CHAPTER 11 - AN UNFORTUNATE TRAGEDY

[“Bishop’s Kendo Drills executed. Performance rating 40%.”]

[“Results: Swordsmanship proficiency has increased moderately; upper body strength, breathing, and endurance have improved marginally.”]

“No level this time…” Breathlessly, I dismissed the notifications that promptly materialized after I’d finished my nightly routine.

I found that there was just something inherently different about doing my kendo drills when night had fallen. I loved how the movements of my blade would occasionally reflect beams of moonlight and how the scent of crisp air and wet moss pervaded everything. Additionally, again and again, I found myself forgetting about the fact that I was in a virtual world.

Thus, even without receiving another level-up to my Swordsmanship proficiency, I was in an uncharacteristically good mood.

And finally, through the gaps in the undergrowth hiding the little glade I was in, I saw what gladdened me the most.

In a valley surrounded by dark hills and shadowy forest, Longxin’s Pass shone like a jewel in the dark. The town bordered the Omowen Dynasty and marked a major milestone in my journey towards Mount Longhu. Compared to Durnatel, the town was both smaller and surrounded by a wooden barrier instead of a stone wall.

It looked cosy.

“A great place for a pitstop.” Although it was quite possible that I could log out safely in the forest, my prior experience was too fresh to risk it.

Turning towards the road with the ambition to descend to Longxin’s Pass, I froze as - suddenly - an unexpected sound cut through the air, like a hot knife through butter.

“Huff… huff… huff…”

Turning around, my eyes widened immediately. Illuminated by a stray moonbeam piercing through the canopy, two large, yellow-green eyes peered at me from the darkness of the dense thicket.

A sense of coldness spread through my fingers as a low, predatory growl reverberated through the forest. The sound was the stuff of nightmares.

“Shit.” Scared out of my mind, I bolted as soon as I heard the first leaf rustle. Navigating nimbly through the trees, the dangling sword slapped against my leg, reminding me of its existence.

Yet, even with the constant reminder, fighting was the furthest thing from my mind. Every step I took sent a series of bone-chilling shivers down my spine; and worse: the primal fear only intensified when the sound of the yellow-eyed beast following me reached my ears.

Breaking through the shrubs, I threw myself onto the moonlit road. My heart pounded in my ears and I breathed erratically. Cursorily, I glanced over my shoulder, and the glimpse of the beast reassured me that I was right to run.

Crashing through the undergrowth, shrubs, and thicket, like a car with no breaks, a rabid brown bear chased after me.

A random group of travelers, players, appeared before me as I sprinted down the road.

“Stop! What do you think you-” The female player’s eyes widened into saucers when she spotted the frenzied silhouette behind me.

“Fuck! RUN!”

What followed was a flurry of hysteria that could only be described as chaotic. Already in full sprint, I passed the panicking group in a blur. At the moment, running fast was all I thought about. Unfortunately for the frightened players, the rumbling creature close on my heels had also built up a momentum that was now working in its favor.

Evidently, the bear didn’t discriminate between targets. A human was human; the details didn’t matter.

Before I knew it, horrible cracks resounded as bones were shattered under the significant weight of the enraged beast. Yet, I barely got any time to register the sound before it was muffled by the heart-wrenching screams that ensued.

When I realized I was no longer a prioritized target, I hid behind the first cover I could find, which was naturally a shrub on the side of the road.

Crouching behind my hiding spot, I gawked as the slaughter I was indirectly the cause of escalated. Some of the players who didn’t immediately run tried to put up a token effort, but their weapons were no match against the livid beast whose natural weapons and defense turned it into an unstoppable meat grinder.

Before long, the crystalline pixels disintegrated, leaving the heaving beast snarling angrily at the lack of corpses for it to feast upon. On the other side of the road, I discovered two more players hiding behind the thicket, much like what I was doing.

The beast sniffed the air a couple of times, stalked around the area for a minute, before ultimately deciding to retreat back into the forest.

“That was a close call…” I unconsciously released a breath of relief. I wasn't embarrassed to admit that I'd never been chased by a bear before. Nevertheless, for some reason, I doubted real bears were even half as crazed or frenzied as this one had been.

Dusting off the dirt from my pants, I snuck a glance at the two players whispering on the other side of the road; a man and a woman. A part of me felt bad about what I’d inadvertently done to their group, but it wasn't like I'd done it on purpose.

It was a life or death situation, and I wasn't going to prioritize strangers’ lives above my own. And while I'd feel worse if they'd been NPCs, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

“What do I do now…” I mused as I moved towards the road.

“Three players died.” I counted internally. “How many were there in the group originally?” Try as I might, I couldn't remember.

When I reached the spot where the carnage had unfolded, all that was left were some scattered copper coins, a couple of shabby weapons, and four familiar-looking slips of paper.

[“DerpDad’s Provisional Outer Disciple Talisman (White Tiger Sect, Trial #214).”]

[“Chromo’s Provisional Outer Disciple Talisman (White Tiger Sect, Trial #214).”]

[“Florensence’s Provisional Outer Disciple Talisman (White Tiger Sect, Trial #214).”]

Including the three talismans already in my pocket, I was now up to six.

“That's not yours.” A voice suddenly said. Turning around I saw the two remaining players staring at me angrily, their eyes fixated on the talismans in my hand.

“Only one weapon…” I noted.

“They aren't yours either.” I retorted while shamelessly pocketing the talismans. “But since this whole tragedy was partly my fault, I don't mind leaving you the copper.”

“You don't mind?!” The unarmed woman yelled in a mixture of disbelief, surprise and hatred. “You! You!”

She took a deep breath.

“First you intentionally lead that ferocious beast to us, effectively killing half our god damn party; then you steal our team members’ talismans, and then you have the audacity to say you don't mind leaving us the money? As if you're doing us some kind of favor? Who the fuc-!”

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“I already admitted I was partly to blame, okay?” I raised my hands in a universal sign of peace. “As for stealing the talismans…” I tried to figure out a way for me to spin this in my favor.

When I couldn't think of something plausible, I went with the first idea that popped into my head.

“Since they aren't exactly yours either, I say first come, first serve.” I nodded, somewhat pleased with my quick wit.

“First come, first serve?!” The woman’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her skull in anger. “What are you, like twelve years old?!”

“Wait.” She stopped to scrutinize my avatar with a sudden look of suspicion on her face. “This isn’t your actual appearance, is it?”

Surprisingly, her guess was actually half-right. In the character customization, I had tried my best to base my avatar on my real life appearance, albeit from when I was fifteen and not forty-five. It'd been a fun little project, and I was pretty pleased with the results. Apart from some minor alterations, such as the unblemished skin, I definitely recognized myself in my avatar.

“Lana…” The male player muttered softly, nudging his comrade to focus. “The talismans…"

“Right!” The female player, Lana, was mindful enough to throw a wary glance at my sword.

“At least leave us with two of the talismans…” She negotiated. “You only need one anyway, right?”

Now, in her defense, Lana's willingness and readiness to negotiate did speak well about her character. And if I thought I'd be getting two trustworthy allies by giving them the talismans, I probably would have. All else aside, the truth was, I had been partly responsible for the death of her teammates, even if I hadn't planned it. So if she was truly willing to let bygones be bygones by exchanging some talismans, I would probably acquiesce to her request in an effort to mend bridges.

But based on her gritted teeth and the fiery look she was throwing me, I doubted that that was the case here.

Still, now that I'd talked to her, and even knew her name and respected her a little, killing her was no longer an option.

“What a conundrum…” I frowned as I reflected on my options. The more I thought about it, the more I really didn't want to kill her.

“Oh?” My inner musing was interrupted by the appearance of another stranger. Turning a corner, a new group of players appeared, the leader of which was walking towards us with a confident stride, a well maintained scabbard hanging on his waist.

“What do we have here?” He asked, seemingly amused by the appearance of our stand-off.

“Carlos!” Lana's male companion exclaimed, evidently recognizing the approaching player. “This guy just killed half our team, he's got at least four talismans on him!”

Seeing the looks of surprise and greed appear on the new group’s faces, I knew it was time for me to run.

And so, without even attempting to defend myself, I bolted.

*****

LanaekilI’s point of view

Watching the arrogant, pale-eyed thief scramble away as if his pants were on fire, I glared at my new friend.

“Neo, you moron!” I suppressed the urge to slap the back of his stupid head; for all that he reminds me of my little brother, Neo was not him.

But at least the guy possessed the decency to look suitably chagrined.

Some of Carlos’ guys looked like they were ready to give chase, but since their leader raised a hand, they remained rooted.

“Like the good dogs they are.” I mused to myself.

“We meet again, Lana.” Carlos said with a confident grin, one that had helped him secure a leader role back at the evaluation.

“Did he really kill half your team, including the Derpman?” Carlos asked me as he moved closer.

“A bit too close.” I frowned as I took a step backwards.

Carlos noticed it and stopped advancing towards us, still smiling his moronic grin.

At first I hesitated on how much I should reveal to the guy. Carlos and his goons might've been a part of the same evaluation as us, but we weren't allies.

However, with only unreliable Neo left, I decided that the truth was my best option. Derpman wasn't here and without him and the others, we stood no chance if Carlos decided to attack.

“Yeah, or well, not exactly.” I frowned as I remembered the angry beast that had single-handedly slaughtered three of my friends. What had the pale-eyed thief done to enrage a bear that much? Kicked one of its cubs?

Realizing that the bear might still be present, my eyes shifted towards the dark treeline where the beast had disappeared.

“A ferocious bear appeared.” I explained before Neo could run his stupid mouth off again. “One that was strong enough to easily slaughter our party. It killed Derpman, Chromo and Florens without taking any meaningful kind of damage.”

Shock and surprise became evident on Carlos' group's faces.

“And?” Carlos pressed. “Did you two kill it? Or did that guy?”

“Neither.” I answered. “We hid.”

“It went back into the forest.” Neo elaborated, gesturing towards the treeline.

Shock and surprise quickly morphed into fear as the group turned their attention towards the dark forest. Suddenly, as we stared into the shadows, it seemed almost as if black tendrils manifested and transformed into a variety of shapes and objects.

But surely, it was just a figment of our overstimulated imagination.

“Anyhow.” Carlos’ voice awakened everyone from their daze. “Don’t worry Lana, he won’t get away with it. We’ll avenge Derpman and the others.”

“And take their talismans for yourself you mean…” I kept my thoughts to myself.

Clapping, he turned to the rest of his gang.

“This is what we’ll do.” Carlos announced. “Since we lost Jakesi and Snufkin in that skirmish earlier, Lana and Neo here will take their spots as our new teammates.”

Without waiting for anyone’s input or thoughts on the matter, Carlos continued.

“And since the bear might still be lurking around the area, I think it’s best if we don’t linger for too long.” Carlos turned to me. “You agree, don’t you?”

Without a choice, I nodded. If I declined his invitation, I was afraid he’d just kill me.

“Great.” Carlos’ smile widened. “Then let’s keep moving.”

I pointedly picked up Derpman’s sword when we reached the site of the slaughter. Carlos looked like he was about to say something, but after glaring at him for a second, he wisely shut his stupid mouth again.

…