With Harvey's help, not only was I able to bring the things up I needed onto my main menu, but now they were all displayed on my windshield like one of those see-through strategy maps they used in military movies. The right side of my windshield displayed the GPS map on the bottom right corner with information related to the new rifles and the rocket launcher displayed right above it. The beetle’s abilities, which was still only Nitro 1, was displayed on the left. I still had my cursor on it in case I needed to activate the ability.
“Alright,” Harvey said. He was still leaning into the car and pressing buttons on my console. “Now it's time for the main event, kid. I'd pay attention if I were you.” hoisted himself out of the car just as the windshield began to fade to black.
“Congratulations Milo,” Tooty said excitedly. “You have unlocked the main quest of the Dragon's Highway, The Sword Slayeth the Dragon.” A silver sword with a green jewel in the hilt appeared on the windshield and unsheathed itself.
Tooty then changed her voice to match a town crier in a medieval village. “Here ye, here ye mighty warrior. Your quest is to collect the four pieces of the Slayer Sword. They are the Blade. The Hilt. The Scabbard and the Jeweled Eye. When you have collected these four, the sword you will be granted the privilege of facing the Dragon. But be wary, once you enter the Dragon's Domain you will be unable to return. You must either prove yourself victorious and proceed to the next floor, or not. I mean it's pretty obvious what will happen if you lose.” When she finished the sword disappeared and black screen faded away.
I gulped and looked at Harvey. “So is the dragon, like an actual dragon or…”
Harvey raised his hand to interrupt me. “Can't tell ya’.”
“Anything you can tell me?”
Harvey shrugged. “You can pick which one to go after.”
“Really?”
“That's correct Milo,” Tooty said. “Which one would you like to try and retrieve first?”
Since neither of them could or would give me any extra information I just shrugged. “Pick a random one I guess.”
“As you wish.” Tooty paused. “You have chosen the Scabbard.”
Harvey walked over to the garage door and hit a button causing it to open. “Alright kid, time for you to get going. Get outta here.”
I shut the door to the beetle. “That's a heck of a goodbye.”
“I don't do goodbyes.”
“Well, thanks for everything Harvey. And thank Havarti for me too.”
—
The quest line on my GPS pointed the opposite way that the one for the Mimiccycle quest did. According to it, and Tooty, the place I needed to go was about 43 miles away. A trip that would take about an hour. To alleviate the boredom of the trip I clicked on the radio and let the sound of the strings relax me, but something was strange about the song. It was the exact same one I had listened to when I first left Harvey’s Garage.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Do they play this same song on loop?” I asked Tooty.
“To be honest Milo, yes. None of you humans really listen to this radio station so they decided that it wasn’t worth it to include more music.”
“And who is they?”
“That is not an answer I can provide. You will however be able to purchase a selection of radio stations at many different garages.”
I turned the radio off. “Yes you’ve told me that.”
“I wasn’t finished Milo. Stop interrupting me.” Tooty paused as if trying to compose herself. “In addition to music stations, there are other stations you can purchase that act like podcasts or NPR.” I was about to ask what kinds of things they talk about but I held my tongue and let her continue. “Each one is about different cultures of others worlds or other things of that nature.”
I waited a few seconds after she finished before asking my next question. “So, they don’t talk about Nova?”
“No, that would be granting drivers an unfair advantage.”
“Of course, can’t have that.”
I looked at my GPS map. Thanks to Harvey, I had also learned how to zoom out. Most of the map was still dark, but the quest line cut through it, twisting and turning until it ended at my destination. I tried to look out to the horizon to see if I could scope out the other parts of the highway, but it was no use. I could see rocky terrain and the swathes of dead trees littering it, but there was no sign of the road. Part of me wondered if there was some sort of barrier or bubble that only allowed me to see what was in my immediate vicinity.
After about fifteen minutes into the drive a loud bell like one from a clock tower rang, making me jump and jerk the wheel to the side which made the car slide into the other lane.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled.
In response the outside world dissolved away and was replaced by a circular stone wall with a portcullis embedded into it. I hit the brake only to realize that the car had already stopped.
“Milo, you have encountered a, well, a random encounter. While on the Dragon’s Highway and other main roads you may be transported to a temporary area to do battle with a random enemy.”
“What about the Dragon’s Minions?” I asked.
“Those are part of the perpetual quest of this floor. Random encounters are different. You do get rewards for victory, but just like achievements, you can…”
“Can only access them in a garage zone,” I said mockingly. “I get it. Just like almost everything else, it’s like a damn video game. You’d think with all the worlds they supposedly have access too, they could try and be a bit more original. If this is so much like a game, is there an option to run away?”
“No.” Tooty said simply.
The portcullis gate lifted up and a dune buggy with a cage on top drove out slowly. Inside it was a green little monster with pointed ears. I didn’t have to look at the description to know exactly what it was.
Goblin Buggy: Enemy: Combat Danger: 2
This enemy was just like the ones I had faced when I first entered this dungeon. Last time there were three of them and they were able to get the jump on me. They were also the reason I had to face down and fight a herd of dirt bikes with teeth and their queen. But this time was different. This time I was armed to the teeth, and I had a score to settle. And it was trapped in here with me.
I took the rocket launcher controller, aimed directly at the buggy and fired. I expected the goblin to either drive towards me or fire its gun at me in response, but it did neither of those things. Instead, the rocket hit it and it exploded in a ball of molten metal and fire. And then all at once the word “Victory,” appeared and faded away from my windshield and the world turned back to the highway with me sitting right in the middle of the dividing line.
“Oh,” I said, stunned, and more than a little bummed out. “That was anticlimactic.”
“It was your first random encounter Milo, you weren’t expecting a god level boss were you?”
“Well no, but I…” My words were cut short as I saw a plume of smoke coming from the direction I was trying to go. How fortunate. It was the Dragon’s Minions, who were the other reason that I had to face that damned mimic queen. Smiling, I gripped the steering wheel and pressed on the gas. “Time to let off some steam.”