpse, as well as a skeleton wielding a sword forged of bone.
"Hey, watch out!" Aaron yelled. He quickly blasted the skeleton with a burst of fire from his wand, incinerating the creature into ash; Claire shot down the zombie with an arrow from her bow.
"What's going on around here?" Jonathan asked. "Are you fighting the Deathmage right now?"
"Yes," one of the travelers responded. She was a wizard who wielded an Avenger Staff and wore a Conjurer's Robe as well as a Greater Defense ring. Clearly, she seemed strong enough to take on the Deathmage all by herself. Her somewhat weaker allies included a warrior and another cleric.
"We're only running away because we were ambushed by surprise," the warrior said. "The Deathmage doesn't stand a chance against us. We'll go kill it right now."
"I'll help," Jonathan said. "Let's go."
Claire and Aaron followed after the four as they passed through the trees and entered the graveyard. Immediately Claire became frightened by the gruesome sight; all the gravestones had been unearthed and dead bodies — mainly skeletons — littered the swampy floor. The Deathmage was a dark-skinned creature with giant yellow eyes; it was dressed in black robes and wielded a small wooden staff.
"You'll become my undead slaves!" The Deathmage yelled as it summoned up ten skeletons from the floor to attack the party. Without hesitating, Claire threw her Trap-stone forward, and then backed away behind Jonathan; the Trap exploded upon contact with two skeletons, and their bodies were incinerated. Meanwhile, the wizard stepped forward and cast a spell, sending a wave of green fire towards her enemies and burning four of them into ashes.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Jonathan whispered as he unsheathed his weapon. "Damn him for killing my friend, though."
The Rogue charged at the Deathmage and attempted to stab the creature with his silver dagger. However, with another wave of its staff, four more bodies rose out of the ground and blocked off the Rogue's passage. The Warrior stepped forward and began slashing his way through all of the enemies; his sword, a Falchion, made quick work of the skeletons. Meanwhile, Claire loaded an arrow to her crossbow and shot it at the Deathmage; the creature was struck upon its shoulder and it backed away in pain.
"Let's just finish this…quickly," Aaron said; they all charged forward and began a relentless assault upon the Deathmage and its undead army. Their enemy stood no chance; eventually it was the wizard that dealt the killing blow to the Deathmage with a blast of magic from her staff. With a dying scream, the creature's body fell to the floor and disintegrated into ashes. As Claire expected, it left behind some loot in the form of a treasure chest; she opened it first and found herself some Minotaur Hide (which was a decent piece of armor). The others took potions, and Aaron equipped himself with a Student's robe.
"There's some stuff in this treasure chest that we don't need," Aaron commented after the battle. "A Ring of Vitality and some Blue Steel Mail."
"Let's take them anyways," Claire said. "Didn't you say that we earn a living in this Realm by selling our loot?"
"Alright, then," Aaron replied. "But the armor will be a bit heavy to carry around. Still, we should be able to manage it."
Now that the battle was over, Claire felt surprisingly relieved, and yet disappointed with herself. That wasn't even difficult… she thought. But it was only because I had five allies helping me. In the future, I have to train to become stronger, so that I can take on monsters by myself.
Aaron looked up at Claire. "Tired?" he said with a soft smile.
Claire shook her head. "No, I'm actually quite energetic," she said. "Let's continue on our journey. Where's Jonathan?"
"He left five minutes ago. Told me that he didn't care about the treasure chest, and that he was just happy he was able to avenge the death of his friend."
"Huh, that's strange…" Claire responded. "But, I thought we were friends…or, we should be, since we traveled together."
"Not in this realm, unfortunately," Aaron said sadly. "He only accompanied us since we agreed to help him on his quest. In the end, we're all on our own; when the deed's done, people usually part ways."
What could he mean by that? Claire thought. Damn, he can be so uncaring sometimes. "Aaron, are you saying that you're going to leave me one day, too?"
The boy shook his head. "Well, not right now, of course, since we're traveling together. Maybe later, somewhere in the distant future. But for now, let's work together."
"Alright…" Claire replied. Still, I don't like the thought of that…having to leave friends behind in order to make sure that you survive by yourself.
…What an uncaring world. Is this what necessity creates?
"Hey," a voice suddenly said; the wizard who had fought with them earlier approached Claire from behind. She had dark wavy brown hair and grayish lidded eyes; a round face with a flat nose and a rather wide chin. "Are you two going to be leaving anytime soon?"
"Well, we don't really have a destination in mind," Claire responded.
"I'm Kira, by the way," the wizard said. "I've been looking for someone to travel with ever since I entered this realm. Ummm…"
"Yes, we'd love you to come with us!" Claire responded as enthusiastically. Maybe I was wrong, she thought to herself.
"What about those other two people you were traveling with?" Aaron asked. "Why did they leave you behind?"
"Oh…they have their own business to take care of," Kira replied. "And besides, I hardly knew them — we just happened to have met each other on our way to this graveyard."
"Alright, then — welcome to our team," Claire said. "We're both new to this Realm, by the way."
"Thanks," Kira replied. "I've only been in this world for about a week myself. And by the way, if you don't have a destination in mind, may I suggest heading west to Dale's Port?"
"Dale's Port?" Aaron said. "That's a bit far. We'll have to cross Ranorn Forest as well as the Eoryun Highlands; it'll take us at least three days."
"I know. That's why I wanted to travel with someone, so I won't have to make the entire journey alone."
"Well, we're only out here to make ourselves a living by killing some monsters," Claire said. "If Aaron doesn't object, then we'll agree to accompany you on this journey."
"I don't mind," Aaron stated. "The more people, the better. Let's get going, now."
Huh. What a change of heart, Claire thought. Only about a minute ago he told me that "in the end, we're all on our own"; I don't believe it, though. Friends should be more trusting towards each other.
They began their journey westwards.
