Lira headed deep into the forest of Karyost, well off the beaten path. The branches and shrubs snagged on her pants and shirt, an annoyance she tolerated out of necessity. The ever present thought of the players haunted her and pushed her onward.

The first few minutes of Lira’s flight from Karyost was one rife with fear, as every noise behind brought to mind hoards of angered players. It was only when half the day had passed by that she began to relax.

After hours spent walking through the forest she came across a rundown shack. The building had a collapsed roof, and shattered windows. The door to the place had fallen off the hinges and lay on the grass.

Though it looked altogether unsafe she entered anyways, her footsteps avoiding the glass shards that had scattered about. She studied the interior and was surprised that it still looked altogether fine, with only a few spots where grass and mold had started to invade.

She walked across the room to a wood bench and settled on it, the creaking beneath barely registering in her. Instead she was more focused on leaving, since she was already late for an appointment and had to get off the game.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Gia stared at the stacks of papers on her desk and sighed. She rubbed her eyes and mentally sorted what she still needed to do. Everything had been going fine but then someone threw a spanner in the works.

The door to her office slammed open, and a tall man with excessively long hair stood framed in it. He swaggered in, not closing the door, and lazily slumped into one of the lounge chairs.

“You’re still at it?” he asked.

Gia clenched her fingers into fists, but managed to not slam them against the desktop. “Of course I am,” she said, her temper as controlled as it could be, “why are you here, Alek?”

“I can’t come see my wonderful older sister?” Alek sighed dramatically. “What a horrid world we live in if I am so spurned by you.”

Gia stood up, her chair almost falling over from the sudden move. “Stop acting like an idiot, you’re here for something!”

Alek rested the back of his left arm over his eyes. “Sister dear, you need to learn how to relax.”

For a moment Gia had an urge to grab her brother and throw him out, but gave up on that thought instantly. She’d tried it in the past and the man had a knack for being impossible to move. Instead she walked around her desk and slammed the office door closed.

“Nobody is picking my race.”

Gia paused on her walk back to the desk at those words. When she glanced at Alek he was peeking out from under his arm, with a frown on his face.

“What do you want me to do about it?” Gia asked.

Alek helplessly waved one hand. “Whatever. You know I’m not good at thinking.”

“Clearly. I still remember when you opted to just make a fog bank to hide a town, because you didn’t know how else to make it mysterious.”

“And now nobody goes near it because they’re scared of it,” Alek said with a laugh, “oh the players are so stupid sometimes. But seriously, why is nobody picking elf anymore?”

Gia walked back to her desk and sat down, her hands moving to the papers. “Because Ghandahar is turning into a cesspool. For some reason the worst players were attracted to the elf race.”

“They’re not all bad!”

Gia glared at him through her pillars of paper. “Clearly. I’ve already taken steps to try and counter that issue.”

“Steps? Did you offer some bonus for new elf players?”

“Sylvia is handling it. She’s going to have her disciple knock some sense into that continent.”

“Oh that Wulfram guy? Didn’t he get on some interview thing?”

“Yes he was invited to an interview,” Gia said as she worked her way through the papers one at a time, “Patrick is a well respected fellow. Sylvia chose well.”

“Not as good as mine is.”

Gai glared again, though it was a futile effort. “If you’re going to waste my time then leave, Alek.”

“Neh, this is a comfy couch.”

Once more Gia had to struggle with the urge to throw her own brother out, but she fought it down. She had something more important to deal with now that she had to handle the task manually.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

When Lira logged back into the game the first thing she noticed was the darkness, as night had arrived during her absence. She blinked, her digital eyes adjusting to the decreased light, and scanned the shack for any changes.

That was when Lira froze, as she realized that there was another person present. The old bench had acquired an occupant during her absence.

The man wore a light coat of a thin material, one that fluttered in the slightest of breezes that circled in the room. A gaunt face turned to look at her, dark and sunken eyes staring at her unblinkingly.

“Oh? Hello,” the man whispered, his voice almost carried away by the wind. A single hand lifted up, the skin so pale they bordered on translucent.

Lira called a dagger to her left hand, hidden against her side opposite of the stranger, as she waved back with the other hand. “Hello.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The man made no move to attack. Instead he stared with an intensity that made Lira feel like he could see through her. A shiver of disgust crept up her back at the thought, and she took a step backward.

“Bit rude of you,” the man whispered.

Lira froze, her fingers tightening around the knife’s handle. “What?”

The man let out a long sigh, his body seeming to almost shrink with the exhalation. “Before you stab me to death, tell me one thing. What do you want?”

“...What?”

“So simple, yet you still can’t answer?” The man’s eyes shifted away from Lira. “What a waste.”

Lira frowned, but didn’t speak and instead slowly stood up from the bench. With every step she kept a close eye on the man, but he made no move to do anything, and by the time she reached the door it was as though he’d turned into a statue.

Once outside Lira let out a long sigh, and turned her mind to the forest instead of the stranger. The noise of crickets and owls played in the background, while long shadows covered most of what she could see. There were no trails, signs, or any type of marking to tell her where to go.

A rustle in the bushes put Lira back on edge, her knife held in front of her defensively. Yet nothing emerged to attack, and so she chose to move on. There was a small opening in the forest, one in which moonlight streamed down from above.

Eager to stay within the only source of light, Lira strode into the knee high grass and shrubs. She pushed onward, yet always nervous about what might lurk in the darkness that was ever present.

Half an hour later she’d trekked a fair distance, but in all that time she had yet to encounter any animals outside of small insects. There’d been an absence of monsters throughout it all, and though it was night time she doubted everything was asleep.

Yet by the time Lira emerged from the Karyost Forest there’d been no attacks. She stepped out into an area along the western coast of Ghandahar, with a sparkling moonlit ocean in full view from her spot. A beach ran southward, dotted with random rocks that jutted up out of the sand.

Lira walked down the incline to the beach, her shoes sinking readily into the soft sand. She smiled while she walked, looking out at the star speckled horizon. Gentle waves rolled in from afar, the noise of them lipping at the beach far more preferable to the forest insects.

An owl flew overhead, the white creature quietly flitting past Lira and settling on one of the rocks. The animal turned its head and stared at her with unblinking golden eyes.

Lira’s fingers curled around the handle of her knife, and glared at the owl. In truth she didn’t know how owls normally acted, but she doubted the one before her was acting proper.

Hesitant to walk near it, Lira instead headed to her left and away from the ocean. She moved in an eastward direction, and managed to skirt along the southern fringe of the Karyost Forest.

A vast prairie stretched out in front of her, one dotted with cows that milled about freely. As Lira approached them a few looked up, and then returned to their chewing of grass. She paused near one to touch it, the rough hide warm against her palm.

A shadow flitted across the moon, and Lira looked up to see that the owl had followed her. It had started to glide in circles overhead. A brief moment of confusion played through her mind, and then a single thought emerged.

“Finally caught up to you.”

The sudden voice made Lira jump, as she turned to face the speaker. A man had come from the north-west, along with two others. Each was armed with a sword and the one who was in front sneered at Lira.

Lira took a few steps away from the trio, her thoughts instantly going to the smoke pellets she had. She could probably buy enough time with that and her Distraction skill, but wasn’t sure if they wouldn’t find her again. If she was right the owl had been used to locate her, and she had no means to eliminate it.

“What do you want?” she asked.

The man in the front laughed, and glanced at one of his companions over his shoulder. “Can you believe this? She’s that stupid?”

“Course the bitch is, she’s been trying to rob everyone in town for weeks,” his friend replied.

The one in front turned back to Lira and shook his head. “We’re going to kill you over and over until we have everything you stole, and maybe a few extra times.”

One of his friends spoke up, “Yeah we don’t want you filthy thieves ruining this game!”

Lira turned and started to run, not bothering to waste time on further words. She threw a pellet at the ground, the cloud of smoke billowing outward rapidly. Shouts came from behind as the trio started to chase, but she didn’t bother to see if any emerged from the smoke.

The herd of cows moved ever so little in response to Lira’s actions, most of the animals staring at her with looks of boredom. She tried her best to pick her way through the group, but the large animals stubbornly refused to move aside.

That was when she heard the howling coming from the north. The call of a wolf pierced the night air and stirred the herd, the cows all turning southward in unison. Soon they began to not merely walk, but to run as another howl was heard.

“It’s a stampede!” one of the men chasing her shouted, before he yelled in pain and went silent.

Lira glanced over her shoulder to see what’d happened, but only saw a cloud of particles. The others of the trio were also in the middle of being crushed by the cows, as the herd continued to hasten in pace as the bulk of it moved toward her.

Lira gritted her teeth and turned back to the front, pushing as hard as she could with her feet against the soft soil. The ground quaked beneath her as the cows next to her and behind continued to panic, and she could almost feel the heat of their breath on her body.

That was when a dark figure loomed out of the grass in front of her, and in one smooth movement scooped her up in their arms. Lira let out a cry of shock, and when she saw the man’s face prepared to attack him with a knife.

“Calm down,” Galmi said to her, “and hold still or we’re both in trouble.”

Lira had no interest in doing as he wanted, especially since she’d stolen from him, and instead squirmed in his arms. It was only when the first cows reached them that she went still, her eyes squeezed shut as she flinched at the thought of being crushed.

A few seconds later she slowly opened them, and saw that the cows were rushing past the both of them. Every so often Galmi would adjust where he stood, but he seemed for the most part impassive in the midst of the stampede.

It was a few minutes later by the time all the cows were gone, and Lira twisted in Galmi’s arms to try and dislodge herself. He released her with a chuckle, and turned to look at the herd that’d departed.

“I wonder how they taste?” he murmured.

Lira took a step away from the madman, but when she started to turn and walk away a red wolf bounded out of the north. The creature was elegant, with a smooth coat of fur, but the look it directed at Lira was enough to send a chill down her spine.

Then her body went rigid as she was forcefully logged out.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Help Files

Warp Gems

A warp gem is a device capable of teleporting a character from one gem to another. The use of a warp gem normally requires permission from the owner, which can either come with specific requirements or a monetary fee.

It is possible for players to gain access to their own warp gems, but they need to establish them in a specific spot permitted by the system. Usage outside of that spot will not be possible.

Warp gems are most commonly found in the largest cities in the game. Faran has one in Orlian and another in Holygrande, while Ghandahar has one in Lorren.