Terramyr Online: The Undiscovered Country: A LitRPG Adventure Page 14

  Brian readied himself as Barry sheathed his dagger and pulled a longsword. “This is going to be fun!” Barry squealed. “I’ll take both books from you and get the credit for finishing the quest.”

  “Barry, come on, we need to play as a team,” Brian said.

  “What’s the matter, Brian, can’t face me in a fair fight?”

  Barry rushed in again with a high chop of his sword. Brian blocked it, but it cost him a full quarter of his stamina and staggered him back two steps. Brian tried to counter, but Barry moved in with a slash to Brian’s chest that was too quick to block.

  Brian lost half his HP.

  He chopped at Barry, forcing him back to avoid the blow, then ran.

  “Coward!” Barry called.

  Brian looked over his shoulder to see Barry charging him while preparing a heavy swing. Brian turned, his back to the cliff’s edge, and prepared to block. Then, just at the last moment before Barry let loose with his attack, Brian hopped back over the cliff’s edge, sheathed his sword, and grabbed onto the first handhold he saw, about three feet below the top of the cliff.

  Barry’s sword whooshed through the air where Brian had been, but without Brian there to absorb the blow, Barry went toppling right over the edge. Brian watched as Barry’s eyes shot open wide and he started screaming.

  “No, no, no! That’s not fair!” Barry cried out as his avatar flailed about wildly. Brian watched as Barry fell ten, twenty, then thirty feet downward; his legs hit the edge of the ledge below, which sent him cartwheeling through the air down the remaining two hundred and seventy feet to the bottom. Barry’s screams grew quieter until they stopped abruptly and his avatar hit the bottom and then bounced down the slope with the most satisfying ragdoll mechanics Brian had ever witnessed in a game.

  [+700 XP]

  “Score one for me, prick,” Brian said aloud. He then clambered to his left, placing himself directly above the ledge, and descended. Fortunately, even with a significant portion of his stamina gone, Brian was able to safely reach the ledge without falling. While he waited for his stamina bar to refill, he took a moment to send a direct message to Barry.

  [Next time, maybe you’ll think twice before attacking me. By the way, I assume you were still carrying the luck blossoms. I’ll be happily taking those back, along with anything else you had.]

  No response. Not surprising. Barry was always in denial about losing even in the best of times, and this fight had been anything but graceful. Brian doubted whether Barry would even bother to respawn tonight at all. More likely he’d sulk for a night and then try to jump on in the morning when he was supposed to be working.

  Brian moved into the cave, taking the time to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness as much as possible. The farther he went, the worse it smelled. It was like a stale latrine mixed with a mushroom farm.

  The random clumps of silvery spider webs didn’t help either. He saw large scorpions, birds, and even bats stuck in the webs. Eventually the cave split into two tunnels—one filled with more webs, some sporting entire human heads, and the other filled with large mushrooms and stinking of rot.

  The map marker had disappeared once he had entered the cave, a typical device used by games to ensure the quests weren’t too easy. The marker itself had only pointed to the cave entrance, so that was of little help now. He’d just have to explore. He ate the remaining three loaves of bread and four apples in his inventory. It only got him to about eighty percent of his HP, but that was the best he could do.

  Better not get caught. Brian took the tunnel on the right with the mushrooms. Easier to hide among the shadows and muck than fight who knew how many giant spiders. Plus, if the spiders had active venom, which they almost always did in these games, he’d be hard-pressed to make it out alive.

  He squeezed between two large mushrooms and then crept along a long, winding corridor of wet stone. Moss patches drooped from the ceiling, and puddles of brown water threatened to expose him if he was careless enough to step in them. Eventually he came to a large chamber filled with the ambient blue and green light of bioluminescent mushrooms the size of small fruit trees. The chamber was only forty feet long and about thirty feet wide. The mushrooms provided ample cover to hide behind, but Brian wasn’t about to enter the chamber yet. He decided to wait and scan from afar.

  Good thing too, because only a moment later a nine-foot troll came around a mushroom. His gangly arms tapered off to wide hands with narrow, deadly claws the length of daggers extending from the bony fingers. In one claw-tipped hand the troll carried the back half of what appeared to be a mountain goat. He sat down in the center of the chamber and ate the goat, tossing freshly cleaned bones into a pile to his left.

  As Brian studied the pile, he saw a book with a bloodstained cover. It flashed a muted gold, confirming to him it was the quest item he sought. The trouble was, however, how was he going to get it? He moved into the chamber, clinging to the back of a large mushroom and peering around at the troll. The word “Troll” appeared above the creature in red letters.

  Figured that much, Brian thought as he saw the word. With its regenerative powers and claws, there would be no contest if it came to a fight. Brian had to steal the book and then escape. That thought brought up another point to consider. Was Brian faster than the troll? Could he run in and, treating it like some grotesque game of capture the flag, run out again? Or would he be snatched up and chewed apart like the goat?

  The troll grunted and tossed aside the last of the bones. Rising to its feet, it lumbered back to the left.

  Brian snuck around the right side of the chamber, careful to keep a thick mushroom between him and the troll at all times while sneaking.

  The troll had a food mound of two-and-a-half more goats. Presumably, Brian could use this time to get into position, then wait for the next interlude before snatching the book and running like a mad man. He crept along the outer wall until he was in position beyond the center of the room, stalking up as close as he dared to where the troll would sit.

  The troll grunted and walked back with the front half of a goat. Stopping halfway to the bone pile to yawn and stretch, it then continued and sat down in the same spot, gnawing on the goat for about a minute. It tossed bones to the pile every now and again, until at last it chucked the head to the side and then rose up once more to get another carcass.

  Brian waited for four steps, allowing the troll to reach the halfway point, and then he snuck forward and grabbed the book as carefully as he could. The book was added to his inventory and he held his breath, wondering if the bone pile would tumble after losing the book. Nothing happened.

  He started crossing the rest of the way toward the chamber’s entrance, but it was simply too far to reach by sneaking before the troll turned around.

  His sneak eye opened a heartbeat before the troll roared and stomped the ground.

  Brian turned to see a full goat carcass ripped in half, the front half in the troll’s right hand and the back half in his left. The troll stomped again and started toward Brian. He stopped sneaking and sprinted, suddenly thankful for the fact that he had sprinted so much early on and improved his athletics score. His stamina didn’t drain quickly, and he was able to outpace the troll.

  Whack!

  Brian was launched forward several feet by some force that struck his back. His stamina took a hit, and his HP went down by about ten percent. Glancing down, he saw the front half of the goat. Instantly, he realized the troll had thrown the thing like a missile. He also knew the troll had one more half to throw. He started zigzagging where he could without losing speed in the hopes of avoiding the second projectile.

  As he neared the juncture of the two tunnels, his ploy worked—the other half of the goat carcass sailed past him harmlessly. It slammed into a mushroom and bounced off to the side before sticking in a thick cord of spider webs.

  Brian glanced over his shoulder. The troll, now unencumbered by the goat, was gaining on him. Brian turned his head back aro
und just in time to avoid a mushroom in his path. He leapt over it gracefully.

  [Acrobatics +1]

  “Haha, Mike would appreciate that!”

  He was only ten feet from the intersection when the troll managed to slice at his back. Twenty percent of Brian’s HP bar disappeared, and again the force launched him forward.

  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise though, for just as he sailed into the intersection, a giant spider emerged from the other tunnel, likely attracted by the still-quivering goat half stuck in its web. Brian was just able to escape the spider as the troll entered the intersection. The two creatures turned on each other. The spider hissed and clicked as it reared up and lifted its forelegs in a threatening pose. Brian saw just the first couple of strikes over his shoulder.

  The spider had an orange dot, meaning it would likely die against the troll and the troll would resume the pursuit; the spider bit the troll, reducing some of its HP, but the troll began regenerating as quickly as it was struck. It slashed out with its claws in a multi-attack, reducing the spider’s HP by a fifth.

  Facing front, he sprinted through the last portion of the winding tunnel until he reached the ledge.

  His stamina was nearly empty by the time he saw the sunlight again, so he had no choice but to wait and let it refill. He crouched into sneak mode and peered down the tunnel, counting the seconds go by and hoping his stamina refilled before he saw the ugly monster again.

  No such luck.

  The troll rounded the corner and came into view just as Brian’s stamina reached the three-quarter-full mark. Time to go! Brian couldn’t wait any longer. Up the cliff he went, just as fast as his avatar would climb. As soon as he was over the lip of the cliff, he spied a trio of boulders some fifty yards beyond the precipice. He sprinted for them and zipped around the rocks, scaring a bewildered fox that went shrieking away down the mountainside.

  There was a small space between two of the boulders down at the bottom that allowed Brian to observe the cliff’s edge. He went into sneak mode for good measure and then muted his mic just in case the smart comms system also allowed monsters to hear his natural noises.

  A few seconds later, the claws of one hand reached over the top of the cliff and the troll pulled itself up. It stood on the edge of the cliff, its long, pointy nose making it quite easy for Brian to see which way it was looking.

  “Go the other way, ugly,” Brian said, unmuting his mic.

  The troll seemed to look at his group of boulders and took three long steps toward them.

  “No, the other way!”

  The troll then stopped, looked back the other way, and took several steps in the opposite direction.

  Brian breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like the troll, though aggressive, was not programmed to be an intelligent tracker. It ended the search after a few more grunts and stomps, then climbed back down the cliff face and roared, obviously angered by losing a human-sized meal.

  Brian sighed again and then crept down the mountainside, keeping an eye out for Barry’s body.

  Eventually he found the broken and bloodied avatar hung up on a single juniper tree in front of a shallow mountain stream that sported a couple of small freshwater crabs.

  Brian went to the corpse and looted it.

  [+1 leather Morr’Tai initiate hood]

  [+1 leather Morr’Tai initiate hauberk]

  [+1 leather Morr’Tai initiate trousers]

  [+1 leather Morr’Tai initiate gloves]

  [+1 leather Morr’Tai initiate boots]

  [+1 feathersteel Morr’Tai dagger]

  [+3 luck blossom]

  [+175 GP]

  [+1 steel longsword]

  Brian closed the inventory screen and equipped the steel longsword.

  [Steel longsword equipped. Slashing damage +15]

  Brian looked down and was puzzled to see Barry’s avatar lying on the ground. Now that his assassin attire was removed, Barry’s gamer tag appeared over the corpse. Xylxxian is such an ostentatious name. The letters were gray, denoting that Barry’s character had died, but the body should have disappeared now that had Brian looted it.

  Brian shrugged and was about to walk away and let the game sort itself out when he realized this was exactly the type of thing that could score him some grace points with Meredith. Opening up the DM system, he typed a message to Meredith.

  [Found a glitch. Barry died falling off a cliff. I looted his body, but it’s still here. It isn’t disappearing like it should.]

  Ha! Now he could show up at the next meeting without feeling like he had been summoned to the principal’s office. When ten seconds passed by without a response, Brian figured Meredith must be busy or had perhaps logged out for the night. She’d see it next time she logged in to the game. Until then, Brian needed to get back to the scholar of Anorit and return the books. As he set off for the town, he realized that his stamina was draining more quickly than it had been previous to setting out on the quest, and he was unable to run. For a moment he thought he might have run into another game glitch, but when he pulled open his menu and glanced through his stats, he found the problem.

  [YOU ARE ENCUMBERED]

  Of course! He was carrying two days’ worth of silverware, plates, and cups, an eighty-pound manticore hide, plenty of looted remains from various fauna, and now an extra set of assassin armor. He dumped the armor immediately, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sell it at any shop or even through an underground fence. That reduced his encumbrance enough to let him run again, but it would only take one or two new inventory items to put him over the limit again.

  His first stop then, of course, should not be the library, but rather a place where he could sell off the extra weapons and other unnecessary items. Why not The Finer Points? Gotta keep my inventory tidy, he thought with a smile.

  When he arrived in town, he found Freya at the back of the shop as he had before. She looked at him with her green eyes and greeted him warmly.

  “Welcome to The Finer Points.”

  “I have come to sell a sword,” Brian said triumphantly.

  “You won’t find better prices or sharper blades anywhere in Fezhik,” Freya said, repeating her same line from before.

  He sold the iron longsword for seven gold, the iron axe for five gold, and kept the iron spear, since it was only worth one gold piece. Freya wouldn’t buy the nobleman’s clothes, but she had some interesting information for him regarding the hides, scales, and fangs.

  “I only make weapons here, but there are a couple of fine armorers operating here in the merchant quarter if you want to upgrade your armor,” she repeated each time he offered her one of the looted items.

  He then promptly bought another training session. The same cut scene as before unfolded for him, though this time he had the option to skip it. He let it play out, admiring Freya’s movements and wondering what she’d be like in real life.

  Idiot. Brian berated himself. She’s a collection of pixels set to a specific program. There is nothing about her that would exist in real life.

  He refocused himself on the game as the cut scene ended and he again gained a special skill for use with blades. He opened up his stat sheet, moved to the sword icon on his tapestry, and perused the options available to him now. He could use the ability point to increase his blade mastery one more level, gaining a +2 to all bladed damage, or he could purchase a first-level finesse ability, which would reduce stamina spent per swing by five percent. He could also purchase a first-level sneak strike, which would grant a bonus twenty-five percent damage with a bladed weapon while undetected.

  The sneak strike seemed the most tempting. Then again, most of his fights so far with Barry, the manticore, the troll, and half of the orcs had all been regular melee battles. Same thing with the juvenile raptors and the wolves.

  He purchased the fourth-level blade mastery. Now his steel longsword was rated as a seventeen slashing damage instead of fifteen. It didn’t seem like a huge jump, but it would definitely m
ake a difference out on the field.

  “You never told me what was wrong with your mother?” Brian said to Freya after he confirmed his ability purchase and resumed gameplay.

  Freya frowned. “You are persistent.” She eyed him carefully and leaned forward on the counter. “Are you interested in me?”

  Brian smiled. I guess buying some training sessions and doing some business was all it took to loosen the relationship up a bit. Then again, maybe it was the three luck flowers. “I just like to help if I can,” Brian said, hoping this line of conversation would lead to a side quest. It was common for games like this to allow for romantic relationships, and having one with someone that owned a weapon shop could mean discounts or perhaps profit sharing. The fact that she was beautiful was a nice bonus on top.

  “Maybe I’ll tell you someday,” Freya said with a wink. “If I can trust you.”

  Interesting response. Brian smiled. “Do you have any family besides your mother?”

  Freya’s smile widened and she stood up straight, pushing back from the counter. “I have a brother, but he lives back in Kelsendale. No other family to speak of.” She paused and then leaned forward on the counter again. “Are you interested in me?” she repeated.

  Brian realized that he hadn’t answered correctly before when she’d asked that. VR NPCs were pretty smart in most Terramyr Online games, but still, it could be easy to miss the mark in dialogue sometimes. “Yes,” Brian said.

  Freya narrowed her eyes on Brian and then tilted her head to the side a bit, causing a lock of dark hair to fall over her right cheekbone. “I lost a ring that my mother gave me when I first arrived in Fezhik. I have combed the beaches and the docks dozens of times but have never been able to find it. Bring it back to me, and perhaps we can discuss our... relationship...”