Tides of magic, p.14
Tides of Magic, page 14
“You’re sure that’s Elwin,” Eric asked Hal, who nodded. In response Eric grabbed a spare knife from Hal’s belt and in one fluid motion flipped it over, catching it by the tip before hurling it down the hallway. The dagger shot past Croft and Diana before passing through Elwin’s head. It could then be heard clattering against the ceiling and floor before coming to a stop.
“Why does everyone do that?” Elwin sighed.
“We already tried,” Hal said before Eric did anything else, “it’s just an illusion.”
“Worth a try,” Eric grumbled, pushing himself to his feet.
“If you say so,” Elwin shrugged, “anyways, I’ll finish fixing you up tonight. Just tell me, are they going to be stupid enough to pull you out like they did the last guy?”
“No, I’m here until I find a way out myself. We didn’t want to see if… that happened again.”
“Good, you government types can learn. I’m sure the others can fill you in on everything, Auf Wiedersehen,” and with that he faded out of existence once more.
“Well, guess he wasn’t lying,” Eric commented, “this really does feel real. We weren’t sure what to expect.”
“What’s going on out there?” Croft asked, putting voice to everyone’s question.
“There someplace to sit down?”
They led him back to the hall where the servants had taken the mostly finished dinner away, apparently figuring their lords could handle whatever it was.
“Elwin released a statement shortly after everyone was put in the VR units,” Eric explained, having taken the seat at the head of the table, “he said you were all part of an experiment he was running and wouldn’t be coming out any time soon. We had to bring in hospital staff to keep you all alive with IVs and… other stuff. The first player died barely hours after the announcement, we found the VR headsets could induce enough pain to kill. Elwin told us that removing the helmets while they were in use would cause major brain damage, so we didn’t want to try that with one of you civilians.
“You’ve become minor celebrities over the last couple months, lots of news papers picking up the story of the gamer hostages. The government promised to help, and several options were chosen, and are still being perused. Can’t go into much detail, don’t want Elwin to overhear, but about a month ago it was decided to send someone into the VR system, a volunteer naturally, using the dead player’s setup. After 24 hours he was pulled out forcibly, with medical staff and tech guys helping. I don’t know the details, but they injected him with something and pulled the helmet off.”
“Did it work?” Croft asked.
“If it had you’d all be out by now,” Eric replied, “and no, major brain damage was caused, he’s still alive but with the mental age of a three-year-old. He remembers nothing of what happened in the game. The attempt also destroyed the VR rig, so we’re not going to try that again. But several of us volunteered to be sent in to help and try and find a proper way out.”
“And you’re a field agent?” Hal asked.
“Yup, worked in third world countries, can’t say which, doing things, can’t say what. After Gordon died I went through some rapid preparations to be sent in, which took about a month. The wait was also to see if it was a one-off thing or the rest of you would follow, didn’t want to send me into a hopeless situation.”
“How… thoughtful of you,” Diana remarked dryly.
“Realities of my work,” Eric replied with a shrug, “anyways I read up on all of you, got a crash course in programming languages and polished up on using some older weapons since Elwin claimed it was a medieval setting inside. Then I was sent in to take charge and get you guys out of here.”
“Take charge?” Isabella cocked her head.
“Ya, I’m going to want reports on… well, everything. I don’t know what’s happening, so I’ll need to be told all of that. I hate going into a situation blind but there’s no choice here.”
“Hold on,” Diana spoke up, “we’re not just going to make you our leader.”
“Why not? I have actual field experience in dangerous situations, years of knowledge of military tactics, political maneuvering and the like.”
“Do you have any experience with games?”
“I learned the basics in some programming languages, should be enough if it comes up.”
“Ya, this isn’t going to work,” said Croft, “we already have a leader.”
“Oh, who’s in charge here then?”
“Hal,” Croft, Diana and Isabella all said at once. Ash said nothing but nodded.
“Wait, when was this decided?” Hal asked.
“We had a meeting without you,” Diana explained.
“Do I get a say in this?”
“No.”
“Really, you picked an engineer as a leader?” Eric looked almost surprised.
“He’s the reason we’re still alive,” Diana countered, “he’s the best gamer, intelligent, dedicated and kind.”
“I-,” Hal looked flustered, his facing reddening slightly.
“You chose him because he’s a gamer?” Eric scoffed.
“Not this again,” Isabella sighed.
“I’ll admit it’s helpful in a game, but surely someone with actual combat and leadership experience would be better.”
“I happen to agree!” Hal insisted.
“Not now honey,” Diana patted him on the shoulder then turned back to Eric, “We can put this to the test, you and him, one on one combat. First to critical health or admission of defeat.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Eric said.
“That’s hardly fair, I’m almost three levels above him!” Hal complained.
“And he’s a ranger, you can start the fight twenty meters apart, and he gets first shot,” the mage responded, “Isabella, give Eric your bow for the fight.”
“I’ll run down to the shop and get him leather armor,” added Croft as Isabella pulled her bow out and handed it to Eric with a full quiver.
“I’ll take a brace of daggers too,” Eric added, “since you’re giving me gear.”
Despite Hal’s protests within ten minutes they were out in the court yard standing a good distance apart, with a not insubstantial number of villagers had gathered to watch. Ash explained to them that Eric had challenged Hal for control of the Guild, which naturally drew almost the entire village to watch.
“First to critical health or admission of defeat,” one NPC said from the middle of the field, he had introduced himself as a duel master, explaining that he could prevent a challenge like this from ending in death, “Eric gets the handicap of starting distance and may start the duel with the first shot. Winner gains leadership of the Order of Gordon’s Hope. Sir Hal Emden, do you agree to these terms.”
“I guess,” Hal sighed.
“Mister Eric Smith, do you agree to these terms?”
“Amazing, he really does look real,” Eric said, leaning in to take a close look at the clearly uncomfortable duel master, “realistic facial expressions, voice… perspiration.”
“Are you ready Mister Smith?” the man repeated, taking a step back.
“Yes, let’s do this,” Eric said with an almost feral grin, readying his bow and turning to face Hal.
“Very well then,” the duel master said, retiring to the side of the field, “you may begin when ready.”
Without hesitation Eric lifted the bow, drew and fired at Hal. The arrow hit him in the shoulder, punching a hole in the thin armor of his pauldron, causing Hal to wince in pain. Instead of charging Hal lifted a hand while Eric pulled another arrow from the quiver he’d attached to his belt, instead of his back like Isabella had.
“Shield of Wind,” Hal spoke, the wind immediately beginning to whirl around his outstretched hand. Eric’s second arrow got caught in the wind and deflected off, clattering harmlessly to the ground. Two more arrows similarly failed to hit due to the spell.
Slowly Hal began walking forward, keeping his left hand outstretched with his longsword in his right, its tip nearly dragging in the dirt. A couple of steps later Eric managed to score another hit, this time the arrow struck Hal’s outstretched hand, it didn’t penetrate the armor but made Hal pull his hand back with another wince.
“Your little tricks don’t compare to actual skill and experience,” Eric remarked as the wind shield dissipated.
“That one really stung,” complained Hal, shaking his left hand like he’d been bitten by a bug.
Two more arrows followed, one glancing off his chest plate and the other burying itself in Hal’s thigh. Hal kept walking forward despite the hits, almost unconcerned.
“You might want to fight back,” the agent said, sending another arrow down range that Hal managed to deflect with his sword, “if you just take it the others probably won’t accept your loss.”
“Stop playing with your food Hal,” Diana shouted from the sidelines.
“I don’t really want to lead,” Hal responded, leaning to one side so an arrow aimed for his head missed.
“That’s what makes you a good leader,” she countered.
“I don’t want to follow the scary man,” Ash added.
“Just kick his ass, show him that us gamers are something to be feared,” Croft joined in.
“Stop fooling around and fight,” Eric grumbled, “I need to see your limit, so I know where to start with training when I win.”
“Fine, ice burst” Hal sighed, lifting his left hand again. A sphere of frost erupted from Eric’s chest, covering him in a thin sheen of ice, before he could react Hal dropped into his warrior skill stance, “Charge.”
Eric genuinely looked surprised as Hal suddenly crossed the remaining distance between them. Without missing a beat however, the agent dropped his bow, pulling a pair of daggers from the brace across his chest. He danced out of the way of Hal’s first attack, before lunging in and burying one of his daggers into Hal’s gut.
“I told you, your tricks don’t compare to actual combat experience,” Eric said.
“That should be enough,” Hal replied with a wince, “Arcane Rebound.”
There was a flash of light and the sharp crack of lightning. As the burst of light faded Eric crumpled to the ground several feet behind where he had been standing earlier.
“But, that was-,” he started, only to be interrupted as Hal drove the point of his sword into Eric’s chest. Suddenly Hal’s blade was pushed back out and Eric was surrounded by a white barrier.
“The Duel is over,” the NPC duel master stated, “the winner is Sir Hal Emden.”
The villagers cheered as the barrier around Eric faded, Croft walked across the field and began healing both combatants.
“Took you long enough,” Diana jokingly complained as the crowd began to disperse.
“I wasn’t sure how much damage I had to take for rebound to work,” Hal explained, “well, it’s more damage avoided than taken but…”
“More tricks!” Eric yelled, getting back on his feet as Croft continued to cast heals, “give me a proper fight!”
“You’re in a game,” Diana responded before Hal could say anything, “those ‘tricks’ are how we fight in here. He gave you a minute straight to unload into him and he never went below half health. then he took you down in seconds. You honestly think anyone else in this world is going to fight you without tricks? Would you fight without them if you knew how to use them?”
“I-,” Eric stopped short, “ok, fair, a good soldier should know how to use all tools at their disposal. But tell me, how did he win? That gut shot should have been a kill.”
“In the real world sure,” Croft explained, “but here it’s a piercing attack to the chest with a light weapon, Hal is wearing plate armor which is strong against piercing and slashing attacks, so more damage was mitigated than inflicted, regardless of where you hit him.”
“It doesn’t matter where I attack him?”
“No, by attacking the weak points you dealt more damage than if you forced the knife through one of the main plates, and the arrows deflected by the armor dealt no damage at all.”
“And I have an ability that stores energy based on damage avoided,” Hal continued, “each arrow that missed, bounced off my armor or I deflected added to that pool. Which I then unleashed on you with the rebound spell.”
“In short you were a damage class going up against a tank,” Diana said smugly, “and without using skills you didn’t have the burst to put Hal down before he made up his mind and struck back.”
“Ok, now I’m actually curious,” Eric admitted, “what should I have done?”
The next hour was spent discussing tactics, skills and the like. The party had mostly agreed that Hal would have won regardless if he had gone all out from the start, simply due to the level difference, giving Hal more health, spells and abilities. Isabella showed him how to use ranger skills, and a minor archery contest broke out between the two which ended without a winner.
“Fine, I’ll work with you for now Hal,” Eric conceded as the sun vanished behind the mountains, “though I feel like a need a drink now, do they have beer in this world?”
Diana’s mouth twisted into an evil smile.
-----
Hal spent most of the next day catching Eric up on the situation, including Gordon’s death, the mysterious Agi, what they were working on in the small holding and their plans to move over the mountains to the West Vales to carve out a kingdom. Once he set his mind to something Eric was an adept student, and Hal was glad to have his experience joining them.
“It seems our next major goal is to capture a base of operations in the West Vales,” Eric commented later, “but we lack information on the situation over the mountains and the company mentioned by this Agi. Am I correct?”
“That’s the short of it,” agreed Hal, “we’ve been focusing on getting our individual strength up and developing this holding.”
“By your own admission the land here is poor for farming, and the mine is poor quality. I think we should make the move over sooner rather than later.”
“And just abandon this manor?”
“We have two options, one is taking all the NPCs with us, arm them as best we can and use them as a militia army for our first conquest.”
“You mean use them as cannon fodder,” Hal corrected, “we’re not doing that, even if we could get enough through the pass to matter I don’t want to abandon this holding.”
“The simulations seem… realistic in their lack of skills as well. Then the other option is to install a local as mayor,” Eric said in a stiff voice, “use this manor as a fallback point. If what you said about your abilities is true we may be able to take a small fort with just the six of us.”
“That still leaves the lack of information as an issue,” Hal replied, “I’m pretty sure we’re being watched by Agi, somehow.”
“You said they are probably new to the area, which I think is right, if they are then waiting benefits them more than us. If we move fast enough, we might be able to force them to play their hand before they’re ready.”
“Fair enough,” Hal admitted, “so your recommendation is to make the move soon, be prepared for an ambush and use it to our advantage?”
“Pretty much,” Eric agreed.
“I’ll defer to you when it comes to military matters, but there are a few gaming things we need before we attempt this. Frist, we need to get you caught up in level, that should get you more abilities and skills along with more base health. I know you can handle yourself in war but from the standpoint of a game you are a liability in combat. Second, Isabella, Croft and you are all lacking advanced classes, meaning all three of you are behind in utility.”
“I guess I have to defer to you in matters of gaming then. Level increases from combat, right? The bounties?” asked Eric, to which Hal nodded, “I’ll make a point of doing as many as I can.”
“Take someone with you, if only for safety.”
“Fair enough. And the advanced classes… I admit I have fewer ideas on how to handle that, fairy circles, completely over my head.”
“Do you know how to catch animals?”
“Ya, assuming the virtual animals act like their real world counterparts, it’s basic hunting.”
“Take Isabella with you on bounties then, if you find an animal of ‘above average strength,’ like a bear or large wolf, catch it alive. Help Isabella tame it. Croft’s fairy circle we’re just going to have to stumble upon or something. As for you… have you put any thought into which of the specializations you want?”
“Not really,” Eric admitted, “games ain’t my thing. You said Gordon was going for sniper? I was a sniper back in the marines, let’s do that.”
“According to the sources I read you need to ‘prove your prowess at archery,’ or something. We could stop by Litsen and have you take part in an archery contest, that might do it.”
“Litsen is enemy territory, I’d rather avoid going back there unless we want to pick a fight with Agi.”
“Those were my thoughts,” Hal agreed, “there is a modest town at the start of one of the passes through the mountains, forget its name, it might have an archery range. We could hit that on the way over.”
“Makes sense,” Eric shrugged.
“Well, I guess those are your orders. Get to level six like the rest of us and help Isabella catch an animal. Since you seem the type, go ahead and compile a list of everything you think we’ll need to make it to the West Vales and capture our first castle or fort. I’ll talk with Ash to find a good town mayor to take over admin for us after we leave, we might be able to leave within a week if this all goes smoothly.”
“Should we really bring the kid with us? He seems young for the situation, maybe we could leave him in charge here.”
“He isn’t exactly a combat powerhouse,” Hal admitted, “but he gets along with the NPCs better than anyone else, I also have some ideas about making him useful in combat beyond just backup healing. Consider him a local translator I guess, someone who can help you communicate with the NPCs. Besides, there’s no guarantee he’ll be safe here after we’ve left.”
