Down to business. The System certainly expected you want to continue to grow in power. Do Quests, level up, unlock new abilities, and travel to new locations. There were Players who had given up the rat race to varying success. Tried to settle into normal jobs or whatever closest proximity to it they could get. Some lucky ones even had the System on their side to facilitate some normality. Others were punished and flung from whatever safety they tried to shroud themselves in. Attempting to understand what the System wanted from you was to court madness.
“Max?”
“Huh?” I awoke, standing up by reflex. “Ow…” I groaned and tried to flex my back out. Morning light blinded me as I recovered into the waking world.
“Serves you right for falling asleep in your chair rather than being comfortable with me and Wolf.” Ren stood with arms crossed, a scowl leveled my way. “Health report?”
I blinked twice, still trying to process everything. The information popped into the side of my vision while my brain caught up.
[Health Status]
[No injury]
“Clean bill of health.” I smiled, rubbing at my eye sockets.
“Good, get packed up. We’re leaving soon.”
I let my eyes free again to see her walking off. Wolf sat beside me and I gave him a grimace. “Ren okay? She seems... annoyed at me.” While that was hardly irregular - at least visually - it made our closeness over the days of rest seem like something I had only dreamed.
“No. She is more annoyed at herself. But it is your duty to take the brunt of it until she can come to terms with her feelings.” He looked up at me with his amber eyes.
“Is it?” I yawned and stretched out again. Sleeping in the chair was a real mistake. Couldn't deny her that, whatever feelings she was having issue with.
Wolf yawned in response, a louder echo of my own. “I’m certainly not going to. If you are to be her mate then-“
“Ah-ah. None of that, please.” I tried to push him away. He was very heavy. “Let’s just go murder things and not get ahead of ourselves.”
“You are both impossible.” He rolled his eyes and moved away to catch the elf up.
Having an intangible Inventory meant there wasn’t really much to pack away and everything that I did need to was a simple matter of getting close enough. So eager was I to catch up, I didn’t even flourish about as the chair, blanket, and some of my crafting things vanished into nothing. Not everything had to be a show. I shuddered. Who was I?
I relented to a little jog to catch them up, as they were just on the outskirts of our safe area. The cardio wasn’t necessary, but at least my head didn’t feel like cracking like an egg under the pressure, which made a nice change. Not a bad idea to make sure I was in top form before submitting myself to violent combat once more.
“No funny business until we know you’re top form again,” Ren admonished me as I approached, seemingly catching the tail end of my inner thoughts.
“Of course.” I nodded, although I wouldn't call it funny business. “Everything okay?”
She opened and closed her mouth before exhaling from her nose. “Yeah. Just spent too much time in my own head last night.” She narrowed her blue eyes at me. “Sorry if I snapped at you. We’ll talk later, okay?”
“Promise?”
My persistence seemed to relax her more than annoy her further. “Promise,” she confirmed. “Now, we going for the witch?”
“Yeah. Tough magical opponent, but it’ll be useful loot. Hopefully.” Who knew with the System - we might get nothing for our efforts. Plus, magical users seemed to get the short end of the stick when faced with the long end of Wolf's claws, so if we could get close enough, it might not be such a hardship. Touch wood. I tapped the closest tree.
Ren nodded. “Confirm target, then burn the house down?”
“I was thinking about that.” I leaned against Wolf and crossed my arms. “We’re looking at this a little too simply.”
The bear turned his head. “How so? House was small, I could probably knock it down.”
"Wolf also upgraded an ability that allows him to absorb magical damage," Ren added.
I stretched my neck out. Spending most of the day on the wooden chair had really done me a disservice. “The witch might not be a Player, but I’ve been thinking about what I would do in their situation. Like a Dungeon.”
The elf nodded slowly. “So, traps and passive spells in the area - like that dome over the Shadows camp?”
“Exactly,” I clicked my fingers. “I might just be overthinking it - but it was on the challenge board, so it is supposed to be difficult for a whole group.” My right eye twitched. “You ever think we’ll be a full Party?”
The elf shrugged, and the bear had nothing to add. At this stage, I didn’t care to add anyone else - it would just mean more voices clogging up the poor bear’s brain. But when the default was five, we were less effective as a three. Of course, that would just mean we’d need to try harder, our Class rarities might pull us through.
“So,” I continued, glazing past that train of thought and lukewarm reception. “I expect that our presence will be known as we get closer, and that we should be on guard.”
“Your suggestion is to knock on the door and see if she answers?” Her eyes narrowed.
The witch would be a System-created Monster, so I couldn’t exactly rely on my charms. In fairness, I wasn’t feeling too mentally spry, anyway. “Magic users are weakest at close range, for the most part. I feel if we engage from afar, she will have more use of whatever spells she has.”
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“Sounds good to me.” Wolf grinned. “Although if she tastes as bad as she smells, then my view is more neutral.”
Ren sighed and looked out into the woods, drumming her fingers on her belt. “As much as I’d like to burn it down from afar, I think you’re right. Any good witch would have protection from that, and then we’d be on the back foot. Plus, we haven’t even confirmed it’s her yet.”
The Quest just gave a vague region where she might be found. The house was within the region, but then a lot of things could be. It had also said ‘suspected witch coven’, which could mean between zero and three witches, as far as my knowledge took me. “In the event that it’s more than one witch…” I frowned and rubbed my head. Maybe not so perfectly recovered. “I don’t know. It’s not really a nuanced encounter, is it?”
“I trust your judgement. Confirm targets and then deal with accordingly.” The elf nodded to sign off on the conversation. The die had been cast.
We started walking, and I felt better about it. Not really less achy - but the ball had been pushed down the hill and all I had to do was keep the momentum. Back to adventuring. Dipping toes into the violence to gain stronger, to go be violent somewhere else. The group at the bridge worried me, but I wasn't sure why, yet. Maybe it was just that it was an end point. The final part of the tumor to cut out of this first area, before it could be deemed safe. Or safer, perhaps.
Ren walked up beside me. “Here, peace offering.” She held out a sandwich.
“Thanks.” I took it, realizing how hungry I was. No breakfast, as I had overindulged on much needed sleep. I took a bite and smiled at her, swallowing it down before responding. “All is forgiven. It'll be my turn to cook tonight.”
“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “I look forward to that, then.”
“Temper your expectations.” I grinned in response. “Let’s just survive the day first.”
Wolf turned his head to me, a smile at the edges of his mouth. “I’ll keep an eye out for any horses.”
I groaned, but was secretly thankful.
It helped to keep us in better spirits, in fact. I didn't mind a little levity at my own expense. Not unlike me to be a spectacle, of course, so I could be the butt of the joke to keep the mood light. And it was, at least up until the point that the house came into view.
A small cottage by any description, the mixture of cobbled stone walls and off-white plaster broken up by a deep brown wooden frame made it look like something from a storybook. Perhaps I was living in a storybook. Was I the main character? Maybe Wolf was. He was much stronger and looked rather dapper in his bowler hat. I should just be thankful to be his assistant.
Ren nudged me, and the growing mania fell off my mental shelf. Her glare of concern told me she could see me losing focus. Despite the System giving me the go ahead, my mind was still reeling from the… accident. In the real world—my real world—there wouldn’t have been a recovery from that kind of injury. At least not without months of rest, and even then, to have bounced back like I had would be unheard of. System be damned for the unrelenting violence, but a shaky thumbs up for being able to put its toys back together again after they broke into pieces.
Her ability to read me so well might be part of her Oathwarden Class, or she could just be perceptive and I had a terrible poker face when losing control of my mind. Back on track, I focused on what lay ahead. The thatched roof looked like it could go up in flames easy enough. With enough of a running start, the whole thing could be leveled by the bear if he charged it down. More the fool us if it turned out to be the quaint home of an elderly grandma or young family trying to make a start off the grid. Although there was no grid, only violence.
“Let’s go,” I said, more to get out of my own head than wanting to get into the cauldron looming ahead.
I stopped as we entered the clearing that surrounded it. About sixty feet away. Little wisps of smoke waved from the brickwork chimney. Magic surrounded us. I could feel it. Steeped into the ground. Something odd about it - not familiar, but perhaps adjacent. Definitely present, and something to be cautious about.
“You were right,” I murmured to the bear, “there is the bad taste of magic here.”
Even from the outside, there was a sense of foreboding, as if the sky were darkening as we approached. Still not enough of a clue to destroy the building - it could just be cursed. I wondered briefly why I was talking myself out of the easy option. Was it part of the spell? Maybe I was just too worried about becoming like the Shadows and leave nothing but ruin in my wake. The points where compassion and warmth won over along our journey were few and far between. We couldn't let that be an excuse to fall down to their level.
Twenty feet away, and the door opened. We stopped.
A short figure emerged into the light of day. An old woman with silver hair wearing an aged yellow sundress, a circle of flowers as a belt. Simple leather sandals and a crocheted white shawl around her. A matching yellow ribbon in her hair, and a small wooden cane in her hand.
“Hello!” Her voice was cracked and shaky. “Are you adventurers? I’ve been waiting for my daughter to visit, but she has been missing for two days.”
Tension filled the air. Apprehensive, sure. But I wasn't so easily dissuaded from my gut feeling. System-created ran from a loose script, and I wanted to skip to the last page.
“How many are in your coven, witch?” I glared at her.
“What’s that, young man? I didn’t quite hear you?” She made the motion of cupping at her ear, eyes narrowing in concentration.
I ran my tongue across my teeth. “You see it?” I murmured to Ren. She returned a slow nod.
Good. I wasn’t going crazy. Perhaps rude not to ask Wolf, but I could see his fur was on end - he could smell it even if he couldn’t see it.
A smile crossed my lips, and I pulled my cloak tightly over my arm. Perhaps you could catch more flies with honey, after all. “I said it’s chilly out. We’d be glad to help you in exchange for some warmth.”
“The stove is on.” The old lady smiled. “I can make tea.”
“Delightful.” My fake smile widened as I started walking closer.
Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at all three of us one after another. “You are nice adventurers, right?” Smarter than she looked, she wanted to see behind the curtain more than we did.
“No,” I said, flinging back my cape to reveal the Imp tucked under my arm. His fireball went out immediately.
Amber light obscured the witch as the attack blasted around her, the flickering of a purple shield painting the flame in a foul hue. A radiant arrow went out from beside me and burst into the shield just as the fire faded away.
“Miserable shits, you’ll pay!” The woman hissed, her appearance now a dark-robed figure with scratchy black hair, the life in her pleasant appearance now replaced with the grimace of something more evil. Ren's arrow was embedded in her shoulder.
Wolf charged forward, blazing energy around his feet as he surged toward the small cottage.
And then, with a click of her fingers, it was gone. Or rather, we were now somewhere different.
Darkness loomed overhead. Underground. A chamber, roughly the same size as the clearing around where the cottage had been. Dimly lit by a few candles melting atop of skulls. A little too on the nose, but I admired a little cliche when it came to appearances. Tables strewn with a random assortment of jars, ingredient containers, and potion crafting apparatus. The smell of damp earth and a twinge of bad smells—foul magic, warmth, and untoward ingredients.
A few skeletons chained to one wall, probably not-skeletons at one point, and if I had the time I would have pondered over whether those were captured Players or just System-dressing to set the mood. The second most important thing in this new space was the large cauldron in the center of the room, heated by a glowing fire that flickered between the expected oranges and a strange green. It bubbled and steamed in a way most displeasing, yet remained enthralling, despite the fact.
Of course, the most important thing to note was the three figures. The old lady with an arrow in her shoulder was now accompanied by two other witches. One tall and lithe, her curly ginger hair a contrast to skill being prepared that was almost green in hue. Their third was portly and covered in necklaces and jewelry made of dried insect parts. Her tongue didn’t seem to know its place and writhed around the outside of her mouth as she glared at me hungrily.
“Fresh meat!” The first cackled, as the other two readied spells to be cast.
My feet dug into the soft earth as I tensed to move, a wide grin across my face as purple electricity arced along my arms. There was a new show to be put on.
A contest of magical prowess, mine for the winning.