Maple Chronicles

Part 1 of three parts.

Please note that this is entirely a work of fiction. Any similarity to any person or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidence and unintentional.

Chapter 3

"Man, what was his deal?" Amber asked.

"I don't know, but he was pretty strange, but you can't expect Elnathians to be normal," Virgil laughed.

"True, true. So anyway, where do we go now?" Amber asked.

"Well, according to this map, we could go through the maze known as 'L Forest' to Kerning City, or we could blow through Henesys, and then to Ellinia. I think this route will be much quicker," Virgil said as he pointed to Henesys.

"Henesys it is," Amber said.

The two travelers felt they were near Henesys, they could hear the hustle and bustle of the markets. Right before they got there, they saw a sign that ad a picture of a snail and read, "Henesys Hunting Ground, area I." Someone scribbled below it crudely, "NO MOB KILLERS". They looked up, and saw snails, mushrooms and slimes as far as the eye could see.

"Are you sure this is the Henesys Hunting Ground we were told about?" Amber asked.

"Hmm, it looks like it, but I don't see anybody killing any of the monsters. Strange..." Virgil commented. " I guess if no one's here to kill them, then we have it all to ourselves," he said.

"You go ahead," said Amber. I'm going to the market to buy some potions, okay?" she asked.

Yeah, fine," Virgil said. "Just make sure you hurry back, I want to share the bounty," he said.

As Virgil started training, Amber walked to Henesys. As she entered, she noticed how many people there was for such a small town in the woods. An old abandoned shed with hales of bay next to it seemed to be overpopulated; people selling weapon scrolls, random monster parts, ores etc. As she entered the technical market, she noticed people walking in and out of a large portal 25 meters away. Some, she observed, walked in with weapons and items, and out with mesos, and vice-versa. She brushed past the huge crowd of incomers and outcomers by the large portal, and walked to the potion shop, and stepped inside. It smelled of the foul-yet-sweet smell of herbs and ginseng. She walked to the counter.

"Can I help you?" said the lady behind the counter.

" Yes, I need 50 vials of orange root, 15 vials of speed root, and 20 vials of blue root," Amber listed.

"Just one moment," said the lady. She dug behind the counter, and ultimately in the back room of the store, and walked out with a large bag full of glass vials filled with powdered roots of various potions. She laid them on the counter. "5000 mesos please," she said.

Amber pulled a piece of paper, a 5k mesos paper note, and handed it to the saleswoman, and took the potions. I wonder how Virgil's doing right now... she thought.

Unbeknownst to Amber, Virgil needed those potions more than he first thought. Fifteen minutes, fifty monsters, and 10 potions later, a large shadow drifted over him. Hmm... ,he thought, it sure got dark fast... He heard a low rumbling growl and the blood running through his veins became ice cold. He shakily turned around, at first to what seemed like a giant rock, but then he realized it to be a Stone Golem. "Oh hell no!" Virgil yelled as the behemoth's giant fists came crashing down like... well, a ton of rocks. Fortunately, Virgil leapt into the air at the last minute, and sent three wolbis flying torwards the golem's head, or what he interpreted it to be. This must be why there's no one here today, because of this pile rubble, he thought to himself. The wolbis connected, but shattered on impact. At a loss of ideas, he soared up the rope ladder to a safe distance to think. There was two things he could do: He could run like hell, or stay here, and recieve the ultimate training. Of course, he chose to get a lot of experience by shattering this boulder, instead of logically running away. He tried wolbis again, to the same effect: they bounced off and shattered upon his rocky body. What now? He's a friggin' rock, and all I have are thin pieces of metal? Agh, why couldn't I have learned any other skills? And then he remembered: Disorder, One of the first skills he learned, a useless one he always thought, but now it would be different. Now it would save his life. He jumped off the cliff ledge and down to the golem's level. The golem sent his right hand flying straight torwards Virgil. He jumped, and ran up his arm, to his head. He was within striking distance when the golem's left hand connected with Virgil's ribs and torso with a shattering blow, and sent him flying torwards a wall; leaving a diagonal slash of blood on the golem's torso. Oh no, he thought, I cant die yet. I made a promise. I promised peace to Maple Island, I promised myself not to ever give up. I made a promise to Amber... Just then he remembered a beginner-level skill, antoher really simple one. Recover. He concentrated and closed his eyes, and focused on healing himself. All of a sudden, air escaped his body, and then refilled his lungs It had worked. Not only had his physical condition been restpred, but his coordinition was tweaked too. He hit the wall feet first, bending his legs to lessen the impact, and then sprung off the cliff wall, soaring torwards the golem. This is it, he thought, life or death. Succeed or fail. Live or die. If the golem decided to use him as batting practice, and connected, Virgil would be nothing more than a red, goopy puddle. He had to dodge it. No time for thinking, just doing. Unsurprisingly, the golem took a swing at Virgil, however, Virgil dodged the blow, used his arm as a springboard, and leapt into the air. He charged up a Disorder, gripped his Igor, and thrust his knuckles downwards. All of a sudden, there was a huge vibration in his Claw. He connected. The golem couldn't attack or move, as well as defend. The disorder ran through his rocky body, preventing movement. Virgil jumped off the golem, grabbed four wolbis, and sent them flying torwards the golem's tiny knee area. The wolbis sliced right through the thin rock, and the immobile golem capsized and disassembled. I did it, he thought, I actually did it. I destroyed-- no, annihilated a golem. Me. a Claw Thief-- His thoughts were interrupted by sounds of sorrow and relief. He turned around. and saw Amber, mouth ajar, potions on the ground. She ran torwards what she'd just witnessed, and saw what was now a bunch of white rocks, with a red streak here and there. Virgil reacjed down and picked one up, and put it in his bag. Amber was still in shock.

"Wait a minute, did you just kill a Stone Golem? One with intention to kill you?" She asked.

"Yes," Virgil said, with pained breaths.

"Your breathing, it's so shallow and forced, hang on, I'm going to go get a doctor, stay right here," she commanded. Virgil was sitting on bales of hay, breathing heavy, laughing, or as close to it as possible. He flicked a wolbi torwards a slime and watched it separate.

"For now on," he said. "I'm sticking to you guys."