At around 5:00am, I stomped into Cambree.
I’d expected equal parts dust and dirt, but compared to Bill’s Yard, this was an oasis. I saw decorative greenery for the first time, and people were brave enough to build glass windows rather than the wooden shutters that were so common where I’d come from.
A wooden shutter didn’t have to be wiped clean of brown grime every day, but a window did.
Cambree was smaller, which was of great benefit because I had no idea who I was delivering the vial to. Young Barney had just told me to get it here in one piece, but I’d never questioned what was next. I stood in the middle of what looked to be the main street, but the quest wasn’t auto-completing, which suggested a missing piece to the puzzle.
Checking my Quest Log was all it took to solve the case.
“Who the hell is Bambuk the Third, Rampant Destroyer?” I asked the quiet street.
That was who I’d need to find to complete my quest.
Someone with a name like that.
I tried a pub, forgetting that it was just past 5:00am and not even the die-hards would be there. The streets were almost clear, so I had to ask a merchant who was setting up shop in a tiled plaza. Her stall was painted green and blue, blending in with the broad-leafed bushes dotted around the place and the sad attempt at a fountain in the middle of the square. Water was still an issue here, though not as dire as it was in Bill’s Yard.
“Morning, ma’am. How are you?”
She looked up and put on a shopkeeper’s smile, evidently surprised to see her first customer so early in the day.
“I’m doing well, thank you! Looks like you’ve had a rough night, would you care for a homemade balm? Those bruises on your arm look awful.”
I’d noticed a dull ache on my shield arm but looking down now there was an ugly purple and blue bruise lancing across my skin. It would heal with time, but with my Vitality sitting at a whole one point, it would be a while.
“Sorry, I’m not actually shopping today. I’m looking for someone called Bambuk. Would you happen to know where I could find them?”
“Oh for goodness sake, what’s he up to now?”
“I’m delivering a vial to him. That’s all I know.”
I assumed I wasn’t breaking some kind of client confidentiality by disclosing my task, but I didn’t have time to care. My priority was to get in and get out.
With any luck, I’d be able to find a fast-travel port back to Bill’s Yard. It would’ve been nice if I didn’t have to visit a place before I could fast-travel there, though with Cambree unlocked, deliveries would become a whole lot easier.
Once again, a business idea flicked through my mind. This one stuck around, too.
“Well, he’s probably somewhere up north near the mines, gallivanting around like a fool. Are you sure you don’t want this balm? Only eight krad for my early-bird customers.”
“I’m all good, thanks. I’ll come back another time!”
I hurried off, throwing the end of the promise over my shoulder. Young Barney had specified ‘morning’, so I’d hold him to it. If Bambuk wasn’t there, maybe I’d crack into the vial myself.
Or perhaps I wouldn’t. Right now, fifty krad was pretty damn important.
A sign pointed me in the direction of the mines, and I slotted in with some early-morning workers going to the same destination. I was the only person not holding a pickaxe, but I got some approving looks when people noticed my spear. The crowd walked in unison, thumping along the dirt in measured strides.
Left feet came down, all at once.
Whump!
Right feet followed.
Whump!
This was no ordinary morning commute.
I hurried to the front of the pack, and leading the charge was the only person I could ever imagine being called Bambuk the Third, Rampant Destroyer.
He was young, with purple spiky hair and a red cloak flowing behind him. His boyish face was full of cuts and grazes and scars, and he smiled with something a touch past sanity. His eyes jumped to me as though I was a shiny item he wanted to steal.
“Bambuk?” I asked.
“The Third,” he replied.
I procured the vial and held it out. His eyes grew wide and he snatched it from my palm then pocketed it himself. Immediately, a notification dinged.
Quest Complete!
‘Vile Vial’
Reward(s)
+50 Krad
+100 EXP
Sweet relief.
I checked my balance, happy to see that I was now only in debt to the tune of 950 krad. Nineteen more deliveries and I’d go net positive.
There was about five hours before I thought it would be un-creepy of me to message Claire and see how she’d progressed with finding arrows. I’d check out what was going on here for an hour or so, zip back to the Yard, then catch a few Z’s before immersing once again. Maybe chomp down an apple to keep me going.
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Picture of health.
The miners stomped on behind me, none of them conversing. I was part of a stampede. I knew that much.
We stopped a few hundred meters from the mines, face-to-face with at least a thousand armed soldiers.
Not kidding.
There were a couple hundred of us on my side, all armed with pickaxes or rudimentary weapons fashioned from garden tools.
And I was at the front.
To run off now would probably be as dangerous as whatever was about to happen. I could feel the anger of the crowd boiling over at the sight of the heavily armed forces blocking our path.
I wouldn’t just be a coward; I’d be a dead coward.
A representative stepped into No-Mans-Land between us, toting a blue and white banner with a large bird emblazoned across it. The miners behind me pressed forward, but Bambuk raised a hand, ushering them back.
“Miners of Cambree!” called the bannerman. “This mine has been claimed by the Royal Army of Asteroth for our use. To go against this decree is to commit treason against the True King Bairut. Whilst we shall not persecute those who return to their homes immediately, lethal force shall be used against all that remain. I encourage you to act wisely.”
Satisfied with his speech, the bannerman retreated. As he passed the ranks of soldiers, they raised their weapons, preparing for battle.
“Shupid bluddy Asterians,” mumbled Bambuk. “Shoulda stayed ‘ome.”
I agreed. We should’ve stayed home. There was nothing but a slaughter waiting for us here.
The soldiers came forward at the behest of their commander, swords at the ready and bows trained on our frontline. I would be peppered like a steak if we didn’t disperse immediately.
Bambuk pulled the vial from his pocket, holding it in front of him. I thought it was some kind of peace offering, but then he unstoppered it.
And drank the tornado.
He fell to the ground, writhing and convulsing. The miners muttered and shuffled their feet. From their perspective, their leader had just spontaneously fallen in defeat. They hadn’t seen him drink the vial’s contents.
There was a sound like glass shattering, and Bambuk’s clothes began to tear. His body expanded, and shreds of clothing floated into the air, gathering around him in a vortex. His body doubled in size, and he groaned in a voice too low to be human.
I stepped back, as did the miners.
Bambuk popped, and where he had stood, a tornado raged.
The Bambuk-Tornado sucked the front-most Asterian soldiers into its grey depths, their screams cut short once they passed its crackling border. It grew in size and strength, though the miners and I remained safe. On our side, Bambuk was only a soft breeze, but the Asterians were being enveloped faster and faster, unable to run fast enough to escape.
In moments, the enemy soldiers were halved. The commander and his direct underlings escaped inside the mines, but the foot-soldiers were left to perish. Having been responsible for bringing the vial to Bambuk, I was praying that the Asterians were terrible people.
They’d taken over the mine, sure, but Bambuk was destroying legions upon legions of soldiers. I couldn’t watch any longer, so I issued a gibberish order to the miners.
“Eastern flank over-bank double time!” I yelled, praying they wouldn’t notice my revolted escape.
No one moved, all of them transfixed by the ungodly ruination of the Asterian forces.
I hurried back to Cambree, following the signs to the fast-travel zone. I stood still while the System evaluated me.
###
Fast Travel to Bill’s Yard?
(Yes/No)
###
Fast Travelling to Bill’s Yard
###
Complete.
###
My stomach churned, and I wondered if it was possible to vomit in-game. It wasn’t the sensation of fast-travelling that bothered me, it was the evaporation of at least a thousand soldiers who, beneath their armour and banners, were sons and daughters, mothers and fathers.
And NPCs. Lots of 1’s and 0’s generated by the game. Not real.
My doubts from my first kill in the Todd & Podd challenge resurfaced. I pictured the [Blueskins] I’d cleaved through, and the [Wolthair] with its open midsection, collapsing on top of me in defeat.
I disconnected, went to my room, and slept.
###
My usual 6:30am alarm went off.
Then the 6:40 snooze option.
6:50 came and went, my phone buzzing long enough that it melded into my dreams as a distant jackhammer.
7 was the alarm’s last howling attempt to raise the dead.
###
When I awoke of my own accord, I felt like shit.
I only got up because my bladder was fit to burst. I’d dreamt of the Bambuk-Tornado turning around to engulf the miners and the rest of Cambree, which also added to the urgency.
My moral debate waited until I was in the shower, where all moral debates should happen. I could’ve done with Annette or Duri’s input, but they had enough on their plate already.
Killing monsters was fine. I could deal with that. Their only goal was to kill players, and they didn’t resemble humans in any way whatsoever. I ate meat in real life without a worry.
But, would you believe it, I didn’t eat humans. That was where the issue lay. It was my choice to hand Bambuk that vial, and I did nothing while he ravaged the Asterian forces. I could blame Young Barney, but that was the easy way out.
I’d settle my doubts later. It was approaching 10:00am, and I was late for a date.
Full disclosure, it definitely wasn’t a date, but a guy can dream.
I trudged downstairs, said hello to Mom and Dale, grabbed a wrinkly apple and went back, sinking into the AT-2000. If it had been an old-style Pod, I don’t think I could’ve brought myself to immerse.
After finishing the apple and throwing the core out the freshly fixed window, I immersed.
--Immersing, please don’t disconnect--
Sunlight assaulted my eyes, and I held up my shield to shade them. I couldn’t escape my fatigue in here, either, but after a few minutes of monster hunting, I’d be fine.
I shot Claire a message.
[Morning! I’m in debilitating debt, but I’m ready to hunt if you are?]
[Lol. Ended up making my own arrows about thirty mins after you left. Turns out that’s possible.]
Of course it was. I should’ve chosen [Archer] or [Huntress] like Claire. Better than paying for three different pieces of equipment.
[I’m at Bill’s Yard, keen to meet?]
[Like, his yard yard? Or the general area.]
[Yard yard.]
[Coming!]
My heart thumped, and the backs of my knees started sweating. I messed around with my hair and made sure my javelin and shield were sitting proper. There was not a single mop of red hair in sight, but I could’ve been panicking too much to notice. I cleared my throat and practiced my hello.
“Hullo!” I tried.
Too ponderous.
“Hi there!”
Too active.
“Heyo…Heyo!...Hey!”
Things just weren’t working out. I’d be better off staying silent.
I spun around one last time, thinking I’d been ghosted.
The main street loomed before me, and a glint zoomed through the air. It arced down, and an arrow lodged in the earth between my feet.
The [Huntress] had arrived.