As I stalked through the trees to nowhere, in particular, I let my inner turmoil seeth and churn. I had been so close! I had been so close to beating that Direwolf I could taste it! That is until it all got ruined…

“Fuck this Aura of Misfortune bullshit! Amy! Are you listening?! Get your ass over here and fix this!” I was feeling a little upset and couldn’t stop myself from letting some of that anger seeth into my voice.

Attention: You are about to file a bug report. Please state the problem and severity of it.

I growled when I read the message. “The problem is that I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t get down here! The severity is right the fuck now!”

“I find it hard to believe that, as a quadruped, you are even physically capable of ‘kicking my ass’, as you phrase it.” I look to the left to see Amy idly sitting on a tree that had fallen onto its side. Her feet were idly kicking in the air as they dangled a short distance from the ground.

I couldn’t stop myself from growling again before I brought my instincts back under control. “Despite the anatomical difficulties, I think I could find a way to manage. For now, though, YOU need to get rid of this fucking bad luck trait you gave me! It’s ruining everything!”

Amy made a half-hearted attempt to hide her laughter behind a hand. “What, did you proc it once for yourself already? That was fast!”

I felt even more anger boil up before shoving it back down with a snarl. “Once? ONCE?! It’s happening every fucking time I’m trying to do something important!!!” I knead my claws into the soil, trying to wring out my frustrations with the action. “Every time I try and enjoy myself this stupid bad luck trait pops up and ruins everything!”

Amy frowns at me for half a second before her eyes glaze over. “Huh… That IS odd. Now that I’m looking at it in action, it’s frequency isn’t set all that high, but every time it activates you are the only target in the area it could affect. Except for one or two instances where it affected other targets, of course… Hmmm… maybe if I just…”

“I don’t care about fixing the bug in the trait! I want you to get rid of it! This can only cause problems in the future.” I cut in on her ramblings. I did NOT want to give her the idea that she could just fix it and forget it.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Nuh uh. If I can iron out these minor glitches things should work out just fine.”

I lowered myself into a comfortable sitting position and stared her straight in the eyes. “Okay, let me rephrase that then. If you don’t get rid of this shit, I will cause problems in the future.”

Amy stared at me, probably trying to figure out if I was lying or not. Obviously, I wasn’t though. Causing problems was kinda my thing. After a brief moment of silence, she let out a long heavy sigh. “Fiiiine. Geez, why do you have to ruin everything?”

“Because I’m bored, and messing with people is fun.”

I kept a straight face as Amy gave me the stink eye, but on the inside was a cauldron of mirth that was just barely shy of boiling over. My whiskers still twitched a bit, but for all Amy knew, that could have been anything.

“You're trying not to laugh, aren’t you?”

“Damnit! How?!”

“Your whiskers were twitching.”

“Wh… But that's… Wh… How is that even… What the fuck!”

Amy giggled at my frustrated outburst. “I’m just kidding. I can kinda read your mind, remember?”

I lay down in the loam and put my forepaws over my eyes in an attempt to hide my shame. “UUuuuugh! Okay! I’ll admit that you got me there.”

I felt sudden bliss and I opened my eyes in surprise to find Amy no longer sitting on the fallen tree. Instead, she was kneeling beside my head and gently stroking my ears. Against my better judgment, I started purring in contentment.

“You know, if you’re so bored, why don’t you try conquering dungeons?” Amy said as she continued to scratch my head.

I tried to muster the energy to respond but I was so comfortable I didn’t want to move. Instead, I consigned myself to my fate of melting into a puddle of pleasant feelings under Amy’s gentle caresses.

All too soon she stopped petting me and I reluctantly sat back up. I decided to remind her of the whole point she came here before she could pull off one of her disappearing acts. “Sooo, are you going to get rid of my bad luck trait, or what?”

“Oh, right. Sorry. Ummm. Yea I guess you probably learned your lesson by now so there shouldn’t be a problem with removing it.” Amy seemed reluctant to do as I asked, but in the end, I was satisfied.

Aura of Misfortune has dissipated from your presence. Bad Fortune no longer lingers around you.

The Trait Trouble Magnetism has been removed. Your natural influence with luck has been lessened.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. You have no idea how good it feels to have that weight lifted off my shoulders. Sooo, what was that you were saying about dungeons?”

Amy stands up and dusts off the dirt and leaves on her knees. “I was just saying that when you go out and explore the world, you should go out of your way some to conquer dungeons. There are plenty of interesting places to explore in this world, but dungeons can provide some of the most unique and interesting areas that you would never find anywhere else.”

“That’s… actually, that’s not a bad idea. A dungeon boss conquering dungeons… I could get behind that.” I nod and give Amy my best feline grin. Amy couldn’t help but grimace at my expression.

“Why do I get the feeling I just gave you a lighter while exploring a fireworks factory?”

“Because you are just starting to understand what kind of adorable little kitty I am.”

Amy groans and wipes her hand down her face. “I’m going to go before I open my mouth and give you any more bad ideas.”

With an audible pop and a quick flash of light, Amy vanishes from sight. I smile as I think of the adventures I could have soon. “Hehehe, I think now would be a good time to do some dungeon exploration. The dungeon in this forest would be an excellent place to start I think.”

I start walking a few steps and almost immediately think of a blaring and obvious flaw in my planning. “Shit! Where the fuck is any of the dungeons?!”

In my eagerness and Amy’s rapid departure I had condemned myself to aimlessly wandering the region until I manage to trip over the entrance. If I was still a player, I could just ask someone, but that’s not really an option anymore.

“Maybe I could use the zone chat to ask players where the zone chat is? No that wouldn’t work. My name sticks out too much in the chat window and it would be a bad idea if players knew I was looking for the closest dungeon. I would end up being swarmed by players before I knew it.”

I guess I could eavesdrop on the zone chat… someone is bound to mention a dungeon in the area. I sigh wearily “I can already tell this is going to be a boring and exhausting day.”

As depressing as my idea is, it was the only one I had. So with reluctance marked in every step, I made my way back towards the small village I had already created so much trouble for. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will talk about the dungeon right away?” I snort with derision at the thought. “Yea and I’m a flying pink Elephant!”

……

GrammarKnotsee and the rest of the party slowly made their way through the forest. As they slowly progressed in the direction of the village they conversed with each other animatedly. GrammarKnotsee, having remained mostly quiet during the trip, was left to his own thoughts.

Most of the party already knew about these thoughtful moments he had and tried not to disturb him. M3rlin, the newest member, thought the behavior was odd but decided to go with the flow.

“Did you guys see how fluffy his fur was! I wanted to just jump right on top and cuddle him like there was no tomorrow!” Flowerpower’s eyes were wide with excitement as she recalled their encounter with the legendary wandering boss that supposedly held the key to one of the most interesting dungeons in the game.

InCrudible, who was walking alongside Flowerpower and M3rlin, simply shrugged. “Crud was to busy trying not to pee pants to notice fluffy fur.”

M3rlin glanced over at InCrudible. “You know, if you just put a few points into intelligence, you would be able to talk normally.”

The tall Orc swelled his chest out proudly. “Crud think Crud’s way of speaking is En- inder- Endeeer-”

“Endearing?” Flowerpower chimed in.

“Yes! That word. Just cuz Crud can’t use big words doesn’t mean Crud is dumb. Smarts is Crud’s dump stat, but Crud has much wisdom though. Lets Crud be smart in dumb way.”

M3rlin rolled his eyes. “Alright alright. Who am I to tell you how to play your own character. What happened with your Earth Strike though. I thought GrammarKnotsee told you to hit the panther.”

InCrudible looked confused for a moment. “That’s the thing though. Crud DID attack panther but Crud missed and hit rabbit instead. When Crud saw panther right next to him, Crud thought it best not to move in case kitty attack Crud. Crud made wise decision.”

There was a short silence as all three of them were absorbed in there own thoughts. Flowerpower spoke up again. “How smart do you think the panther is? He seemed to understand what we were saying.”

M3rlin pulled his wand out of his robe and examined it for any cracks or scratches as he responded. “I think he is pretty smart for a cat. If I were to guess, I would say he at least has the intelligence of a 6-year-old child. He knew what we were saying and was able to convey human emotions. What do you think, GrammarKnotsee?”

“Hmm? What?” GrammarKnotsee looked around in confusion. “Oh, we’re already here. That was fast.” Indeed the group had just arrived at the large meadow containing the horned rabbits.

InCrudible softly elbowed M3rlin’s shoulders since he was too tall to subtly reach M3rlin’s ribs. “You shouldn’t bother GrammarKnotsee when he in deep think. He busy inside head. Last time he have deep think, he invited you to group and got those potions to chase Snowball.”

Flowerpower nodded in agreement. “Yea, GrammarKnotsee doesn’t really give coherent answers when he’s like that anyways. He usually has some pretty good ideas afterward though.”

GrammarKnotsee had snapped out of his daze though and was waving to a familiar trio that was just finishing a fight with a frenzied horned rabbit. “Hey, guys! How’d our advice help you?”

M3rlin looked to where GrammarKnotsee was waving and saw Delric, Puff, and Tanyargh walking towards them. Both groups closed the distance towards each other, careful not to aggro any of the nearby horned rabbits.

Puff was the first to reach them, being the agile little flyer that he is. “Hey, guys. How did the hunt go? Did you get Snowball?”

GrammarKnotsee tilted his hand back and forth in a ‘sorta’ gesture. “Technically yes. We completed the quest and everything, but the circumstances were really unusual.”

“Oh? Do tell.” Delric had been close enough to hear GrammarKnotsee’s words.

Tanyargh, following right behind him, was just as curious. “Yea, Fighting these horned rabbits has lost all the tension it had in the beginning, so Delric had been training his evasion skills when they go crazy. I’m sure whatever happened to you guys is way more interesting than having to fight any more of these rabbits.”

GrammarKnotsee hesitated a moment before replying. “Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on the way back here and I think I’ve worked out what exactly was happening. We had almost lost Snowball. When Snowball would disappear into the woods if you inspected his status, you could see a ‘vengeful’ tag. I think something had pissed it off enough that it would stop at nothing for revenge. The problem was that Snowball was no match for this ‘something’

GrammarKnotsee looked around to make sure all the horned rabbits were maintaining their distance before he decided to sit down. This was gonna take a while and he didn’t feel like standing the entire time. At his action, everyone else decided to follow suit. When Tanyargh sat down, the others felt a subtle shockwave in the ground.

“Soo, anyways,” GrammarKnotsee continued. “Apparently Snowball’s suicide runs got annoying enough that the target of that spite decided to turn the tables. We about gave up when Snowball comes dashing out of the undergrowth with none other than the wandering boss mentioned in the update notes hot on his heels.”

“What! No way! You guys found that vessel thing?!” Puff exclaimed. “What are the odds that of all the freaking places it could have spawned it would be right here!”

Tanyargh looked just as eager. “What did it look like? How big was it?”

GrammarKnotsee held up his hands. “Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. There is a lot to talk about still. Anyways, Crud tried to trip it up with Earth Strike but ended up pulping Snowball instead. That’s how we completed the quest. As for the wandering boss, I’ve worked out a couple of interesting facts. The first and most important one is that is level of intelligence is equal to or greater than our own. I was actually right in the village just before the update and he had come close enough to use the village’s zone chat. I and a few of the other players were actually able to communicate with him in the chat and when challenged of the validity of his identity he baited one of the players to the edge of the forest and killed him right in front of us. I can say for a fact he was not a player character since the creature that attacked this player was indeed a monster.”

“Wait, so let me get this straight. Not only is this boss guy super smart like the Tetra Devs said, but you saw him BEFORE the update?” Puff sounded really skeptical of the situation.

“Actually I had run into him even earlier.” M3rlin chimed in. “I think it was a day or three before Tetra Games even announced the update. I thought he was just a regular ShadowStalker Panther at the time, but he exhibited far more intelligence than any other mob had up to that point. It used tactics and everything.”

“Wait it’s a big cat?” Tanyargh sounded exasperated “ugh that sounds so boring!”

Delric had a small smile on his face. “Riley would have loved to meet this boss. He loved cats. He even made his character one of the feline Beastkin.”

“Oh, where is he then? If he’s ingame than we can party up. I’ll bet the boss is still in the area.” Flowerpower spoke up oblivious to the atmosphere surrounding Tanyargh, Puff, and Delric. GrammarKnotsee noticed the melancholic feeling however and before Flowerpower could say anything else, he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly.

Flowerpower looked back at GrammarKnotsee, confused, and seeing his intense gaze turned back towards the trio. Seeing their sad expressions she grew immediately concerned. “Oh no. I’m so sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

Puff shook his head. “No, you couldn’t have known. It only happened recently so things… things are still a bit fresh.”

“What happened?” M3rlin softly asked. “If he’s sick there wouldn’t be a problem with meeting up again when he feels better”

GrammarKnotsee grabbed M3rlin’s wrist. “M3rlin. Those tears aren’t being shed for a sick friend.”

Tanyargh’s voice cut through the conversation. “You can wait until your bones turn to dust. It won’t bring back the dead.” Tanyargh’s voice sounded bitter with loss and she sat stiffly with her hands in her lap. Her body quivered with the tension of held back emotions.

Suddenly, Flowerpower jumped to her feet and ran over to Tanyargh. Wordlessly she wrapped her arms around Tanyargh’s torso in the biggest embrace she could manage with the trolls massive frame.

As if a dam broke, Tanyargh took a heaving breath and bit her lip. Blood trickled from her mouth but she ignored that and the tears that started pouring down her face. Tanyargh raised her arms and returned the embrace as she let go of her emotions.

GrammarKnotsee realized that privacy might be something that would be appreciated during this fragile moment. He quickly grabbed the wrists of InCrudible and M3rlin and pulled them closer. M3rlin resisted at first but decided to let GrammarKnotsee have his way.

InCrudible quietly followed behind. He wasn’t sure what GrammarKnotsee was planning but he had learned to cooperate when it was needed.

As soon as everyone was close enough, GrammarKnotsee pulled out his magic wand. As he gathered his mana, an icy fog built around the tip of the wand.

Ice Barrier!

GrammarKnotsee raised his wand up as he cast the spell. A wall of thick frosted ice rose around them. As it came over their head the top of the wall curved inwards until it met itself in the center, forming a dome of opaque ice.

Delric looked around him at the barrier before giving a nod of thanks to GrammarKnotsee. “Thank you. That was very kind.” Delric’s voice was choked with emotion, but he maintained a calm outward appearance even as his own tears obscured his vision.

Tanyargh was no longer overcome by her sobbing, but she still hugged Flowerpower to her chest as the small elf gently pat her back. After a few more minutes everyone got control of themselves.

Tanyargh released Flowerpower with a mumbled apology. “Sorry about that… I don’t know what came over me.”

Flowerpower smiled sadly at Tanyargh. “It’s okay. We all lose loved ones and it’s always a hard thing to overcome.”

InCrudible cleared his throat grabbing everyone’s attention. “Crud have lost loved ones too. Crud sad for long time. After much sad time Crud learned many things. Some things good. Some things not good. Crud tell you thing that help Crud most. Crud say… Being sad is not bad. It good to be sad for friends and family. It important though, no let sad parts become all parts. When all parts sad, there be no room for happy parts.”

Everyone took a moment to let InCrudible’s words sink in. “Wow, Crud. That’s the first smart thing I’ve ever heard you say!”

InCrudible shook his head. “Crud not smart, Crud WISE. Crud not use head to think. Brain thoughts be for wizards. Crud think with this!” at his own words, the Orc thumped his fist against his chest. Whether he was gesturing to his heart or his gut, no one was entirely sure but no one bothered to ask him to clarify the gesture either.

There was a light sniff “So, what were we talking about before the emotional breakdown?” Puff was once more flying sedately a few feet in the air his soft glow provided some light to the dim area within the dome.

“Umm M3rlin was just saying that he had an encounter with the wandering boss before it was ever a boss.” Delric summarized succinctly.

GrammarKnotsee nodded. “Yes. So back to my original point, Ebony the Vessel has displayed levels of intelligence no other mob has been capable of so far and I theorize that his creation wasn’t completely intentional.”

“Who’s Ebony?” Puff asked.

“Oh, sorry. Ebony is the name of the wandering boss. When M3rlin first encountered him, apparently he didn’t have a name at the time but I can confirm without a doubt that the ShadowStalker Panther back than is the same creature as the Ebony we saw today.” GrammarKnotsee clarified.

Delric stiffened at the explanation. “Ebony? You're sure that’s the name? And that it’s a panther?”

GrammarKnotsee hesitated, seeing the intent focus from Delric but answered anyways. “Yea, I identified him myself and it was the same name used in the chat logs just before the bunny raid during the update.”

Delric glared at his feet for a few seconds before spinning to Puff and Tanyargh. “Hey, guys do you remember what Riley said his Race variation was?”

Tanyargh looked unsure but Puff answered after a few seconds of thought. “He didn’t exactly say what his race variety was, but he had described making the ears and tail as black as possible because he was making some sort of stealthy build. If I were to go by those characteristics alone, I would say it was probably the panther variation? Why do you ask?”

Delric hesitated for a long moment before replying. “I don’t know If I’m crazy or I might be on to something. To even consider this possibility has to say something of my sanity…”

“Delric? Are you okay?” Puff asked with a note of concern in his voice. “What’s wrong?”

Delric straightened his back. “Okay guys, this is going to sound crazy. I mean REALLY crazy, but stay with me until the end.”

Puff and Tanyargh both nodded in acceptance and Delric continued with his thoughts. “What if Riley isn’t dead? What if he has been in this game the entire time?”

Puff frowned at Delric’s words. “Okay, I can see the crazy leaking out of your ears. We all saw his body. We KNOW he is dead! How could he be in here?”

Delric clenched his fists. “I don’t know! Don’t you remember what Riley’s character name was? Ebon Darkclaw? Very similar to Ebony, don’t you think? On top of that, Riley made a panther variation Cat beastkin. If that isn’t enough, about the fact that Riley died almost at the same time this boss made its first appearance and a few days later this huge life changing update pops up out of nowhere. No teasers, no leaks, nothing! Don’t you think this is way too many coincidences?!” Delric’s voice increased in desperation as he continued.

Tanyargh gently placed a hand on Delric’s shoulder and spoke softly to him. “Franz, as much as we all wish something like that could happen, this is just a game. Riley is dead and nothing will change that. Something like that could only happen in fairytales.”

Delric clenched his fists more tightly. He shut his eyes and grit his teeth but nothing he did could stop the oncoming flow of tears. “I- I know Gert. I… I just want him back so badly that it hurts.”

“I know, Franz. I know.” Tanyargh gently rubbed Delric’s back until the moment passed.

Puff flew slowly up to Delric. “Hey F- er Delric, if it will make you feel any better, why don’t we go look for this Ebony fella? Ask his opinion? If he doesn’t wanna talk, we’ll just beat the shit outta him!”

“That. That sounds pretty good, actually.”

As GrammarKnotsee saw things were settling down he decided to stop channeling the Ice Barrier spell. Even if no one had been hitting it and draining his mana, they had still been in the dome for a long enough time to significantly drain his mana pool.

The walls of ice crumbled around them from the top down breaking into tiny fragments of glittering ice.

“Okay!” Puff confidently said. “So we go into town, restock on supplies and then we go into the forest and look for this Ebony the Vessel fella and-”

“Ebony the Vessel is in the forest?”

“Whoa isn’t that the wandering boss from the update?”

“Sweet! I gotta tell my friend this! He’ll be sooo jealous!”

“Where’s the boss at in the forest?!”

As the walls of ice finally finished disintegrating, it revealed a small crowd had gathered around the mysterious dome of ice that had formed in the middle of a grassy meadow. As such, the small crowd had heard every word Puff had said while the walls dissipated.

A wave of excitement traveled through the crowd and the group that had previously been isolated and oblivious to the world outside suddenly found themselves bombarded with players with no sense of personal space and a constant buzz that was supposedly composed of questions.

Puff facepalmed. “Damnit, for such a small body, I sure do have a big mouth.”