It was strange, Azalea thought, how quickly life could move when the only thing you wanted it to do was slow down so you could process what it was throwing at you. She wanted nothing more than to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life now that her entire purpose - living with, caring for, and playing with Dale - had been taken away from her. Sure, she’d always known that losing him was an inevitable reality. But did it have to have come at such a bad time?
She supposed that no time would have been a good one. His absence could turn even the best of days into abject depression. Now she faced a massive hole in the path before her. A hole that could not be crossed just yet. It stretched as far as the eye could see in front of her, with a narrow, rickety edge. So she had only one option before her. She could have refused to move, of course, but that wasn’t her style, nor was it what he would have wanted for her. So she moved around the pit, moving carefully.
It was easier with Oscar and Riley around. In the next few hours, she was allowed to vent her feelings as much as she wanted, at their insistence. Oscar’s quite caring attitude and lack of emotional reaction helped siphon off her grief, and Riley’s easy-going, fun-loving attitude poured some of the missing joy back in her. Patsy was of some help as well, but he hadn’t known Caius, so his contributions were limited.
“I wish there was more I could do,” the baker admitted. “I don’t know what I can offer to help you.”
“You’ll be plenty help,” she assured him. In his own way, he was helping. Setting aside her issues to help him get settled with a plan was aiding in her recovery, nearly as effectively as the efforts of the other two. “Once we get the land going, we’ll still be busy dealing with Matlin, so I’ll need someone who can tend to the farms and make food. You should also start leveling up your Processing skill for other stuff as well.”
She’d already decided that, in this fight against Matlin and whoever he’d rallied to his cause, The Progenitors would do everything they could to help the other players resupply. She wouldn’t help out just anyone, of course, but for those who had lost property and items in this arc of the story, she’d assist them in rebuilding. If it was within her power to support the movement to purge these bandits, she’d give it everything she got.
They started small. Rather than return to Silver Village where she’d be reminded yet again of Dale’s avatar, where it lay snoozing in its bed, she returned to the site of Flower’s Rest. Nothing remained of the old settlement. Even the trees had regrown, and tall grass had already grown over where she remembered the old guild hall being.
“Well, only one thing to do,” Riley said, setting his pack more comfortably and pulling out his axe with a flourish. “Right, Azalea?”
She nodded confirmation, also pulling out her axe. “Let’s get to work.”
The four of them went to work on the trees, hacking away and knocking them down. Azalea was a bit faster than Riley or Oscar thanks to her C-Rank Gathering skill, but Patsy was by far the slowest. For each tree that he managed to bring down with the axe he’d been given, Azalea felled another three. So she set him to a different task, digging up the stumps that remained.
In about three hours of hard work, they'd created enough space for two plots of land. Azalea purchased them and added the others to the lot. It was strange not to add Caius or the list of names, she thought. She spent another hour and a half setting up the basic outline of a field, then decided she better log off for a while to eat some lunch and check her email. Patsy promised to till and plant while she was away. Oscar and Riley continued their goal of scouting the area to try and find the source of that massive anti-magic field.
“Don’t try to do anything too crazy,” she warned them, as if they needed her to say it. She knew how careful Oscar was, and Riley wasn’t the type to fight a suicide mission. “Also if you get the time, do you think you could hunt some meat? I’ll have the market stall up fast tomorrow, and it’ll be good to have enough meat to make some actual food.”
Oscar nodded, and Patsy chimed in, “I’ll help out with that. I’m no good at hunting, but I can cook pretty damn well.”
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After Azalea had set out for the village, Oscar strode into the thick forest, following a faint game trail. He paused at the boundary, casting a quick glance back at their newest member. Riley, who was walking behind him, noticed the glance and copied the action. “What’s wrong?”
“Just trying to figure out if he’s up to anything,” Oscar said quietly. “I’m not exactly suspicious of him, but he came an awfully long way just to join our little band.”
“You think there’s a chance he might be a spy.”
Oscar nodded. “If he is, he’s probably the worst-planned spy I’ve ever seen.”
“But of course, that could just be a brilliant ploy.”
Oscar said nothing to that, and Riley laughed, knowing it was as good a confirmation as he’d ever get. “You’re too into your character, man. Just because he comes from Dawnbreak doesn’t mean he’s like the rest of ‘em.”
“He didn’t spawn there originally,” Oscar said. “I figured you didn’t recognize him.”
“He’s from Silver Village?”
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Oscar nodded again. “I saw him on the first day. He was even in the tavern with us. Then when the first group ventured away from the city, he went with them.”
“Damn,” Riley said, impressed. “I always forget how good your memory is.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be much of a game critic if I couldn’t remember details,” Oscar replied with a snort. I remember everything from the games I played. Well, at least until I write up a review.”
“I bet you’re itching to do that.”
“I’m more impatient than your agent is, that’s for sure.”
Riley laughed at that. “True. He sent me another email just last night. I wasn’t in the mood to reply. Too angry at losing our land.”
“You think you were angry?” Oscar asked, leading the way away from the camp. If Patsy was a spy, there was nothing he could learn from the beginnings of their new camp. “I thought Caius was gonna stomp into those trees and try to take Matlin on single-handed.”
The quip about their lost comrade slipped out without him thinking about it, but it had an immediate effect on their mood. Oscar was always surly, but now he took a sharp turn toward dour, and even Riley’s grin faded from his face. The monk shook his head sadly. “I knew he was old, but not that old. Shame we lost him so early.”
Oscar agreed, but silently. Then he added, “Azalea was his caregiver. Did she ever mention what had happened to him that he needed her?”
Riley shook his head. “I’m guessing he couldn’t move on his own. People like that usually hire a caregiver.”
“But a full-time caregiver?” Oscar asked. “That’s expensive these days. Anybody with medical training is usually hired to be a nanite technician.”
Riley shrugged, but a thought struck him then, and he blurted it out before he could properly consider it. “Azalea said his name was Dale. You don’t think he was Dale Lawson, do you?”
That thought stopped Oscar in his tracks so suddenly that Riley nearly ran into him. “Wait. The one who won that Dynasty Domination tournament last year?”
Riley nodded. “The one with the half-million dollar prize pool. I think that was him. It would explain a lot.”
“Like how he’s so good at fighting,” Oscar suggested. Now that Riley had said it out loud, he instinctively believed it to be true. “I thought he was just that good at video games. And much younger. Now we know why he seemed so experienced. He must have been gaming long before full-dive became a thing.”
Oscar opened his mouth to reply, his own guess already formed in his mind. But before he could speak, he heard the sound of rustling bushes to the left and whipped around, his new bow already rising, an arrow drawing back on the string. Someone was close enough to have heard their conversation, he was sure of it. With a single smooth movement, he released the arrow just as the figure came into proper view. And it was a lucky thing he did. For the stranger had his own bow drawn, and had been a second away from shooting in a surprise attack. Instead, Oscar’s arrow slammed into the center of his chest, knocking him back. His own arrow, an instant too late, flew high and harmless into the air.
The bushes all around them rustled now, and over a dozen figures leaped into sight out of the greenery. Then to the side, three people stepped out from behind a tree. Riley, nearly as quick as Oscar, lunged forward toward the nearest group of bushes, his quarterstaff moving in a blur. Outnumbered heavily as they were, their own instincts after months of playing this game were sharp as a knife. By the time Riley had struck down his first opponent, Oscar had already drawn his bow and shot another of their ambushers.
Oscar dove to the side to avoid one arrow, then came up, bow drawing back one more time. He was a second too late. A crossbow bolt slammed into his shoulder, knocking him back. His bow fell from his hand, but he was by no means finished. As one of the Terrians stepped forward to finish him off, he drew one of his knives, ducked the weapon, and rammed his blade into the bandit’s chest. The man went down with a cry of shock and pain. Another fighter stepped forward, forcing Oscar to jump back hastily.
He found himself back to back with Riley, and the two of them switched, catching their nearest opponents off-guard. Two swings of their weapon, and two enemies dead. Five kills in total. As Riley moved forward, Oscar managed to scoop his bow off the ground, and nocked a new arrow, ignoring the pain of the bolt in his shoulder. He shot down the crossbow user that had given him that particular gift, then a fireball launched by one of their attackers knocked both him and Riley flat to the ground, their vision blurred and their eyes ringing.
Someone loomed over Oscar, their weapon swinging down. He rolled out of the way just in time, and came up in a powerful lunge, his knife slashing at the man’s arm. The Terrian staggered back clutching the wound, then fell as Oscar slashed his knife across his throat. Then something - he assumed it was an arrow - hit him square in the back, knocking him down once again. Gritting his teeth, his field of vision red, he whipped around, throwing the knife. It took the archer in one shoulder. He drew another knife, charging forward.
Riley fell to a surprise attack as yet another swordsman jumped out of the bushes, and exploded into a large pile of items and coins. Some of them were caught by Oscar, and they were immediately added to his Yemon total. Not that it would do him any good, he thought. It would just give his killer a few more coins than it would have before.
Another figure swam into view through his blurred vision, and he struck at the center of the blurry mass. But his knife merely glanced off the stranger’s armor. He blinked up at his new foe, thinking he looked oddly familiar. It was Matlin, he realized, with a new surge of anger. It was actually the Captain himself. Matlin leered down at him, his heavy broadsword in one hand.
“The rats have returned to their nest,” he said, to the laughter of his men around him. “Well, you fought well, little rat. But now it is time for you to go away.”
Oscar couldn’t even feel the impact of the sword cutting him down, so dim and dark were his senses. All he was aware of was opening his eyes ten minutes later, and staring at Riley. The monk looked both furious and panicked. “What the hell was that?”
“Matlin,” Oscar replied, glancing down at his body, which was now clad in the default grey tunic and loose pants. Two complete wipes in a month? This was getting ridiculous, he thought angrily. “He had enough men for a full raid with him.”
“But Silver Village is still on cooldown,” Riley said. “He can’t possibly raid the village. There’s still nearly three days.”
They realized what was happening a few minutes later when they went to return to the campsite to warn Patsy of the approaching small army. The second they took a step outside of Silver Village, a warning flashed across their field of vision. But it wasn’t the usual warning, stating that they were leaving a safe zone. No, it was a new kind of warning, one they had seen before, but one with an entirely different meaning.
[You are now entering a raid zone.]