Harehill, Harehill Commonwealth
Everyone else had been working hard to diversify and upgrade a variety of skills and abilities. Everyone else had been working hard to watch their Level increase and their capabilities soar. Not Larry. Larry had found himself with one single job since he got into Harehill: chop wood. At Level 1 of the skill, it took him half a day to chop down a tree, drag it to the mill, and saw it into usable planks. At Level 5 of the skill, he could do 6 trees a day. At Level 10 of the Skill, he could do 15 trees a day. At Level 15 of the skill, he was doing 32 trees a day. At Level 20 of the skill, he noticed the experience counter was moving considerably slower, but he was chopping down damn near 60 trees a day, loading them in a wagon pulled by an ox, and sawing them into usable planks for Whispercreek.
He was originally stationed in Harehill, but he had soon maxed out nearly every request for more wood. They needed stone and other crafting materials. He was bringing in 600 wooden planks a day. It was an absurd number. The council decided to move him to Whispercreek. He was producing more than most of the other lumber guys combined and they needed help up there. Suzy, the girl he had met in Harehill, was more than happy to come with him to his new duty station.
Every material quest he turned in gave him a small amount of player experience and gold. After what must have been a hundred or more quests, Larry had hit a Player Level of 10. Unfortunately, the entire council was off on some dungeon clearing mission. The weird wolf-riding players in Harehill had gone on their own discovery mission. Even the lower-level players had been taken by Jackson to level up some more. Nearly every combatant was out of both settlements. That’s why Larry shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when a request came down for him to be one of the escorts for a new wagon route. Established wagon routes, from what he had heard, didn’t need a player guard. New wagon routes, however, did.
The escort group included a young monk named Thomas who was a Level 18, the highest level still in the area. Additionally, two miners that were around Level 11 were coming as well. The wagon was going to a settlement somewhere in a Level 1-10 zone. The threat of going on such a mission was always incredibly high, but a level 1-10 route shouldn't be that difficult. Additionally, a group of 6 guard-rabbits that had been advanced to Level 18 were coming as well. Larry assured Suzy that the roads were much safer than the wild roads and they set off.
As they moved, it was not the monsters that attacked them.
Larry happily whistled as the wagon trotted on. There were worse ways to spend a couple days than on the road. As the wagon rolled, Thomas walked in front. The two miners walked on either side of the wagon, and Larry pulled up the rear. As the wagon’s wheels moved, Larry noticed the small dirt-covered mound in the road just a little too late. In a world of fantasy weapons, magic, and talking rabbits, the group was assaulted by a very old weapon of war.
The wagon hit the mound and, in an instant, the air in front of Larry was surrounded in fire. He flew backwards, skating over the concrete like he had crashed on a speeding motorcycle. His flesh tore across the road as he skipped like a stone farther and farther away from the burning wreckage. His eyes twitched as he desperately tried to keep them open long enough to take a health potion. With the bottle nearly to his lips, Larry passed out from the pain.
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I placed my points into Agility. I realized that, in any conflict with players, my speed would be crucial. I smiled as I looked at the next notification.
Please Select New Active Skill
Tracking Bullet
Send a bullet maneuvering through the air. High energy cost in exchange for an almost certain strike.
Full Metal Jacket
Send a single, high intensity, bullet into an enemy. High energy cost in exchange for high armor piercing.
Smoke-Shot
Send a bullet that, upon impact, releases a cloud of blinding smoke.
Each ability looked solid. I tried to think about what would be best for a potential fight with Red Liberty. [Tracking Bullet] looked cool, but my Dexterity was incredibly high and [Analyze] already assisted my accuracy. I wasn’t sure how much energy I wanted to put into a heat-seeking pistol. [Full Metal Jacket] seemed like a solid bet. It could pierce the heavy armor of the Red Liberty soldiers. That was a definite contender. [Smoke-Shot] also seemed useful, but it seemed a shame to trade off even more armor piercing in exchange for some smoke. I did have [Bone Piercing] which acted like [Full Metal Jacket] already, and I didn’t have any form of escape skills, yet. It was a tough choice. Do I double up on my incredibly high armor piercing damage already? Or do I go with a varied tool set?
I sat there for a while and debated the two options. Finally, I selected [Full Metal Jacket]. I just kept envisioning myself face to face with some armored warrior as he is bringing his sword down on me and I get to blast a bullet of death through his helmet. It would be a cool fantasy if it wasn’t so likely.
As I sat in the Pony, scanning the marketplace for any absurdly cheap items, the door opened to admit Larry Walters. The man was the best lumberjack in the Commonwealth. I stood up as I saw his profile in the red and his flesh looking torn up. Bailey, the Level 17 Bard Healer, stormed in with an apologetic look. “I keep getting him to stop to let me help, but he said he needed to see you.”
“Jeremiah…sir.” He stepped forward on shaky legs. Why the hell was he calling me sir right now? He didn't usually do that.
“What’s going on, Larry?” I pulled a chair off the table I was sitting at and put it behind him, allowing him to sit down.
“They bombed the road.”
“What?”
“The road….I was escorting a first contact wagon from Whispercreek to a new village and we hit….we hit a fucking IED, sir.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I blinked. I had seen some odd weapons since the start of this, but that wasn’t some outlandish weapon of fantasy. That was just horrible. “An IED?”
He gave a nod. “Two miners from Whispercreek and Thomas…the Monk….they’re dead. I was bringing up the rear and I think I was at a margin of all of two feet from death.”
I ran my hands through my hair as I nodded. “Bailey…go get me the council.”
She nodded and started to run out the door. I called after her. “BAILEY!” She stopped and turned around. “Make sure to grab Lincoln, too.” She nodded and sprinted off.
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Graham drew a bright red circle on his map of the area. “Are you sure, Elsa?”
The female rogue gave a nod. “I’m sure. 1 party of Level 20’s. 1 Bard, 1 Knight, 1 Rogue, 1 Ranger, and 1 Mage.”
We all looked at each other before nodding. I looked at Lincoln. “Y’all got ‘em?”
Lincoln gave a grin. “Oh…we got ‘em.”
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Somewhere East of Harehill
The full moon was bright over the camp. “Kyle…damn it…how’d you get so good at this?”
The Private grinned as he scooped the gold coins off the crate that had been improvised into a poker table. “I thought about going to Vegas before all this, sir.”
The Sergeant gave a grin. “You would have been rich.” He started to shuffle the deck. Mitchell, their healer, was standing by himself and leaning on a nearby tree as he strummed his guitar. “Mitch…you alright?”
The Bard gave a nod. “I’m fine. Something just feels weird.”
The Sergeant nodded. The air did seem off, somehow. The faint howling of wolves had seemed to have been getting steadily closer. It wasn’t really a concern. They were Level 20s in an 11-20 Zone. Even if these wolves were in the upper range for the zone, the party would easily take down a pack. Still, it was creepy.
The Sergeant dealt the cards to the other three men at the crate. The small lantern nearby that lit up the camp flickered in the cool summer wind. Stella, a Ranger and the only female of the group, gave a soft sigh as she looked at her cards. “You’re killing me with these deals, Sarge.”
Kyle snorted. “You’re supposed to put on a bit of a poker face, Stella.”
She shrugged. “You can see exactly what I’m thinking anyways.”
The Sergeant frowned. “What do you mean?”
Stella laughed. “He’s got the [Mentalist] skill, Sergeant. I was wondering how long it would take you to catch on.”
“Oh….fuck me, Kyle. Give me my gold back.” The male rogue across from Stella groaned.
Kyle just cocked his head to the side with a smirk. “What gold, Lonnie?” Lonnie was not the fan favorite of anyone in the group. His tendencies and 'jokes' had led to a long list of complaints to the Sergeant. Still, the Liberty needed men. There had been more than one occasion where several members of the group thought the Liberty might be fine without this specific one, though.
Lonnie stood up and shook his head. “Sergeant, you gotta write him up for fraud or something. I’m gonna take a leak.” Lonnie headed off into the nearby woods.
The Sergeant just put his head in his hands and sighed. “That really was a dick move, Kyle.”
Kyle just shrugged. “I’ve told you about it before. It’s not my fault you didn’t remember.”
A nearby rustling sound alerted the group. Mitchell pointed out at the woods. “What the hell did Lonnie get himself into?”
Stella sighed and stood up, clicking on her [Discovery] skill. “I’m…I’m not seeing him.”
The Sergeant stood up as well. “He probably walked to far off. I’ll go get him. Everyone else stay alert. I don’t want some Level 13 beasts getting a drop on us and taking us out. We’ll be the laughing stock of the Empire.”
As the sergeant walked off, Mitchell looked over at Kyle. “You notice how in all the media before the start, anyone who was part of the ‘empire’ was the bad guys?”
Kyle shrugged. “I mean…the Roman Empire?”
“Well, yeah…but I mean…I’m just saying that it might be worth re-evaluating whether the three of us are really on the right side of this.”
Stella looked at him like he was crazy. “We’ve got a home with no rent, practically free food, and incredible upward mobility in almost any career. People before the start would have cut their balls off for a life like the one we have.”
“I guess crime pays, Mitch.” Kyle gave a laugh. “It’s not like we’re killing kids or something. We’re just pushing the monsters back and dealing with some backwards red necks.”
“You’re from fucking Lubbock, Kyle. A year ago, you’d be the backwards redneck.”
Kyle gave a grin. “Look at me now, Mitch. I’m damn-near urban.”
Mitchell gave a shrug. He was the only one of the five that had any sort of military experience prior to the start. Now he was a Private First Class in this make-believe force that was doing literally everything every book and movie ever said was a bad thing. It’s not like he was just going to run away and leave his wife and kids either. It’s also not like he could take them out into the wilderness where-
“EVERYBODY UP!” The Sergeant’s booming voice echoed through the camp.
The trio stood immediately as the Sergeant walked in, carrying a body over his shoulders. He threw Lonnie down in front of the campfire with a furious look. The body was covered in what seemed to be close to a hundred arrows.
Stella frowned. “He looks like a porcupine.” She readied her bow and waited for orders.
“This isn’t fucking funny, Stella.” Mitchell moved forward. “This wasn’t wolves, Sergeant.”
“I know. We need to get out of-.” The Sergeant was cut off by a dozen arrows piercing his back. One of them went through his neck. His health drained rapidly. His profile went through all 4 stages of green to yellow to red to dead in a matter of seconds.
“SHIT!” Kyle stood up. He activated his [Aqua Fists] as he backed up to face the enemy.
Stella drew her bowstring back, knocking and arrow back as she stared around at the dark woods. She flipped her [Discovery] skill on and gasped. “Wait…please…don’t.”
A flurry of arrows emerged from the woods and, just as she joked, turned her into a porcupine. Her body hit the ground with a thud as she went from a fighting soldier to a corpse in all of five seconds.
Mitchell grimaced and placed his guitar on the ground as he held his hands up. He got on his knees. Kyle followed suit and did the same, turning off his offensive abilities.
As they did, the woods parted to allow a dozen monstrous wolves to emerge. Each of the wolves had a black cloaked rider. One of them dismounted and approached the pair. All Mitch could do was think about his daughter. “I can give you information. Is your guild…with the Commonwealth?”
One of the wolves had a young Asian girl behind the rider. She stepped down and approached. It was a rogue. “That’s the one. He’s the one who made the IED. I heard him bragging about it.”
Mitch cursed internally and bowed his head. So much for making it out of this one.
Kyle blubbered, “Wait…wait…you don’t wanna-.” A fist across his face sent him sprawling into the dirt to shut him up.
The large bald man took off his cloak and kneeled down next to Mitchell. “Why’d ya do it?”
“Just...just following orders I guess. We heard you killed a company.”
“You hear about why?”
“War’s got two sides.” Mitchell stared at the man. If he was going to die, he was going to die strong. “I’ve got a daughter.”
“So did one of the miners you killed.”
Mitchell gave a nod, pulling his arms back and exposing his head, neck, and chest. “Make it quick then.”
The Ranger gave a nod at the pack of wolf-riders who all drew their bows in sync. The dozen critical strikes sent Mitchell’s corpse to the ground.
Kyle stared at them. “Wait…why…we can help! I can help you!”
The Ranger looked at him. “What’d he say again? ‘Just following orders’. Sorry, kid.”
Kyle looked around at the snarling wolves and tried to run. He didn’t make it off his knees.