The former Marine walks through the streets of Logis, feeling somewhat annoyed by the events of the last couple days.

He’s normally not the jealous type, but he can’t help being envious over the fact everyone else has leveled up and discovered their character sheets. He’s pressed on his wrist, despite not having a red dot like they do, but nothing appears.

Vryce also doesn’t agree with some of the choices made along the way. He doesn’t understand why his friends act like all of the people in Bryconia are real. They aren’t, as far as Vryce is concerned. They’re just NPCs in some twisted game Jenkins created, and as he passes some of those people on the streets of Logis, he wonders how much XP each one of them would give.

The children probably aren’t worth much, Vryce surmises. But I bet the adults are worth a decent amount, and the guards? Surely they give good XP.

Vryce envisions himself removing the sword from his back and just tearing through the citizens like a madman.

That would be fun, he thinks, smiling at the thought. We could kill everyone, pillage the town, and then start working our way across the map until there’s nobody left. At least then we’d be having fun.

Vryce knows his friends would never go for it. They wouldn’t even let him kill the two people on the road. Yeah, they would have been forced to deal with the guards that were patrolling the King’s Highway, but Vryce feels like they could have handled them too.

“What’s the point of leveling up, if you can’t even use it?” Vryce mutters to himself.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” A woman stops and looks over at Vryce.

“No,” Vryce says flatly, then remembers why he’s walking the streets to begin with. “Actually, I’m looking for a friend. He’s a short guy… I think. A man and a young girl picked him up near the Village of Roth, and I think they may have brought him here.”

Vryce is careful with his words, despite wanting nothing more than to cleave the woman in half rather than ask her for information.

“It was probably someone going to the Spring of the Moon,” the woman replies. “It’s that time of year, and a lot of people make the journey. I did it once when I was younger, but the water never really seemed to do anything for me.”

“I see.” Vryce nods to the woman and continues his journey.

The information isn’t useful at all. Vryce is annoyed that he even bothered to stop and talk to the woman to begin with.

The half-elf cuts off from the main part of town and starts wandering down some side streets, unsure of where’s going, but not very eager to return to the inn. He notices that the shops in the area begin to get more rundown as he ventures away from the main hub of activity, and the residential area switches from stone houses to wooden shacks. They still look better than the small thatch shacks in the Village of Roth, but not by much.

He passes under a bridge, and something catches his eye. There is a piece of parchment stuck to the wall. It says BEWARE THE CREATURE and underneath it is a crude drawing of a man’s face. The man has a rather large nose, red eyes, a bushy beard, and what appears to be fangs, dripping with blood.

“Pay no attention to that,” someone says, startling Vryce. “There’s no creature stalking the streets of Logis at night.”

The half-elf turns to see a man in filthy clothes and dirt smudges on his face.

“What’s this about,” Vryce asks.

“Have you heard about the people who got killed a few streets over?” The man asks, walking closer. “It happened a couple nights ago.”

“No,” Vryce replies. “My friends and I just got to town last night.”

“Ah, Harold Winthrope and his daughter Mara were killed, along with Mara’s best friend. I can’t remember her name.” The man sighs. “One of their neighbors as well. That same night, a guy I work with says he was attacked by some creature in an alleyway that bit his leg.”

“He thinks the creature killed the others?” Vryce asks.

“He’s nothing but a drunk. He got thrown out of the tavern because he ran out of money.” The man shakes his head. “He probably passed out and dreamed the whole thing up, or got bit by a whore when he couldn’t afford to pay her, and needed a story to tell his wife.”

“Who do you think killed those people?” Vryce tilts his head inquisitively.

“This isn’t the best part of Logis.” The man shrugs, then motions to the sword on Vryce’s back. “I don’t think anyone will be messing with you, though.”

“A wise choice for them.” Vryce nods and points to the picture. “Just out of curiosity, do you know where I could find the guy you work with who drew this?”

“Of course,” the man chuckles. “We just got off work, so he’ll be in the tavern down the street. Ask for Edward. I’ll warn you, though. He probably won’t talk to you unless you buy him a drink.”

“I could use a drink myself.” Vryce flashes the guy a half-smile and nods before walking in the direction of the tavern.

Maybe some people are useful, Vryce thinks. But it would have been nice to end the conversation with decapitation.

Vryce wonders if the so-called creature could be Rabu. He doesn’t know what gnomes look like in Bryconia, but Rabu was picked up by a man and a young girl. Now a man, his daughter, her friend, and their neighbor are dead. To Vryce, it sounds like the exact same thing he would do, if he was in a similar situation.

“I bet Rabu leveled up,” Vryce grumbles under his breath.

Vryce finds the tavern and it’s as run-down as the rest of the area. The one next to the inn that the group drank at the previous night wasn’t very impressive, but it looked a lot better than this one.

Vryce walks in and sees a number of individuals who look rather unsavory. Mainly because they are dirty and their clothes are unkempt. Not that his attire is much better. He gets a few looks from the patrons when they notice his sword, but none of them say anything.

“Hello!” Vryce flashes the bartender a smile. “I’m looking for Edward.”

“Edward!” The bartender yells towards the end of the bar. “This guy is looking for you and he has a really big sword. Who did you piss off this time?”

“Um…” Edward looks confused and his eyes shift like he’s planning to make a break for the door.

“I mean you no harm,” Vryce says, walking to the end of the bar. “I just wanted to ask you a few questions about the creature you have been telling people about.”

“It was a fucking devil is what it was!” Edward says quickly, then his demeanor shifts. “Actually, if you want to talk about the creature, you’ll have to buy me a drink first.”

“Sure.” Vryce nods and motions to the bartender. “Get Edward a couple of drinks on me. I’ll take an ale.”

“Do you want to pay his tab too?” The bartender chuckles.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“No,” Vryce says flatly.

“Ah well, I had to ask.” The bartender shrugs and walks over to get the drinks.

Vryce waits until the drinks are delivered, and pays for them, before turning back to Edward.

“Alright, I bought you two drinks. Tell me what you know.” Vryce narrows his eyes, not trying to be intimidating, but Edward does seem uncomfortable, despite the free drinks.

“Yeah, so,” Edward begins. “A couple nights ago, I got cut off because I ran out of money and the bartender wouldn’t let me put anything else on my tab. I was planning to go home and sleep it off, but on my way there, I got attacked in the alleyway.”

“Attacked?” Vryce raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah!” Edward says quickly. “I was just minding my own business and then next thing I know, this creature with red eyes and fangs just fucking attacks me! The damn thing had a knife and it bit me! I thought it was a kid at first, but no way! It was some kind of devil-creature.”

“Hmm,” Vryce says, pondering the man’s words. “How big was this creature exactly?”

“Ah, about this high.” Edward leans over and holds his hand about three feet off the ground. “Maybe bigger, it was hard to see in the dark.”

“And you haven’t seen the creature since then?” Vryce asks.

“Nope, thank goodness.” Edward sighs, then motions to Vryce’s sword. “Why are you asking anyway, are you some kind of creature hunter or something?”

“Something like that.“ Vryce nods and sips his ale.

Vryce asks Edward a few more questions, but it doesn’t seem like he has any other useful information to share, and gets more nervous as the conversation continues, so Vryce finishes his ale and departs the tavern.

Vryce has wasted a lot of time, and while he feels like he has some clues, he doesn’t feel any closer to finding his friend. Instead of returning to the inn immediately, he wanders the streets aimlessly, hoping to run into additional clues, but he doesn’t find anything noteworthy. When it begins to get dark, he decides he should go back, even if he isn’t that enthused to do so.

The inn seems to have more activity than it did the previous night. Vryce makes his way up the stairs to his room, and pushes the door open, where he finds everyone else deep in conversation, but his attention is immediately drawn to Palmer. The cleric appears to be much younger than he was when he left that morning.

“Palmer?” Vryce asks, sitting down in one of the chairs. “What happened?”

“He leveled up!” Lucy says excitedly. “He’s level three now!”

“And that made you younger?” Vryce eyes the cleric.

“No,” Palmer replies, shaking his head. “I had to face Grath’s trials, and after succeeding, I was blessed. My attributes increased and my youth was restored.”

“Great,” Vryce says flatly. “You’re level three and I haven’t even made it to level one.”

“I’m sure you’ll level up eventually.” Lucy sighs, then shifts the conversation. “Did you find out anything about Rabu?”

“Nah.” Vryce shrugs. “Not really.”

“Unfortunately, we found out some other stuff today, and it isn’t good news.” Leone walks over and sits near Palmer. “I’ll let Palmer tell you about Malakai first.”

Palmer shares the information he learned about their missing friend. In the real world, Vryce and Malakai were fairly close, so the news that the paladin not only landed in Bryconia two hundred years in the past, but is also dead, does not sit well with the half-elf.

“You have bad news too?” Vryce turns to Leone.

“Well, it’s not good news.” Leone sighs. “Lucy and I were at a tavern near the main part of the city, trying to find out what we could about the Royal Quest. We ran into a man dressed like a cowboy. He’s not from Bryconia.”

“What do you mean?” Vryce’s blinks in confusion. “Is he… Like us?”

“Yeah,” Lucy replies before Leone has a chance to. “He said he even has a character sheet, but he wouldn’t tell us what level he is.”

Leone finishes telling Vryce about Cowboy, and Vryce also remembers the news story about the missing kids. He grew up in a neighboring town, but the story was on the news every night for a while, and he even remembers a True Crime documentary that was made about their disappearances.

“I had no idea Jenkins was friends with them,” Vryce says after Leone finishes his story. “So they’re all dead except for Cowboy?”

“Apparently so.” Lucy sighs. “I don’t think we’re ever going to get back to the real world.”

“Well that is just fucking fantastic.” Vryce’s expression shifts to a scowl and he abruptly stands up from his chair.

“Where are you going?” Lucy asks.

“To get a drink… Take a walk… Something.” Vryce mutters as he walks towards the door.

“Want any company?” Lucy gives him a hopeful glance.

Vryce doesn’t reply. He leaves the room and slams the door behind him.

The half-elf is pissed. No, he doesn’t want any company. Not right now. He’s believed from the beginning that Jenkins trapped them in Bryconia for a reason, but he always assumed they’d return home at some point. Finding out there are others who didn’t survive, or make it home, and that Malakai is dead… He needs to process that information, and he doesn’t need the doe-eyed brunette following him around while he does.

Vryce is aware Lucy has a crush on him. It’s no secret, really. Maybe she thinks it is, but everyone at the gaming shop has figured it out. His friends have told him multiple times to go for it, even if she is younger than him, but something has always held him back.

Now, he’s glad he didn’t, because the last thing he needs is a girlfriend to take care of when he’s got so much else to deal with.

Vryce doesn’t go to the tavern by the inn. He knows his friends will end up there, and he has no interest in interacting with them right now. Instead, he follows the same path he took earlier, through the rough part of Logis, desperately hoping someone is stupid enough to mess with him.

He stares down everyone he passes, silently daring them to make a move, but whether it’s his intimidating stare or the sword on his back, none of them do.

“Give me an ale,” Vryce says to the bartender once he gets seated at the tavern. “And keep them coming.”

“Back so soon?” The bartender chuckles as he pours an ale for the half-elf.

“Seems like a nice place to drink,” Vryce mutters, looking around.

“Well, it can get kind of rowdy later in the evening.” The bartender shrugs. “But if it does, can I kindly ask that you not start swinging that sword around? Some of these people are regulars and actually pay their tabs.”

“As long as they leave me alone,” Vryce says, lifting his ale to take a sip.

Vryce decides he’s going to get drunk. He makes that decision after his second ale, and swaps over to whiskey. It tastes terrible, like something you’d get from the bottom part of the bottom shelf, and regret drinking it the next day. But he doesn’t care. He downs enough that that taste doesn’t bother him anymore, but stops himself before he gets too far gone.

He does have to get back to the inn, and he’d like to be able to still swing his sword, if an opportunity presents itself.

With a really nice buzz and a slight stumble in his step, Vryce departs the tavern. It’s late, and the streets are mostly deserted. The half-elf needs to take a piss, so he steps into an alleyway and props himself up against the wall.

A few seconds later, he sees a rat scurry by, then several more behind it. Then another figure passes him. Small enough to be a child, but quite stubby. The figure seems to be following the rats. It takes Vryce a second to process it, then he rushes out of the alleyway.

“Rabu!” Vryce yells as the figure turns a corner.

Vryce starts after the figure, but then he sees a head poke around the corner.

“Vryce?” The figure asks, then steps fully into view. “It’s you!”

“It’s you!” Vryce says excitedly, pointing at the gnome. “I’ve been looking for you all day.”

“Come!” Rabu motions to his friend and leads him into another alleyway. “I’m trying to stay out of sight. Apparently, gnomes are something of a legend, and the first two people I met were talking about selling me.”

“Let me guess…” Vryce grins. “You killed them both.”

“I sure did,” Rabu says proudly. “And I leveled up! Have you leveled up yet?”

“No,” Vryce replies, the grin disappearing from his face. “Everyone else has, but I haven’t.”

“So everyone else is here too?” Rabu’s eyebrows perk up. “That’s awesome! We’ll be able to kill so many people. So much XP!”

“The rest of the group doesn't seem that enthused about killing random people. Unfortunately, not everyone made it.” Vryce sighs. “We just found out that Malakai is dead.”

“Dead?” Rabu blinks in surprise. “Damn.”

“There’s a lot we should catch up on.” Vryce nods, and then notices several rats walk up and circle Rabu’s feet. “Friends of yours?”

“I’m trying to train them,” Rabu replies. “I can speak to them, but they don’t fully comprehend what I’m saying. I’ve been trying to find the most intelligent ones so I can try to breed them. Maybe if I train them up from when they’re babies, they’ll be able to follow orders better.”

“That’ll take a while.” Vryce furrows his brow. “Where are you staying, anyway?”

“I’ve got a nice place not far from here… In the sewer.” Rabu grins.

“The sewer?” Vryce wrinkles his nose. “Why?”

“Long story, but I found an old camp down there that the workers used when they were building it. The smell isn’t so bad there. Honestly, I’m starting to get used to it.” Rabu shrugs. “I can show you, if you’d like. If we have a lot to catch up on, we shouldn’t do it out here. People are looking for me.”

“Yeah, I saw the poster.” Vryce chuckles. “Alright, lead the way.”

Vryce is filled with a little hope after finding Rabu. There’s still a lot bothering him, but in a way, he’s grateful to have somewhere to go other than the inn.

He’s just not sure how he feels about sleeping in a sewer.