Jasmine stood in the shade of of a large oak tree as she looked at the patch of forest she and Meredith were supposed to be turning into a guild hall. The air was cool at this elevation and the wind blowing through the dense forest made an sort of soft, whistling sound that was eerie even in broad daylight. Patches of briers and tall trees dotted the entire area. Along with patches of grass, weeds, and a few vines Jasmine was really hoping weren’t poison oak.

“And you want to build here? How are we even going to clear this.” Jasmine said incredulously, looking to the Risui girl beside her. “And even if we do clear it, then what? Neither of us can actually build anything.” The two of them had spent the last week running fetch and gather quests for the citizens in the valley to raise their local fame high enough to purchase the land. Now that they had it, Jasmine was far from impressed.

“Admittedly, the land’s starting condition leaves a great deal to be desired, but that's why it's called the starting condition. This is virgin forest, but its placement is what makes it valuable. The mountains around the valley are packed with mines, lairs, and monsters. This place will be of incredible strategic importance when more players start leaving the starting zone, and we have a chance to be in on the ground floor.” Meredith's eyes nearly glowed with her excitement. Jasmine just rolled her eyes at the girl.

“Yes, yes. You’ve told me your plan already. I’m not doubting your vision. I’m doubting our ability to move from Point A to point C.  Neither of us has the skills, or the practical experience for something like this.” Jasmine explained. She had always known that there would be a lot of work involved, but turning this patch of forest into a base was going to take so much more than she had imagined.

“The first step is always the hardest. We just need to get started.” Meredith said cheerfully, waving her arms about as if messing with her menu. Then a small flag appeared about a hundred yards from them and a popup appeared in Jasmine's view.

Your Guild Has Claimed Territory!

Claiming territory is the first step in a guild’s rise to prominence. Doing so gives a guild a location to build a guild hall, as well as opening the Guilds vs Guild system.

She waved the message away and a bright blue circle appeared around the flag, marking off an area about a hundred yards in diameter. Jasmine looked at it with a frown.

“So this is us eh?” Jasmine said as she inspected their soon to be home. A larger window popped up as she inspected the land.

Territory Management Window

Population: 0

Area: 70685 ft2

Tax Income: 0

Upkeep Cost: 0

Resources

Development

Jasmine glanced over the window and waved it away as well. It’s not like there was much information to look at, they had absolutely nothing. Jasmine continued to look around the forest and grimaced at all the huge trees. Trying to clear them would be a nightmare, taking days or weeks of work.

“Now what?” Jasmine asked dubiously. She had no idea how they’d be able to finish this, let alone where to start. Meredith smiled at her, before reaching over and pulling one of Jasmine’s axes off of her belt. The squirrel-girl lifted it and then held it out to Jasmine.

“You use axes right? I’d start chopping.” She said with a grin.

*****************************************************************************************

I looked into the woman’s dark, worried, eyes and sighed mentally. I’d had a few ridiculous quests in the game, but I had a feeling this one was going to be a doozy.

“In order to heal my son you’ll need powerful magic. I can sense you have some power but you look like a warrior, not a healer. So for you there is only one way. King Scorpions have powerful poison and there exists only one object that can heal him. Two days south of here you will find the forest of stone. Go there and return with the egg of a thunderbird.” She said with a nod.

Oh crap……..

I groaned inwardly. I’d never been too big on Native American mythology. Greek, Roman, and Norse were always more interesting to me, and had received more attention in modern fantasy. From what I did know, thunderbirds were seriously bad-ass. They were basically gods to a lot of tribes scattered all over North-America, and were the equivalent to dragons and phoenixes from other cultures. It wasn’t something you wanted to steal from.

“I will bring you the egg.” I said more confidently than I felt.

Quest Accepted!

The Impulsive Youth

A boy in the village has been poisoned while on his first hunt. His mother has asked you for assistance in saving his life. You must find a way to cure him.

Use Cleansing Magic of at least Apprentice Level:  0/1

Or

Return with a Thunderbird Egg: 0/1

Recommended Level: ???

Difficulty: ???

Rewards: 10,000 xp, 10 fame,  Minor Item Binding

“Will he live until I return?” I asked, looking at the boy. He was covered in sweat and his body convulsed weakly from time to time. He looked to be on the edge of death already. I couldn’t imagine that he’d live until evening, let alone for the time it take me to travel there and back.

“Do not worry traveler. You must do your task, and I must do mine.” Her eyes hardened with resolve as I felt the faint prickle of magic on my skin. She approached her son and magic poured into the room. Intense enough that I shivered as I felt its power. The magic had a seething chill that set my teeth on edge. I brought up my own magic so I could see the mana and saw a pool of charcoal grey energy surround the woman and the boy as she started to chant. It wasn’t evil, at least I didn’t think it was, but it sure as hell wasn’t anything happy or helpful.

Her magic built until the pool of charcoal magic condensed, morphing into a single, long chain. While the woman continued to chant, the chain slithered around the boy like a serpent, barbed ends digging into his flesh. He began screaming and flailing as the magic dug into, and bound him, but his mother did not waver. Her eyes were like chips of flint as she worked her terrible magic. Then the chains finished binding the boy and the woman stopped chanting. His body fell limply back to the table and she slumped over her son, obviously exhausted from her working.

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I looked at the boy in horror. What the hell had she done? I dropped my magic sight and looked at him. The chain was nowhere to be found and he appeared as he always had. However, when I used my vision again the chain was visible again, the boy was bound in what I knew was some terrible curse.

“What did you do to him?” I asked, half confused and half horrified. I knew there were likely dozens of different magics in this game, but I’d never seen one like this. I thought it might be necromancy, but I wasn’t sure. It didn’t seem quite malevolent enough for that.  I’d gotten a feel for necromancy down in the dungeon, and this wasn’t the same, similar in some ways - but different nonetheless.

“What needed to be done.” She said, her voice exhausted, still slumped over the boy. “His fate is in your hands now.”

The men showed me to a room and I dumped my bags and layed down on the bed. If I was going to be traveling all night I needed to get some sleep while I could. I logged, grabbed some food, and took a cat-nap before logging back in to start my trip south.

The desert was the same as always. Blazing sun, heat rising off the parched earth, the cacti and the shrubs, there was an odd, sort of peace to the place. I walked into the setting sun, watching the light refract into pastel purples, oranges, and reds. It looked different from sun-sets back in Indiana, or even the more humid climates of the Otherworld. I’m sure there was some scientific reason for the differences in color, but I didn't really care. The view was beautiful and, at the moment, it was all mine.

Before leaving, I’d dropped one pack and emptied the copper in the other into a trunk in the hall. I was running light, and took the opportunity to travel at a light jog. The journey was going to be a long one. The desert lacked any real road, and although the landscape had been interesting early on, after more than a week out here it just sort of blurred together. I traveled all night, switching between a jog and a walk trying to gain as much time as possible. I wasn’t sure what that woman had actually done to the boy, but it couldn’t be anything good and I wanted to get back quickly. My improved pace let me reach the forest of stone by sunset of the next day.

“Forest of stone indeed.” I mused as I looked out over the desert. Columns of rock rose from the earth, leaving small narrow alleys between the pillars of stone. The columns stretched for miles in both directions giving the place the look of a forest. The pillars varied in height from about a dozen meters to hundreds of meters tall, their surfaces scarred and roughened by years of scouring winds. I couldn’t imagine what sort of geological event could create something like this, but magic had to have been involved somewhere.

I paused before I entered the ‘forest’ to turn on both my Stoneskin and Strength of Stone spells. This place seemed like it should be teeming with things that would try to kill me. It was a shame I’d broken my hammer. Then again, I hadn’t done much serious fighting for a while. The dune cats had certainly been good fighters, but as predators their numbers had been fairly limited. The desert wasn’t nearly as full of dangerous creatures as I’d been expecting, but the forest felt different. It seemed the type of place something would be living in and I doubted the inhabitants would be happy with outsiders.

I walked into the forest warily, my eyes searching all the various alleys and passages between the standing columns. Their height and proximity to each other made the whole place feel more like being in a massive underground catacomb than outdoors in the desert. I found the change oddly comforting. I think my skills were slowly turning me into a mole. I felt more relaxed in the gloom and tight-spaces than I did out in the desert under the open sky.

Sure enough, I wasn’t more than a few hundred yards into the forest before a black-fletched arrow nailed me right in the shoulder. The arrow was well aimed, missing the bronze plates of my armor, instead finding the leather and driving into my shoulder. I snarled and charged to where I thought it had come from, but another person stepped into my path, brandishing a long thin sword. Silly, that sword wouldn’t save him.

I swatted his strike away with a stone-gauntleted hand before plowing my other fist into his stomach. Grabbing his crumpling body with both hands, I whirled and flung him at the archer, who was nocking another arrow into a shortbow. His body was surprisingly light and flew further than I was expecting. He didn’t actually hit the archer, but I had thrown him close enough to make the archer dive out of the way, buying me some time. I was feeling pretty good about this fight, when suddenly a spear stabbed into the meat of my calf, sending me tumbling to the ground.

I quickly rolled over and looked up into the face of my enemy. It was….. I had no idea what it was. It was definitely humanoid, but I couldn’t tell what kind. It was thin and delicate looking, kinda like an elf, but more savage. It was male, at least I thought it was, but with that androgynous narrow-shouldered look of an elf, it was hard to tell. That is where the similarities stopped. He had bone spikes growing from his elbows, knees, and the tops of his shoulders. He raised his spear to stab again but this time I had the opportunity to disagree with him.

Twisting, I grabbed his spear. Though I didn’t have much leverage from my position on the ground, I had enough to pull him close. In grapple range he dropped the spear and went for a knife at his belt but I just yanked him forward and smashed my forehead into his face. It wasn’t a graceful maneuver but I was a much better brawler than an actual fighter. Coupled with my insane strength stat and stoneskin, I could feel the crunch of cartilage and bone through my helmet. I really needed to find an NPC somewhere who could train me to actually use my hammer effectively, right after I got a new hammer.

Another arrow pinged off the crest of my helmet just as I climbed back to me feet. With a low growl, I reached out with earth magic as yet another horned-elf thing jumped into the growing melee. I downed my newest attacker with a right-cross, then used the earth magic I had gathered to pull against the stone pillar closest to the archer. Stone cracked and a boulder the size of a beach-ball broke off, smashing down onto the archer’s shoulders. He screamed as his collarbone broke, but I had no time for sympathy, four more of the creatures were closing in on me.  

I missed my hammer. My unarmed skills and base stats were high enough that generally I didn’t really need it, but the reach would have been helpful. Then it occurred to me, creating a hammer would be a whole lot easier than creating a chisel. It was something to try next time, now was maybe not the best time for experimentation. I noticed a glow from behind me and turned be see one of the elf-things. It was holding a atlatl with a spear knocked and green light glowed as it activated some sort of skill. Then it threw the spear and things went downhill. The short-spear drove straight into, and through, my stomach. Primitive though it may be, his skill had managed to chuck the spear with enough power to smash through my armor, my hardened skin, my guts, and finally, the hardened skin on my back before stopping at the armor. The pain lanced through my body and I crumpled to my knees, as my four attackers circled closer.

“Urrrgh.” I gurgled as agony permeated my entire body. I hadn’t been hurt this badly in a while. NPC’s using skills was not a good sign for my future well-being. Praying my next action wouldn’t hurt as badly as I thought it might, I wrapped my hands around the spear and ripped it back out of my body. My prayer feel on deaf ears. I couldn't stop the scream of agony that tore from my lips as my attackers raised their weapons.

My pain turned to rage as my enemies surrounded me. I hated elves, always had. They were always too damn stuck-up and pretty. Every book and movie always made them out to be heros and happy nature folk helping out the dumb, awkward humans, but to me they were always the enemy. I refused to be killed by them, even if these creatures were their angrier brooding cousins.

Pain wasn’t good for much, but rage I could use. I packed the anger into a ball and hurled it into my magic. The earth bucked like some crazed rodeo bull and my attackers fell. I fell as well but I was already on the ground and managed to brace myself.  Grinning like a mad man, I grabbed the ankle of the nearest creature and dragged him closer. He struggled to get away but I wasn’t having it. I pulled him against me, crushing him in a bear hug, then tossed his broken body away before rising to my feet.

The three remaining attackers looked more wary now, they’d stopped trying to surround me and had moved into a defensive position with each supporting the other. It was a bad move on their part. Together they just made a better target for magic. I threw my hands forward and fire bloomed from them, washing over the three horned-elves and ending the fight. The elf with the crushed shoulder had fled, leaving me alone to recover.

The bodies vanished into black mist and I shoveled the various crafting drops into my bag before drawing a heavy defensive circle. Then I sat down and logged. Staying online while my gaping stomach wound healed wouldn’t be fun, so I chickened out and left for the real world.

I’d just climbed out of my machine when Chris walked out of his room. His hair wet and he was pulling on a long-sleeve tee. I looked at him confused, I couldn’t figure out why he was getting dressed at this time of day but he answered my question and started yelling at me.

“What the hell dude? You haven't even showered yet! Don’t tell me you forgot.” He said. I stared at him blankly, blinking a few times as Chris waved his arms. “Common, I’ve told you at least three times this week, Get in the shower. One night away from your game isn’t going to kill you.” Chris continued. Still confused, I dutifully hopped in the shower and dressed in a pair of faded levi’s and a gaming tee. Then Chris herded me into his Focus and we headed across town to Brodie’s.

Brodie’s was a college bar down near the campus. It was most known for its cheap domestics and bad live music on Friday night. I’m wasn’t sure why Chris was so set on going but I suspected there was a female involved. That was likely the only thing that could pull him away from his blacksmithing. Then again, he’d been making swords for weeks now, and he was a dwarf. Maybe he just needed a drink.

The bar had a hometown feel, a long heavily lacquered bar and tall tables with high stools that never sat quite level. The smells of spilled beer and inebriated college kids filled the room, mixing with the greasy undertones of bar food. Chris and I slid into a corner table while I glanced around the room. It wasn’t very busy, school wasn’t back in session yet and the campus bars didn’t get a lot of traffic during the summer.

“What kinda band name is Purple.” I asked incredulously as I looked up at the sparkling purple drumset with the spangled purple lettering written across the front of the base drum.

“I don’t know. I didn’t even know who was playing tonight.” Chris said with a shrug. I just stared at him.

“If you didn’t even know who’s playing tonight why the hell are we here?” I asked, looking at the soggy fries he was eating. The place had bad food, worse booze, and don’t even get me started on the bathrooms. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to come here unless forced. My question was answered as two girls walked over to our table. One was a cute asian girl, wearing faded jeans and a tee. I had to admit, the jeans and tee looked much better on her. The other girl was a little more dressed up, wearing a skirt and matching shirt, blouse?, I had no idea what to call it. Womens clothing names are way too complicated. Her outfit had matching accessories everywhere. She was a plain looking brown-haired girl, but carried herself with the attitude of a movie star.

“Hey Chris, sorry we’re late. Tonya didn’t wanna come, then she found out what band was playing and did want to come, but then she wasn’t ready and I had to wait while she tried on like, a hundred shirts. THEN she had to find shoes that matched, while I was like. ‘T, it’s a college bar, not a cocktail party’.” The Asian girl said as she slid onto the stool next to Chris, leaving Tonya to sit next to me on the last stool. My eyes widened in horror.

Chris hadn’t told me there were girls coming. And this ass expects to play wingman for him? My stare should've melted Chris. He looked sheepish for about half a moment before the Asian girl flicked her silky black hair over an elfin ear and his eyes glazed over. I sighed inwardly as I ordered an overpriced imported beer, and prepared to take one for the team.