Sorry I'm late with this just that its been a hard past week and a bit and will be the same for the rest of this week and possibly the next so my chapters will be s bit slow for the rest of this month sorry. Well enjoy anyways!
2 Days earlier
Flicking through my menu, the odd dinging sound echoing as I shuffle down the list, I peer at the multitude of names sorted alphabetically. Zooming past X something catches my eye and I abruptly stop the shuffling. As I suspected it was whom I was looking for.
Swiping my menu away I pick up the feathered quill that the vendors sell and scribble down the name on my lengthening list of people.
Stifling a yawn I restore my friend list and rubbing away the tiredness continue to look down the list...
...Finally the menu rebounds off the bottom of its page announcing the end off my friends list. With a semi-relieved sigh I close the menu and with renewed vigour tackle the names written down.
"Hmm" I start moving the names around on different pieces of paper allocated around the table but with the large list of names in front of me I decided I would need more space.
Rising from the wooden chair rubbing my numb buttocks I shuffle towards the large empty floor beside the fireplace, its fire snuffed out long ago.
Sitting down cross-legged my buttocks complaining I spread the empty sheets of paper in a circle around me. Dipping my quill in ink and with a yawn escaping I ben down to my task.
-page break-
Knock knock knock
My eyes snap open to see a thin layer of paper on the wooden floor beside me. Getting off of the floor, my bones creaking and muscles cold and tightened, I let out a loud tired yawn.
Knock knock knock
Collecting up the pieces of paper I bunch them up unceremoniously and shove them into the stone cold fireplace. Spawning a flint and steel I relight the fire and watch as the flames grow and lick hungrily at the paper.
Knock knock knock
Setting fire directly to the paper thus speeding the process of burning, the paper glowsember-like and within seconds chars black crumpling into ash.
Knock knock knock
Standing up with a sigh and a mild headache knocking on my skull, I stroll over towards the door. Swinging it open I look outside at the knocker: The man stood put there wore basic grey padded cloth along with equally as grey pants, both oddly crisp and well kempt. The lack of a sword was noticeable but we were in the middle of town so no qualms there.
Looking into the man's face I notice the easily recognisable face of the message guy: his black hair was oddly unkempt and let down hanging just above his jaw. I've guessed him to be in his early thirties but it is more than possible for him to be younger if he would just lose the squarely shaved stubble and that little quirk of his.
"Is it morning already?" I say with a yawn
His mild look of concern did not slip by me but he quickly wiped the expression from his face before, with a sigh, tells me that "yes, it is that time".
Nodding I go through the door and he steps out of the way taking position behind me staying out of the way while I equip my armour.
Trudging downstairs I wave at the male Npc whose house I currently live in. He is currently cooking something in the kitchen but responds to my wave with his own, he didn't even look. Maybe an Npc system thing.
Walking out the house I feel the loneliness of the streets as around 12 players are walking through the street within my view. Tolbana was not really that different from the Starting City however the huge difference in residents made it seem like a whole new world.
To my knowledge there are around a thousand and a bit players currently in Tolbana as in reality no one else but theres people have had the chance to come to Tolbana. We had close to a one to one ratio of beta testers to normal players here which didn't really mean much to me but to a lot of other people it meant that half the people they met on these streets were enemies if a kind.
The reception committee had been quite different this time as well we had around 700 people who had come with me so it did seem a bit like an invasion. Back in Horunka they had been friendly and advising but here they were downright cold.
Well in all honesty when we arrived at Tolbana and we saw the beta testers I could feel the hate emanating from the people around me. So the two sides haven't gotten off to s bad start because yes they didn't give us any info and guidance to help us get here and they snagged all the good hunting spots but I can't blame them. If I'm going to have to share a limited number of resources with close to 30,000 people I'll use my knowledge to my advantage.
Not everyone is having the same view though and Tolbana is a bit icy at the moment.
Shaking the thoughts out of my head I start to walk where I'm supposed to be going and sightsee on the way. Tolbana is huge and although I've been here for 2 days I haven't explored close to half of it yet. There are some pretty cool things here in Tolbana such as the parks and the market which is on every weekend. Also the coliseum is a very interesting choice of structure to be within the city.
Reaching my destination far quicker than I thought it would be I look back to make sure message boy is there, which he is and see his eyes drooping sleepily.
Turning back I head off towards the front gate of the town which is void of life except for 2 npc guards standing tall with their pikes and a small person shivering slightly in the cool morning under their shabby cloak.
Moving towards this person I stop beside the stranger looming over and I ask
"Are you...Princess?"
Visibly perking up at the name the hooded figure pulls down the hood revealing a young girl freckles littering her face along with her blond hair tied into 2 pig tails resting on each shoulder.
"Yes?" Her high squealing voice of a not yet pubescent girl accompanies her slightly scared expression.
"Kane and Messenger Boy" I introduce myself and the guy behind me.
A sigh comes from behind me.
"Messenger Boy? What a funny name" her expression becomes more relaxed and childish along with a small giggle.
Another sigh
"Not his real name, just makes it easier for the rest of us" I explain to Princess
"Oh, so what is it?"
"Hmm I'll give it a try. It's—"
"—Hey" a shout drowns my words and I turned to see who the culprit is.
Gwynevith appears round the corner of one of the streets dragging 2 people by their collars. We look in mild horror as she drags the mercilessly across the ground towards us.
"Hello Gwynevith" I try to keep my eyes from staring at her poor victims.
"Hi guys, just dragging in the new comers"
"Yes, we can see that"
She reaches us and she unceremoniously drops the 2 people on the floor. Standing up quickly with lightly blushing is a young man, in his early twenties, if that. His curly ball of hair covers most of his head but no beard or moustache is apparent. He looks quite nerdy with his body of one who spends a lot of time sitting along with his nervous twitch suggesting he must have been quite a gamer.
Reminded me a bit of Drake but I never noticed him with that twitch. I must check on him when I meet him again.
The young guy introduces himself as Calitharsis to which I am now accustomed to believe it is some sort of conspiracy to make a strange name, after going through that list i can proudly say that I am one of few with an actual name.
My hopes optimistic of having someone with a real name, I turn to look at the other person, to find him napping on the floor to everyones astonishment. Looking at each other questioningly at what to do, Gwynevith shakes him lightly on the shoulder with a "Wake up gramps".
"Hmm, oh we here?" The man his face wrinkled with age opens up his eyes and stands up from the floor nonchalantly.
Immediately Gwynevith bends slightly as if ready to pounce and we all look at her with a curious expression.
The man looks around at the people gathered giving me a full view of his wrinkled face with a thick grey moustache and thick, scruffy grey hair.
He introduces himself with a less than sane giggle as Patoicos. My hopes crumbled into little granules of despair. Well at least Gwynevith is a name, one out of 5.
Shaking my head solemnly I address everyone present.
"Ok we should get going, i'll give you introductions on the way. Name is Kane by the way"
With that I walk out of the gates and out of the safety zone of Tolbana.
-page break-
Walking on the road through the fields I can se and hear everyone getting along decently well: Princess is asking questions without pause towards Gwynevith who is taller, which is pretty surprising to notice as Gwynevith is quite small. Message Boy is walking behind me munching on some bread with a teary look in his eye. Calitharsis is hanging at the back hobbling along as if his youth had been sucked out of him, the opposite of Patoicos as he skips ahead. Yes skips, ahead of us humming a tune known only to him. By now I have deduced that he's put a lot of points into agility as he once again circles around us falling behind and catching up quickly.
The fields were decently empty with only maybe a hundred early risers fighting in the morning chill. They were soloing boars which was not too inefficient but it is one of the best spots the normal players have.
Finishing his bread Message Boy taps me on the shoulder and I turn with a questioning look.
"Why can't we just kill the boars like them?" He points his thumb towards the other players
"Well we have our spot can be a lot more efficient"
"Can be?"
"You'll see" ending the conversation with a wise nod before changing direction off the road.
We walk for another twenty or so minutes stopping abruptly at the edge of a lake. its waters were crystalline and calm creating the image of it bring a mirror so smooth its waters looked. Although the lake was interesting what was around it was the main reason we were here: spawning around the lake are giant pink, fleshy worms sort of wiggling its body, well what was visible anyways as through experience a lot of it is still hidden underground.
The worms are the main mob around this zone and it does give a decent amount of xp as the expedition had found out when we had passed this point two days prior. However most deemed that the mob was not worth the trouble killing, partially because it dropped nothing of worth and also because of its pesky attack pattern which made it terribly inefficient to xp grind.
Barking an order at my party they all formed a rough circle, shoulders touching, and readied their weapons with a confused look as to why they are doing this.
Instead of answering the looks I walk over to one of the worms and slice my sword across it causing it to aggro. With a pained squeal the [Worm] burst into the ground disappearing from view and I quickly jog back towards my party members and take place in the circle.
We stood tense in the circle waiting but nothing happening. This was the pesky thing that made them very inefficient as they could take up to minutes to retaliate. It had been a nuisance of an hour when the expedition first walked through because the worms slowed us down to a crawl causing the ten minute walk around the lake into a full hour.
It was probably the only battle that had to have more than a hundred people in the vanguard killing off the worms so the rest of us could move forward.
As I think of this I almost miss the faint sound of crunching earth. However I am able to raise my weapon in front of me as the worm bursts out of the ground head butting me and using the reverse momentum to burrow beneath the ground once more.
My health bar still a healthy green but a small crack appears on my steel two-handed which I had used to block most of the damage. The worms did not have a lot of health, neither did they have a high defence but their attack was decently high, not as much as the wolves or nepents but not too far off.
Positioning my weapon above my head I activate the «vertical crush» sword skill. Once more I wait along with the others for the worm to come out from below and similarly everyone readies a sword skill.
Once again rocketing out of the ground comes the worm at Calitharsis this time but ready for it, as his sword thrusts out knocking the worm back, its health bar lowered dramatically and once again it disappears into the earth.
Another annyoing thing about the worm: they can change targets when burrowed picking a random victim as far as I know, making tanks useless.
Standing in our circular formation for another 30 seconds or so of unbroken silence the worm comes at us for a last time as Gwynevith's axe blurs downwards slicing the worm in half and cracking the ground underneath.
the loss of tension was visible as everyone seemed to sigh with relief and break formation. It had been what would be considered a long battle to us now. Giving them a rest for a minute I then get them to resume the formation as I wonder off to aggro another worm.
Away from their view I produce a smile and walk past multiple worms before turning back towards the party.
"Here we go!" I shout to my party who give me a confused look which is quickly replaced with a shock one as they realise what I'm doing.
Charging ahead I nick the first worm...
-page break-
The wind blows gently on our faces as we stand back to back peering towards the ground as if we could see through it. Our weapons, replaced about an hour ago, are poised ready to strike. Nothing can be heard but the heavy breathing from Calitharsis to my right.
Suddenly the ground explodes with worms as they fly simultaneously towards the party. Slashing my weapon down I destroy mine and the sound of bursting polygons from behind say Gwynevith has done the same. princess shrieks and out of the corner of my eye I see her smacked in the chest and fall to the ground as her worm disappears. Beside her is Calitharsis who does a little better, managing to drive his sword into the worms back as it flees to the earth. Patoicos fares much better as the sound of screaming worm and his joyous laughter suggest he is doing just fine. Bashing into my back is Messenger Boy who slumps onto the floor his breath smashed out of him, his health bar is yellow so no worries yet.
Seeming to want to avenge their friends quickly the worms seemed to have done a 180 and burst out of the ground just seconds later. Without tome to get ready we play it by foot: I turn round and stab the worm coming towards Messenger Boy who then gets the worm impaled on his sword killing it. The whooshing sound and bursting of polygons from Princess's side suggest Gwynevith helped. The cries of victory along with the slashing of the air with his daggers announce Patoicos's kill and joining in with the victory cries is Calitharsis as his blade slices open the worms stomach thus ending its virtual life.
Ping
We all turn towards the sound to see a levelled up window above Princess's head and we congratulate her. Now that she has turned level 3 we did what we came to do, so I tell them to take a quick break while I open my menu to check some things out. The first thing I check out is my xp which is only 18784 not bad but still not level 5. The others had all hit level 3 with the exception of Messenger Boy who had only hit level 2 but should be close to levelling by now.
Apparently he didn't fight a lot and is by far the worst fighter here, even Princess is better then him and she has put all her point into Vit. Though dies get hit a lot so she needs the points. Also having almost double the health that everyone else in the party makes her a good tank, although she uses a dagger.
Princess was probably one of the people who had freaked out over dying and spent their points on Vit, even I thought of it but decided not to waste the points. Though she is only twelve I muse. The concepts of death should not be too apparent to her yet so she must have had another reason for her putting all her points in Vit.
While fiddling with the ideas on why Princess did that I break out of it for a second to announce that "we should head back before night falls" before returning back into my pensive state.
We start to head back and immediately everyone takes up the positions that kind of do suit their personalities: Calitharsis hangs lazily at the back with Princess who holds onto his hand. His face of despair suggests that he had no choice in the matter. Patoicos frolics ahead, seriously the man had an unlimited amount of energy, it was terrifying. Messenger Boy keeps himself rigidly in the middle close enough to everyone yet far enough away. Gwiynevith looks a bit lonely as she no longer has Princess bombarding her with questions of all sorts.
I slow down enough to allow Gwynevith to come beside me.
"You miss it?" I ask nonchalantly
"Yes, Horunka was so small and quaint, here there are too many people." She hangs her head looking sadly to the ground
"Ohl thats nice to know but I actually meant did you miss the old party"
"Ah yes, yes of course,"
"You don't sound very convincing there" I give a small chuckle
"Oh ha ha, seriously I do miss them we went through a lot together y'know"
"Hmm I do get you, I do miss the boar wrestling kid"
A sigh comes from in front
"You do know it's only been a week" says Messenger Boy
"A week is a long time in this world, who knows what could happen within such a time" I reply after a few seconds of self debate
"Hmm he has got a point there, only a week ago I was still fighting boars with a bunch of people who I really had no idea who they were." chimes in Calitharsis as his face contorts in thought, maybe trying to remember the names of those so called people.
"Only a week ago I was having to walk everywhere but look at me now, I cannot stop running hahahaha!" Blurts Patoicos as he jumps around us with a maniacal smile accompanied with a maniacal laugh. He does seem to enjoy being able to move around so much but for someone his age its understandable.
"Oh me, me next. Hmm...only a week ago I went on a really cool adventure with a bunch of people, you guys. Just like my brother did after the red man spoke. He was one of the brave hundreds, didn't know my big bro was so famous..."
Synchronised perfectly we stop and turn on the spot looking wildly at Princess who looks at our shocked expression and says "oh so you have heard of him" with an innocent smile.
Forcing a smile on my lips I tell her that yes her big bro is quite famous. The others quick on the uptake plaster on their best fake smile and tell Princess that they know of the brave hundreds and how brave they were.
With a giggle she skipped along and everyone did their best to regain their composure, even Patoicos was having a hard time jumping around in joy. Twelve year olds should jot have to learn of such a thing, I'm sure someone will break it to her when she is old enough to handle it...
Confused slightly as some minor details I turn back round to her and inquire "so why did you put all your points into Vitality?"
"Oh Bees told me to, said he didn't wan't his little princess to get hurt"
"Bees?" Asks Calitharsis
"My daddy, well one of my daddies."
A "huh?" came from everyone except Messenger Boy who just sighed
"She is staying with 'Bees' and 'Asmodeus' who have sort of adopted her. Its my job to know this kind of thing, and they can be trusted" says Messenger Boy factually, swiping away any possible questions on the matter.
"That's right, they're my daddies"
"Well why are they letting you go into a dangerous situation if they don't want you to get hurt?" Gwynevith asks looking pretty confused of the situation.
"Its my choice, they tell me I have that and I want to find my big bro and to do that I need to get stronger first."
Fair enough. I drop the conversation. my questions and suspicions answered. I also mentally add Bees and Asmodeous to my list of people...
We reach Tolbana a short while after, the sun drooping under the horizon slowly dimming the world. Upon arriving at the gate I congratulate them all and tell them they don't need to do this any longer and can go back to their original groups.
Patoicos paces around impatiently for a few minutes before a young boy of around fourteen comes out of one of the alleyways. Patoicos then proceeds to hug and swing the boy around both laughing then walk out of sight together.
Message Boy's stomach growls audibly and with a happy sigh, which raised a curious eyebrow from me, walks off a faint tune escaping his lips.
Calitharsis tells me that he'll stay her until Princess gets picked up but the way Princess has got his left arm in a deadlock suggests he doesn't have a choice in the matter.
Waving them both off Gwynevith and I head off towards one of the many smiths in town to get our weapons and armour repaired. After that we buy a few days worth of rations and head back towards the gate.
We arrive at the gate with Calitharsis and Princess both gone and replaced with a stream of people returning back to town before the sun sets. Unlike them we plan to head outside and do so by walking through the crowd who part slightly thanks to. Gwynevith I'm sure.
Leaving the safe zone we turn towards the direction of Starting city and start walking.
-page break-
Finally after 7 hours of jogging and taking the odd nap in between to keep our strength up we reach Starting city. We had gotten through the night monsters with not too many troubles as we hit level 5 about 2 hours in making us around the same level as the buffed night mobs.
It was strange as it only took us around 8 hours to get back whereas it had taken us 4 days and a bit just to get there. It really was just a couple of hours away but with aggroing a large pack of monsters every few minutes really slowed the expedition down. As well as the fact that I only had a rough idea where Tolbana was so we got slightly sidetracked here and there. Also we hadn't walked through the night because too much of a pain to light all those torches and fight off the buffed mobs. Well we had to do that anyways but at least no one died only a few lost limbs here and there and miraculously regenerated which was nice to know.
Reaching the safe zone of Starting city I set my alarm for 30 minutes time and we take a quick nap...
30 minutes later I get woken up by the alarm and After waking Gwynevith we set off towards Horunka...
...
2 and half hours later
Trudging through the forest we walk cautiously. The forest had been normal for the first 2 hours with 2 packs of 8 finding their way to us. It was difficult as they were still buffed and still are but Gwynevith still 1 hit killed them so we didn't have too much trouble.
However at around 5-ish the wolf packs stopped coming altogether. Also a few minutes ago just before dawn the wolves, all of them stopped spawning. No pairs, no packs at all.
It is coming up to 6 now and I can see the morning rays find its way past the canopy and onto the forest floor. Well on the bright side it meant we didn't have to fight our way through the forest anymore as I am deadbeat and I suspect Gwynevith feels the same. So I decided to relax and stroll through the morning forest.
The relaxing feeling only lasts for seconds as an urgent ping of a message window sounds by me. Its from Message Boy I see so I open up the message...
-ChazRay