Unforeseen path, p.26
Unforeseen Path, page 26
‘Neither,’ Helgath replied as the Barbarian quickly shouldered her battle axe and brought her fists in front of her in a boxer’s pose, ‘They hate all but themselves from the rumors that I’ve heard about them.’
“Looks like you’ve chosen the hard way,” Phoenix happily said, cracking her knuckles meaningfully as she aggressively began striding towards the other female, “I’ve been jonesing for a workout after riding all day.”
“I don’t know if I’d do that-” Töten began to say when Igtra’s lips pulled back from her short fangs in triumph.
“What overconfident fools. Taking down a group of high-level simpletons doesn’t get much easier than this,” Igtra hauntingly spat, cutting the Anti-Paladin off as she thrust a red-clawed hand out towards us and shouted, “Phosphorus Web!”
As the Red Draconian-Human’s words left her lips, I felt Neysa’s muscles ripple underneath me to spring away even as brilliant white glowing strands of webbing shot from the Wild Shaman’s open palm. Up until that moment, I hadn’t been too worried about any spell she could possibly cast. Though, at hearing the word “phosphorus,” I immediately realized that might have been a grave mistake on my part as a bolt of shock ran down my spine.
While our magic shields should protect us, the Halfling’s supercilious attitude suddenly had me wondering if the low-level spell might have some unique ability to hurt or disable even high-level players such as us. Because there was no way the Silver Dire Wolf was going to be able to clear the range of the spell in the split-second it would take for the burning webbing to cover everything in its path. As I unlimbered my shield and brought the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden up to deflect the sizzling substance the best that I could, Töten’s massive hammer suddenly flew past my head.
The reaction was instantaneous. As Töten’s hammer blasted through the center of the glowing strands, it reversed the flaming web’s direction with the sizzling popping sounds of burning metal a half-second before it slammed into Igtra’s gloating face. This was the first time I’d ever seen someone stop a magic spell like that. Usually, attack spells were stopped with a weapon or a shield. From the look of stunned horror on the Red Draconian-Human’s beautiful face as she crumpled to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, it was the first time that Igtra had ever seen something like that too.
“Dammit, Töten,” Phoenix complained as she lowered her gauntleted fists, “I really wanted to beat that superior smirk off her scaled face.”
“You’re welcome to do it now,” Töten said with an indifferent shrug as we dismounted.
‘Check the old lady while I look over the other guy,’ I sent to Helgath as Phoenix and Töten headed over to the stunned Wild Shaman.
“Oh, thank you so much for coming to my rescue,” I heard the old lady say in a rickety voice as Neristhana fell in behind me, “Old Drea Dmaw knew everything would be better once you entered the boundary of Hardfall.”
Glancing back, I saw Neysa trot over to the Half-Orc as she cast a heal on the old woman, before helping her back to her feet. Other than some burnt and bloody clothing she’d be fine, I thought, turning my attention to the unmoving Red Draconian-Human male on the ground. Neristhana kept her axe held at the ready as I squatted down to the male and cast an Identify. A second later, Byrnwulf Undaunted, level 36 Red Draconian-Human, Barbarian Berserker appeared over his head as I warily turned him over to inspect his wounds.
“Hey guys, this dude is the same race as angry Igtra” I called out over my shoulder as I heard somebody behind me drop to the ground. I guess the old lady wasn’t feeling as good as she’d thought. With an indifferent mental shrug, I began looking over the Halfling’s injuries, “Any idea why she’d just drop him like this?”
“Other than being a crazy evil bitch?” Phoenix mockingly asked as she kicked the Halfling female’s iron mace further away from her limp hand.
“We had one of these Draconian-Human mixes in-” Töten began to say as Phoenix and I cut him off.
“Closed Beta?”
“Imagine that,” I sarcastically continued.
“No, that can’t be,” Phoenix humorously added as the big guy let out a heavy sigh.
“Their Wild Shaman spells are pretty nasty,” Töten continued as he pointedly ignored our mocking comments. “Not that such a low-level spell would’ve done anything to hurt us with these magic shields in place.”
“Then why bother casting it?” Phoenix asked as she pulled a length of rope from her backpack, “Should we tie her up or just break her arms and legs to make a point?”
“Because she didn’t know we were protected,” Töten explained with a shrug, “or that we had specialized gear that would ignore her basic root spells.”
As the two of them talked, I studied Byrnwulf’s health bar realizing that he was still alive. Not only that, he was a Nightmare player like the rest of us. As my fingers explored the single hole in the player’s chest, I realized there was no way that wound was caused by a spiked mace. Casting a Regeneration, I sat back on my haunches thoughtfully. If he’d been stunned just like Igtra, then why was he taking so long to recover?
“Hey Star,” Neristhana suddenly said as she dropped to the ground beside me on her knees to sniff the closing wound on the player’s chest, “I think he was poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” I grunted thoughtfully, not noticing that Töten and Phoenix had fallen silent behind me. I was just about to cast my Minor Cure Disease spell when a surprisingly strong hand clapped me on the back of the neck as a series of pin-pricks pierced my skin. To my shock, I peripherally saw the old woman’s face as she leaned forward to squat down between Neristhana and me as system windows suddenly pop-up open before my eyes.
Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch has stung you for 100 points of damage.
Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch’s poison has paralyzed you for five minutes.
“Oh, my,” I heard Drea Dmaw’s rickety voice cooingly exclaim in my ear, “I never expected to trap such succulent specimens for this evening’s festivities.” A hard hand that almost felt like a claw poked and prodded my body for a few seconds. “My children are in for a mighty nice treat tonight!”
Those words made my skin crawl as my mind suddenly put two and two together. I immediately felt like an idiot. Drea Dmaw was basically Dread Maw! Igtra Raktize’s enraged accusations of “Ignorant fool” and that “your idiocy knows no bounds” suddenly came back to me in a rush, especially her comment that she was going to “cleanse this aberrant of nature from The World.” I shook my head in disgust. We’d blindly walked right into that trap.
Just for the record, I sagely thought, the Red Draconian-Human female could’ve been a little less of a raging bitch to get her warning across. A part of me was fuming at being tricked like this, but seriously, who’d ever heard of an old lady shape changing into a monster that hunts players in anything but an Anime series or a horror movie? While that thought was churning through my head, another part of my mind wondered how she’d accomplished the shape-changing feat. And, more importantly, were there other monsters like this in The World? Without any warning, agony shot through my back as a chitinous spike the size of a baseball bat suddenly burst out of my chest as another system window popped open before my eyes.
Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch has stabbed you for 237 points of damage.
Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch’s poison has paralyzed you for thirty-seven minutes.
While the wound hurt like a motherfucker, it only did two hundred and thirty-seven points of damage. As my body was hauled up into the air still hanging from the spike sticking through my chest, I caught a glimpse of a frozen Neristhana hanging in the air next to me like a piece of meat as the creature turned and began waddling towards the glow of the village at the bottom of the hollow.
“Time to hang up you lovely meat sacks for later,” Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch said as her voice deepened midway through into a monstrous tone, before beginning to hum a jaunty tune about feeding hungry children as a new series of system windows popped open before my eyes.
Congratulations! You have entered the unique dungeon of the Gigantic Cheliferidae Risso Infestation!
New Quest automatically received! Kill Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch and stop the infestation that has taken over the Hamlet of Hardfall!
The Gigantic Cheliferidae Risso Pseudoscorpion, Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch, and her two mates, Toxic Stalker the Noxious and VaporStrike the Ravenous, have infested the Hamlet of Hardfall and planted their larva into the townsfolk that lives there. To stop the pseudoscorpion infestation from spreading to the major city of Lodenburg and the other nearby towns, you must defeat the Matriarch and her mates or be consumed by her swarms of young.
Warning! You have two hours to complete this quest! The dungeon starts in thirty-nine minutes.
(Additional note: this quest will adjust to the highest-level player inside the dungeon and the number of players who are captured inside when the event goes live. All players trapped in the event will need to work together to escape captivity and complete the dungeon. Low-level players need to tackle the swarms of monsters, while high-level players dispatch the bosses. While players can choose the suicide option to escape this dungeon, this will leave the other players at a disadvantage and the infestation will continue to spread and destroy the surrounding area. While the event is active, players and monsters cannot leave the boundaries of the Hamlet of Hardfall.)
Objective: Kill the Boss Dreadmaw the Ravaging Matriarch and her two mini-boss mates, Toxic Stalker the Noxious and VaporStrike the Ravenous.
Difficulty: Nightmare.
Reward: Experience and Reputation with the city of Lodenburg and the Kingdom of Kader.
Accept: Yes
Fuck a duck, I silently swore, wondering just how screwed we were going to be. While I was worried about Helgath and the rest of my friends, I forcibly squashed my disquiet, figuring everyone would be fine. At least, they would be until the start of the dungeon.
Chapter Eleven
(Monday, May 12th / Day 22 of The World.)
(Zeven Al'Zaric and his companions traveling through the Kingdom of Kader.)
“We’ve gotta stop,” Nahimana sobbed into Zeven’s ear from where she clutched his waist in a death grip, “I’ve gotta rest!”
“Just a little bit longer, Nahi,” Zeven soothingly murmured, mentally calling up his map once again to verify their position, “We should be reaching Lodenburg at any moment.”
“I’m sorry, Zeven,” Nahimana sobbed as her claws dug into his fur, “I’ve been trying not to complain but every muscle in my body is killing me.”
“It’s cool, you’re really doing great,” Zeven encouragingly said as he comfortingly patted her tense thigh while trying to figure out where in the hell they were.
Studying the map hovering before his eyes, Zeven pressed his thick black lips together in frustration. What the hell was going on? The map showed that they were directly under the Lodenburg’s dot! So then, why weren’t they seeing the damnable city? Closing his silver-blue eyes, he took a deep breath and counted down from ten silently in his head to dissipate the furious rage in his chest, before addressing Nahimana again.
“Remember, you’re too low of a level to actually be able to learn the riding skill at this time. That’s what causing you so much pain.” He let out an explosive breath. “How about this? Once we climb this next ridge, we’ll take a quick break while I figure out where we are in relation to Lodenburg.”
“I’ll try to hold out a bit longer,” Nahimana gasped in tears, nearly hanging from his neck as she tried to reduce the muscle strain on her leg muscles.
“Bbbrrrraaa bbrraaa Bbrrra,” Bright Claw morosely cried out next to them.
“I know, man,” Zeven said, worried about Nahimana too but there wasn’t much else they could do, “but we already tried that. Riding on your back just isn’t working like it did with the Dwarven children.”
While Zeven’s heart went out to Nahimana, there simply wasn’t any other option left open to them. From everything he’d read on the in-game wiki, the fact that she was able to ride behind him at all was amazing in and of itself. The only thing that made any sense was that there was some unique ability at play with the Mountain Strider Combat Mount that wasn’t listed in the details.
"We’re here,” Zeven said as soon as they crested the ridge. As carefully as possible, he swung Nahimana to the ground as she all but collapsed in a heap.
Sliding down next to her, Zeven held onto the poor girl as gently as he could while his silver-blue eyes studied their surroundings. About five or so miles down the slope, he saw the massive glowing city in the distance that had to be Lodenburg. Breathing a sigh of relief, his eyes sought out the smaller glowing areas he knew were around. These were small farming communities where players could get local quests to build up their reputation with the Human faction.
“Did you pass through Lodenburg on your way to rescue me?” Nahimana curiously asked as her eyes studied the city in the distance.
“No,” Zeven said as an ugly look momentarily danced across his furry face, “They wouldn’t let an unknown Beast Kin enter the city.” He pointed a claw-tipped finger at the smaller glows that were scattered around the bright blob of Lodenburg. “I stayed at a small inn in a farming community that allowed me to rent a room for the night.”
“You’re not missing anything,” Nahimana growled, “When Lester led me to the main gate, I thought the local guards would save me.” Her face hardened at the memory as her eyes flashed in fury. “They did nothing except act like I was his property!”
“Now you’re a free female,” Zeven gruffly said, trying to not think about the horrors that she’d been through.
That might sound cold, but honestly, Zeven couldn’t handle thinking of the torture and rape that Nahimana had been forced to endure during her captivity with that creepy player. Talking about it really didn’t help either, he thought, shaking his head angrily as rage burned through his veins. The truth of the matter was that bad things happen to good people. It was the simple fact of life we all had to accept.
The only thing you could do to stop such tragedies from happening in the future was to make yourself strong enough to never be a victim again. Zeven’s mind went back to some of the horrors he’d witnessed in his time in the Navy in foreign ports. While death was always a possible outcome for standing up for yourself, it was preferable to the alternatives, aka living life as a slave.
“I still don’t understand why these Chofe-ka allowed that to happen to me!” Nahimana angrily snarled as she started to painfully climb to her feet to stand next to him.
“That’s because, in most of the Nordic Kingdoms, slavery is allowed,” Zeven explained in a pained voice as he helped her up while his mind flashed back to the term Human Trafficking. It was like slavery was too ugly of a term for modern countries to use, so they tried to excuse it by calling the horror of owning another soul a new name. Twenty-first-century marketing for slavers, he thought with a snort of disgust. “So, they turn a blind eye to the horrors going on before their eyes due to the atrocity being unofficially supported by the nobles.”
“Is there no way we can stop it?” Nahimana asked in a small voice.
“It’s possible, but only at great cost,” Zeven heavily said as they quietly stood next to each other lost in their own thoughts.
“Where are we going to go then?” Nahimana asked, glancing up at him.
“There,” Zeven said, pointing to the closest glowing village in the distance. Not that they could see much of it since it was hidden in a small hollow down the slope. “Then, we’ll head back to Aeroch Nor where I have a few friends, and decide how to hunt down the rest of our missing clanmates.”
“I’m sorry that I don’t know more of what happened to our people-” Nahimana began to apologize again as Zeven wordlessly hugged her to his chest.
“No apologies are needed,” Zeven said, his voice cracking with emotion, “I found you, together we’ll figure out a way to find and rescue the rest of our people.”
“Bbbrrraaaa brraa bbbraaa?” Bright Claw asked, shoving his keg-like head into their waists.
“I know we’ll find a way,” Zeven said, clapping the large Grizhawk on a muscular shoulder, before standing up straight and giving Nahimana a firm nod. “Come on, we both need food and rest after everything that’s happened today.”
“Let’s,” Nahimana said as her jaw clenched and a look of determination flared in her eyes.
Mounting up on Prima’s back, Zeven held out a clawed hand to help Nahimana climb back on. Ignoring the momentary groan of pain as she settled in place, he clicked his heels for the Mountain Strider to head down the slope. Thankfully, it only took them about three minutes to reach the hollow and start their way down the dirt road that seemed to appear from nowhere.
Welcome! You have entered the Hamlet of Hardfall. All may enter but none can ever leave!
That was curious, Zeven thought, glancing back to see that the road just ended at the outskirts of the hamlet. As they headed down toward the village, he called up the system window to read the message once again, smirking at the addition of the “All may enter but none can ever leave!” It made him wonder if one of the developers was a fan of the song Hotel California.
Not that Zeven took the wording to mean anything nefarious. From his experience, developers were always adding in little Easter Eggs for players to pick up on in their games. It made games fun and it was cool to be one of the few people who actually caught the hidden cultural and gaming references. Besides, all that was important was that they could get a secure room for the night.
While Zeven wished they could’ve stopped to camp earlier, there simply weren’t any other options left open to them. After recovering Nahimana from the Triple A guild, he wasn’t about to leave her alone when he logged out to crash. If she was kidnapped again by another group of PKers, this whole ordeal would’ve been all for nothing.
