??? Unknown Time

??? Unknown Location

Rick took the time to study the land around him. It stretched out in all directions, rolling terrain with hills and folds. There had been places near Las Vegas like this. Not exactly the same, but rolling hills of unusual colors that deceived the eye. He would have to be wary.

After the first lizard died, an experience bar appeared in Rick's interface. It was nearly halfway filled up. At least leveling won't be slow.

He had no intention of charging off into the unknown and getting himself killed, so he stood and studied the area carefully. The lizards had either spawned from nothing or been completely invisible before they sprang out of the sands. There was no sign of more of them, but he didn't trust his eyes.

"Well, I can't stay here forever," Rick said aloud.

The desert greeted him with more silence and a faint whistle of wind that tugged at his blue-grey jumpsuit. The spires in the distance told him there was a civilization around here. Hopefully, that meant areas of safety and trust, as well as vendors. Not that he had any money to spend.

Oh right, how could he have forgotten? Loot!

The lizard bodies lay scattered about, blasted and broken, but still lootable. He reached for the first one, and before his hand even reached it, a dialogue popped up. [AutoLoot?] He selected [Yes] and a list of items scrolled by.

[Needle fangs, crafting reagent, x 20]

[Lizard Leather, crafting reagent, x2]

None of the items appeared in front of him. He must have an inventory; he’d look at that in a minute. First things first.

Rick went to the next lizard. This time he didn't select [AutoLoot]. A list of items appeared and allowed him to select just one.

[Lizard Leather, crafting reagent, x1]

A scrap of rough hide appeared in his hand. It was brown and mottled, in exactly the same shade as the lizard, except its body was now skinless.

He finished the looting the second lizard with autoloot and got more fangs and leather.

When he went to loot the third lizard, the land beyond dropped away into a small valley. At the bottom was a creek lined with trees or large shrubs. It was difficult to make out the details at this distance.

Halfway between Rick and the creek, maybe 100 meters off, Team Technique was fighting monsters. The larger, dog-sized rat creatures circled the party and snapped. The Technique team had closed ranks in a circle and was defending themselves. He recognized Jens from his wavy blonde hair. The man's hands were on fire as he burned one rat-dog to death. He must have taken the Flame Hands skill. Rick had been tempted by that during his skill selection.

Rick picked his way carefully down the slope towards them. The red rocky soil was a mix of hard and loose patches, with green lichen patches big enough to conceal rocks large enough to trip him up. By the time he reached the bottom, he’d gotten the feel for it, and moving became easier.

Pratt spotted him as Andrews was finishing off the last of the rat-dogs. “So, the colonel decided to allow you out to play."

"You don't need to be such an ass, Pratt. There's no reason to burn your bridges."

"What bridges?" Pratt threw out his arms. "This is our world now. And we're the best." He stabbed a finger at Rick. "Whatever these trials are, we're going all the way to the top. We don't need some self-important officer to tell us our business. We are professionals. We're not children or soldiers to be ordered around. So stay out of our way.”

As Pratt was ranting, Rick inspected him. The system gave him basic details. [Level one Human. Classless] Rick stifled a snort. He had always known that about Pratt. The man had airs, but he didn't have class. [A member of Party: Technique.]

"So, you found a party interface," he asked, keeping his tone mild. He wasn't yet sure about player versus player in this game, and he didn't trust Pratt not to ambush him outright.

"We did," Pratt sneered. "And guess what? It only holds five."

Rick nodded. He had half expected it. "Yeah, I told those NASA guys as much, but they didn’t listen.”

Pratt laughed, and several of the others chuckled sycophantically. "Yeah, those fools didn't know anything about gaming. That guy Dwayne tried to talk to me about Everwar raids. The noob didn't know anything."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Rick laughed along with the group, but he felt hollow inside. He hadn't been particularly interested in making amends with them. Otherwise, he would have done more during the two months on the StarCruiseR. But now, in this empty place, it suddenly felt lonely to be without a team at his side. Maybe he should have stayed on the ship until the soldiers were ready to join. "Do you mind if I follow along? I won't mess with any of your kills."

Pratt's amusement vanished, and he sneered at Rick. "Yeah, we do mind. Stay clear of us."

"Alright, got it," Rick said. He held up his hands to show he wasn’t going to try anything as they moved off down the hill towards the creek. From here, he could see what looked like trees. They had a twisted trunk and spindly branches with an umbrella-like canopy of green above.

There was nothing left to loot on the dead creatures Technique had left behind. The level two Sand Rats had had seven points of health. Not too high, but he wouldn't want to take on several at a time. He still didn't know how fast his health regenerated. Assuming it did. It had better, or his life in this game was going to be very short. Which reminded him, were there respawns in this game, or was it hardcore mode? He had to assume he only had one life until he learned otherwise.

Rick moved farther down the slope, away from where the bodies lay but not far enough to catch up with Team Technique. Who knows what they would do if they thought he was crowding them. He could hear shouts and the foosh of spells from the trees. They were fighting something. He stayed two dozen yards from the brush and waited, keeping a sharp eye all around.

His options were limited. The military group had brought six men as well. They would have too much for a single party. His best plan would be to wait and join forces when they arrived. Assuming they came this way. Perhaps he should go back and see if everyone arrived in the same location.

The sounds of battle died away. Several minutes passed. Rick was about to proceed into the trees surrounding the creek when someone off to his left called, “Hey, Yankee!"

One of the Chinese team stepped out from behind a lichen-stained boulder. He held his hands up and open as he came towards Rick. That might be a peaceful gesture back on Earth, but in this world of magic, who knows what you could fire from those palms. Rick kept himself ready.

"Your friends, they leave you?" This man was the heavier-set Asian with rounder features. He was the big one Rick had thought looked like a soldier but whose uniform had not fit well. Now he wore the space-age jumpsuit like everyone else, but he sported a leather headband made of rat skins holding back his shoulder-length black hair. He had a neatly trimmed beard, though the area under his mouth was shaved, and a long thin mustache.

"Hey, where'd you get that headband?" Rick asked. "Did it drop?"

The man shook his head and grinned. "No, the Chinese fools left the reagents and I made it. The soldiers don't know games and they got the pros intimidated."

Rick nodded slowly. That made sense. The rest of the Chinese team was three soldiers and two gamers who had always looked thoroughly terrified. Without the gamers sharing their expertise, they would be at a serious disadvantage.

Still on his guard, Rick asked, "So what’s your story?”

The Asian man shrugged and grinned again. He had an easy smile that Rick found himself liking.

“I’m Uuganbayar Ganbaat, from Mongolia. When they found out the party only held five…” he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

Rick was still cautious. The man might be lying, and this might be an ambush, but his story made sense. His English was pretty good too. Rick couldn’t remember hearing any of the Chinese team members say more than five words in English, not that he’d been attending any of the social events on the ship.

"Yeah, same here. Look, do you want to party up? It'll be safer in a group."

The Mongolian man smiled again. "Oh yeah. What's a warrior without a band, eh? None of that lone cowboy shit for Mongolians. No, we fight in a horde."

Rick laughed. "A horde of two.” Mentally, he started trying to pronounce Uuganbayar but gave up somewhere around the middle.

The Asian man shrugged. “It's a start."

"Whatever you say, Khan."

The Mongolian’s smile was fierce. "When Chinese call us that it's a big insult. But, since I'm about to invite you to my party, I'll take it as a compliment. Call me Gambit. You Westerners can never pronounce my name."

“And the Chinese can?” Something about the name Gambit tickled Rick’s brain, like he’d heard it before, but he couldn’t place it yet.

“Hah! No.”

A moment later the party invite popped up for Rick. [Join the Horde?] He selected [Accept].

"So what now?" Gambit asked.

Rick gave him a quizzical look. "I thought you were the Khan, shouldn't you tell me?"

Gambit his head. "I know who you are, and I've seen you raid call on streams at the top tier level. So no, I'm not calling the shots, you are."

Rick grinned. That was just the way he liked it. The truth was, he did prefer to raid lead, and the real reason Pratt and the Technique team had thrown him under the bus was because Pratt wanted the job. The exploit he had used in the Everwar Collegiate Championship hadn’t been on the banned list. They could have argued with the judges, but instead, Pratt had turned on Rick, and the others had sided with him. Rick had been banned and disgraced. The ban had only covered that particular tournament, not the Pro League, but it had blackened Rick's record, and no amount of effort since had been able to get him out of the tournament.

But this was a whole new world.

Suddenly it clicked. “Wait. Gambit? I know that name. Do you stream?”

“I did. When I could.”

Rick smiled wide. “I watched that time you were the last man standing on your League of Heroes team and you took down the whole other side. Sebastopol Arena map, right?”

“That’s right.” Gambit’s smile was nearly blinding. “I am deadly when cornered. Remember that. Enough chat. Let's see if we can find something to kill," Gambit gestured towards the trees nearby. "Do you think any of those could be used to craft a weapon?"

Rick eyed the branches. "Maybe. It's worth a shot. Let's work our way into this grove and find out."

Together, the two of them moved in through the outer brush. There was no sign of anything moving, except an insect that buzzed by with a high-pitched whine, like a bee sound played back too quickly. They passed through a line of waist-high shrubs and reached the streamside under the canopy of the strange Martian trees. The bones of whatever mobs Team Technique had been fighting lay scattered about, looted clean.

Rick inspected one pile.

[Spine Feather Raptor. Level 3]

“Maybe we should—" he started to say.

And then mobs fell from the trees and landed all around them.