Gonna Stab Your Eyes Out, Wench!_World of Fantasy

[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/5b0c9847-92dd-4728-954f-93579b7ef57b/dfp4b37-2263ab56-0119-45a6-902f-b5d1a28c33ac.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzViMGM5ODQ3LTkyZGQtNDcyOC05NTRmLTkzNTc5YjdlZjU3YlwvZGZwNGIzNy0yMjYzYWI1Ni0wMTE5LTQ1YTYtOTAyZi1iNWQxYTI4YzMzYWMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.p0BsYA2Mn0G24goh6LfQIDOJpTol3cDIL-JEn-kN4yM]

Quill reached forward, grabbed Aarush by the collar, and physically yanked him back, out of reach of the rogue’s slicing dirk.

Aarush went flailing backward behind Quill, who now stood in the killer’s way.

A cry and the sound of steel thunking on wood came from Quill’s other side as the second attacker tried to force his way past Jane’s startled defences. “I’m gonna stab your eyes out, wench!”

Aarush shouted, dragging Quill’s attention back to his own battle, “Quill! Lookout!”

Quill tried to dodge but felt the dagger slice along his left side. It was brutally painful, as every wound was entirely realistic, but since coming here, he understood; you either keep fighting or die. You can’t give in to the pain. Probably a good metaphor for life. He swung his mace and managed to slam it into the rogue’s head. Unfortunately, as always, it was a weak blow. He wanted to back away from the attacker and give himself room or run but knew he had to stand his ground over Aarush, who was slow to get up.

Jane grunted, and it sounded like her own fight was a flurry of blows.

The other rogue cackled. Guess her fight was going about as well as Quill’s.

The rogue in front of him leapt into the air and came down swinging, a gleam in his eyes, the rest of his face covered by his gold bandana.

Frantic, Quill tried to block the dirk and dagger stabbing at him, the haft of his weapon catching about two out of three blows, the rest causing red blooms to appear on his arms and chest. Sensing an opportunity, he kicked hard between the rogue’s legs.

The attacks abruptly stopped. Luckily, you didn’t need much strength to cause pain in that particular area.

“Argh!” Jane stumbled into Quill from behind, and they fell to the ground.

Before either could rise to defend themselves, the two rogues were on them. Stabby stab stab murder death kill, and it was soon over.

Quill became a ghost and stood over his body. He sighed. More XP lost.

[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/5b0c9847-92dd-4728-954f-93579b7ef57b/dfp3oti-33bd1668-85fd-4eb6-9506-09d97c076990.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzViMGM5ODQ3LTkyZGQtNDcyOC05NTRmLTkzNTc5YjdlZjU3YlwvZGZwM290aS0zM2JkMTY2OC04NWZkLTRlYjYtOTUwNi0wOWQ5N2MwNzY5OTAuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.1L0-XW0GRRc48G6KA4BVhzbJ_C12QD25BgXmfE75gRc]

Jane appeared next to him. She cast an apologetic look his way. “Sorry. That was my fault.”

He smiled, honestly not upset at her or blaming her in the slightest. “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t stand a chance anyway.” It was the damn game developers that were the ones to blame.

Aarush tried to run while his comrades were succumbing to cold steel. He didn’t make it very far. “Ow ow ow ow!” He appeared as a ghost as well. Still panting and eyes wild, he looked down at himself and check himself for holes. He looked up. “That was a most not-excellent experience.”

Quill shuddered, still haunted by his own, thankfully temporary wounds. “Yeah. It doesn’t seem to get any better over time. Getting stabbed to death always hurts.”

To his and Jane’s surprise, Aarush heartily laughed. “First death. It was to happen eventually.” He noticed the floating window in front of him that only he could see. “Resurrect? This is reincarnation, yes? Ha-ha. I wonder if I will come back as myself or not. [Yes].” His ghost vanished.

He and Jane shared a smile.

Quill spoke first. “You know, I like him.”

“Yeah! He’s so upbeat. Even though we’re trapped in here, even though he just died, he’s still laughing.”

“You want to stop for the night or come back and try this again.”

“Umm. Honestly, I want to keep going. I don’t want to end the night on a loss; you know what I mean?”

“Agreed. In fact, we should make that a party rule: end the day on a win whenever we can.”

She grinned. “Nice! I’m down with that.”

They resurrected, appearing back in Stormstadt’s Grove of Life, lying on large, rectangular blocks of stone resting amidst a circle of various leafy trees, some with fruit, others with flowers. It was night, and the place was dark but in a comforting, beautiful way. Glowing, white and blue moths fluttered about overhead amidst the gentle moonlight. The path out of the grove was lined with luminescent pink flowers.

Aarush was already up and admiring the sight. When he noticed them getting off their stones, he came up to them full of smiles and patted them on the shoulders. “Good fight! Good battle! I am very glad we are not actually dead. And that I did not reincarnate as a monster or insect because of my poor performance.”

Jane winced. “Sorry, Aarush. If I hadn’t—“

He anxiously waved her words away. “No, no! It is ok. I did not heal when I should have. Or try to distract those villains. Quill, nice job. One strength club fighting spirit.” He fist-bumped Quill. “Jane, you are so good.” He high-fived her. “If we had not been surprised, we would win, I think. Now we can try again. But better this time.” He nodded, assured of this fact.

Quill couldn’t help but smile at the man’s positive attitude and saw that even Jane couldn’t stop herself from the same, despite feeling responsible for the party’s wipe.

Aarush looked around. “I am so much thirsty. Can we have water?”

They departed the grove and wandered through Stormstadt until they found the nearest well. At this time of night, the streets were nearly dead. They nodded to one passing party of determined players also out grinding levels but other than that, everyone else was apparently either indoors or in bed.

Except for whoever lurked in the shadows every time they passed an alley or a crack between buildings. While they caught a hint of movement or flash of light off steel, none of them were inclined to investigate.

Quill shook his head. “I’m surprised. Usually, cities are total safe zones. Are there really thieves and assassins all around us?”

Jane walked a little closer to him, which he didn’t mind at all, distrustfully eyeing the dark spaces. “It might be just for show. But let’s not find out, hmm?”

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At the well, Aarush drank twice as much out of the bucket as either he or Jane did. He also ate an entire loaf of bread.

Quill raised his brows at the other man’s appetite. “Hungry?”

Aarush stared at the last of the bread in his hand. “It is very strange. I have eaten and drunken before. But now it does not fill me up as much. Or, I am full but not satisfied.”

Jane suggested, “Maybe a bug in the system?”

Aarush crunched on the last of the bread and shrugged, unbothered. He seemed to be a pretty happy-go-lucky fellow.

They returned to the quest, all three agreeing that they wanted to make up for the XP they’d just lost.

This time, prepared for the rogue duo in hiding and not wanting to risk a three-vs-two battle, they circled around that location and warily made their way to a single crusader standing in the logged area amidst the tree stumps. With Quill and Jane both attacking from different angles, the warrior couldn’t fend both off at the same time. A timely heal from Aarush allowed Quill to recover from a near-mortal blow. Then the warrior was down, and the three celebrated.

Aarush pumped his fist in the air. “Victory is ours!”

Jane did a happy dance. “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

Quill felt elated as well and found himself rather distracted by Jane’s movements.

Aarush exclaimed, “This is very exciting! Next one, let’s go!”

Together, enthusiasm high, the trio tackled their next target and the next. One after another, they took down four more crusaders and collected gold bandanas. They collected coins, two swords that none of them chose to use, a new shirt, and an apple, which Aarush devoured.

Jane bloomed with light. “Level five!” She bounced up and down with joy. “I can get my class now.”

Quill gave her a congratulatory squeeze on the shoulders. “You want to go back to town and do it now?”

“Mm, no. How many bandanas do we have?”

“Six.”

“We only need three more. Let’s keep going.”

Quill gave her a challenging look. “Well, Miss Level Five, want to try taking on two at a time again?”

“Oooh. Um, ok. Let’s try. Aarush?”

“I am excited. We can win if they do not surprise us.” His head swivelled, and he surveyed the area. “Let’s try those two: warrior and mage. I want to avoid rogues, yes? I have been stabbed enough for today.”

Quill spoke hopefully, “Mages should be squishy, too, right?”

They surrounded the pair of targets and then closed in. The plan was to have Jane, with her HP, tank the warrior and keep him busy while Quill and Aarush ganged up on the mage. They had only one strength each, but the mage should have low defence and be fairly inept at close range.

Jane attacked first, drawing the warrior to her and the mage’s attention as well.

“Intruder! Kill her in the name of the Gold Crusade!”

“Fool! I shall burn you for daring to trespass here!”

Quill rushed the mage from behind. He swung as hard as he could, connecting with the woman’s head before she could send any magic to help her ally.

Jane tried not to do much, just block the warrior’s heavy strikes, using as little of her stamina as possible so she could last longer.

Aarush grabbed his wooden staff with both hands and clubbed her from the other side. He was obviously not a typically athletic person, his strike awkward and clumsy, barely glancing off the female mage.

Quill wasn’t one to judge, though. With his pathetic accuracy, his next to attempts to hit the mage entirely missed, throwing him off balance. A jet of fire hit him on the side of the face, stinging and dropping some of his HP.

Jane called out, growing worried. “Guys…! Don’t take too long over there!”

Quill took another blast of fire to the face, sending him backward, temporarily blind. He opened his eyes just in time to see three glowing white, magical missiles flying at him, and all of them hammered him in the chest. He gasped in pain and fell to one knee. His HP was nearly gone. “Heal!” When he got no response, and no healing aid came his way, he looked up.

Aarush stood there, moving in slow motion, a vacant and confused look in his eyes.

The mage turned her magic on the cleric, a flame jet washing over his chest.

Yet the man appeared to feel little, only wincing in more confusion. He blinked and tried to raise his staff, opening his mouth to speak, then froze.

She shot him with three magic missiles, then turned another jet of flame on Quill, killing him.

Quill became a ghost just in time to see Aarush fall. Jane died only a few seconds later.

Aarush silently stood in ghost form, his head down.

Quill saw his level drop down to 1 again and wanted to punch something, but he quickly suppressed the urge, not wanting to lose control in front of the others. He saw Aarush standing there and figured maybe he needed a moment alone, so he resurrected alone. He woke up in the Grove, and Jane followed shortly after. To their consternation, Aarush didn’t appear for some time.

When he did, he sat up on the resurrection stone and looked shamed. “I am so very sorry. This was all my fault.”

Quill and Jane moved closer to comfort him.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.”

“It’s fine. We knew it was a risk.”

“No, no,” he insisted. “I was very bad. You must be angry. I’m very sorry.”

Quill lightly punched him in the arm. “Hey, now. There’s no need to be sorry. We all freeze up sometimes. And this isn’t a normal computer. It’s incredibly realistic. Don’t feel bad if it gets to you.”

Aarush frowned. “I am not sure what went wrong. I…I could not think very well. Even now, my mind is, how do you say, misty?”

“Foggy?”

“Ah.”

Jane suggested, “Maybe it was panic? Or you’re really tired? I’m feeling it, too. It’s pretty late, and we’ve had a really long day.”

Aarush looked unconvinced. He shrugged. It was the first time he hadn’t seemed chipper.

Quill patted him on the back. “Come on. One last trip. Three more to go. We’ll grab Jane’s class and then head back out, solo three more crusaders, and then hit the sack.”

Jane shook her head. “I’m back to level four. Besides, I don’t want to rush it. I’m not sure what class to pick yet. I need to think about it.”

Aarush looked miserable, his shoulders slumped. “Maybe it is best if you two go alone. You two are good people. I do not want to make you die again. I am very sorry.”

“Aarush.” Jane came up and hugged him, causing him to look surprised. “Stop. It’s fine. Just part of the experience. We like you. We want to continue adventuring with you.”

“She’s right.”

“I…thank you. You are both very kind.”

They left the grove together, smiling once again.

“Ah.” Aarush paused in the street outside. “May we get more water? I am still very thirsty.”

“Sure.” Jane looked around. “In fact, maybe we should buy a waterskin or canteen? The adventurers guild is open all night, right?”

They headed there and found a lot of players hanging out in the tavern inside, some sleeping on the floor. It was fairly quiet, with a single clerk behind the desk and another NPC in the shop. They bought two canteens and filled them outside at the nearest well.

Both Jane and Quill were starting to yawn as they headed out of the city. But Aarush did so three times as often as the others. When they suggested stopping for the night after all, he waved them off.

“No, no. Please, I want to finish. I will do good this time.”

Male

QUILL KRAU

Class NONE, Level 1

STR

STATUS

DEX

Currently scared out of his mind at the prospect of real death.

HEA

SKILLS

INT

WIS

ITEMS

STA

Mace (common)

CHA

Official Adventurers Guide; mysterious pages

Female

JANE EULA

Class NONE, Level 4

STR

STATUS

DEX

Currently scared and incredibly worried about Aarush.

HEA

SKILLS

INT

WIS

ITEMS

STA

Gilded Armour of the Nature Goddess (unique); knife; staff (common)

CHA

Gonna Stab Your Eyes Out, Wench!

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