CHAPTER 4

When I wake up I find myself all chained up in a cage being pulled by a horse with a large amount of soldiers walking around me. Quietly I try gathering my mana only to receive a small electric shock, “the cuffs stop you from using magic “a voice says form outside the cage. Following the voice I see the mage and swordsman that captured me riding horses beside my cage.

“You really caused a scare like that killing fifty players like that” the mage says.”So miss mage, why am I stuck in a cage?”I ask.”MY name is Morgana and you are here because of the amount of people you killed while leaving Ritz” Morgana answers. “In case you didn’t know I was attacked first and was only defending myself” I say as my anger begins grows.

“Don’t forget he has a bounty of forty gold coins on his head and he has orcs working for him “the swordsman says.”I was framed for a crime” I say as I begin to realize that my bounty has gone up probably due to my killing the players in Ritz.

“Well when we get to the king there the Roland court will judge you for your crimes and will have a chance to defend yourself there” Morgana says. “What’s your partner’s name” I ask Morgana.”Arthur, like King Arthur of legends” she answers.”Arthur and Morgana were siblings and had an affair is it the same with you too” I ask with a smirk on my face.

”No, it’s not like that at all” Morgana yells as she blushes drawing the attention of the soldiers around us. “Know this, I might not escape in a week or month but when I am free I will hunt the both of you down” I snarl.

“So says the one in the cage “Arthur says and the soldiers laugh at me. The journey takes eight days and every time I log out I think of ways I will exact my revenge on the people that framed me along with the cities of Roland and the starter city of Teneris .that’s right I should have gained something from all that fighting, checking my player menu I see that all the money I had before and weapons are gone “did you guys have to rob me” I yell at Arthur.

”No but you were just too rich and we couldn’t leave you with weapons in your inventory so let the other players to take something for the stress you put them through” Arthur replies. “How much did I lose?”I ask Morgana.”About a hundred and fifty gold coins and some change” Morgana answers with a shrug. Opening my player status I see that at least my stats have increased.

Player: Michael

Level: 26

Race: human

Title: Orc slayer

Mana: 800

Strength: 55

Speed: 30

Agility: 25

Stamina: 55

Luck: 2

Respect: -10

Buffs: none

Intelligence: 25

Hmm so a person can get negative respect I guess that means the respectable npcs would not give me quests and soldiers might attack me if I wander into a city.

Checking my mail I see a new message from the game admin: due to demand there are new batches of the game reaching stores worldwide tomorrow and because of this each player will have a maximum of three chance to spawn after death and the fourth time a person dies his avatar will be erased .thank you for playing Terra online.

Yikes now I really need to find a way to get out of here, but first I need to log out. Logging out I drop the nerve gear on my bed and fix a light breakfast for myself as I had been playing all night, entering the game forum I see a lot of complains about players having a maximum of three spawn.

Leaving that I look for the requests section and type: need a player called Michael to be rescued from the dungeons of the capital f Roland, reward two hundred gold coins I type as I remember the hard I stashed in my house .that should get some attention I think as I submit the request I go back to my bed and take a nap.

The noise made by a tray hitting my table drew my attention from the book I was ready”what is it sis” I ask the girl responsible for the disruption.”That boy we captured has posted a reward for anyone that can rescue him” she fumes.

“How much” I ask as I open my laptop to confirm what she’s telling me. “Two hundred gold coins” she says as she sits beside me.wow now I can see why she is angry, with that much money even with the death penalty now in use there would still be people strong, brave or stupid enough to try getting him out of jail .Checking the game forum I see that his post is currently the hottest topic, already there were replies and comments asking for people to work as a group to free him.

”Well this is going to make someone very rich” I tell my sister with a smile. “What are you talking about “She asks. “well just let the kings of Roland and Teneris want him dead or imprisoned for life we just offer to keep the other players away from him for a fee of course and only for a limited amount of time, this way we get paid and level up at the same time while taking things from the players we defeat” I reply.

This is getting annoying I say to myself .it’s been a month in the game since I was convicted for killing the High mage of Teneris and the residents of Roland both of which I was innocent of and was sentenced to spend the rest of my life in prison, even with my reward for anyone that can rescue me those wicked siblings had killed anyone that came so much as fifty meters close to my cell in the dungeon of Roland’s capital.

The only good thing is that my strength and endurance has gone up like crazy due to the torture and the exercise I do when I am left in my cell .right now this is what my stats look like;

Name: Michael

Race: human

Level: 40

Title: Orc slayer

Mana: 1400

Strength: 140

Speed: 60

Agility: 50

Stamina: 100

Luck: 2

Respect: 0

Buffs: none

Intelligence: 40

Most of the time, I can heard the sounds of swords clashing and spells battering the walls if the prison although none have made it to see my face maybe today all that will change. Last night I meet a person online what after chatting with for an hour agreed to free me.

At first I was doubtful if one player could succeed where more than ten had failed that was until the person sent me a snapshot of their stats .the suddenly the ground begins to shake and a hole the size of a coin appears on the floor of my cell steadily increasing to the size which a person can pass through .A red haired elf girl with light armor crawls out the hole and dusts her clothes before she addresses me.

”Michael, I presume” she says.”Yes, and who might you be” I ask.”Leah the one who was chatting with you last night in the real world” she replies .searching a pouch she produces some metal bars and unlocks the cuffs stopping me from casting spells .conjuring a small flame I relish in the feel of warmth the flame provides,”how are we getting outside the prison” I ask as I stop the flow of mana and the flame dies.

“Well since I used up all my mana getting here I guess we will have to use the front door” she says with a shrug. “You do know that there are players and npcs guarding this place” I tell her. “so what, are you scared” she replies.”No was just checking if you knew” answer as I walk up to the door of the cell and blast it open with a lighting spell.

”Don’t you need a weapon” she says as she follows me as we make our way out of the building into a small courtyard that is filled with soldiers “not for these children” I say as I run to the nearest soldier, with my high strength rip his arm from his shoulder with my left hand and blast the others beside me with a strong gush of wind. Leah jumps into the fray using two short swords to hack off any body part that gets close to her.

Covering my entire body with lightning I electrocute any one that gets close to me as I move from one part of the courtyard to the other ripping heads and the occasional arm and leg of the soldiers and few players here .the large group is now reduced to less than thirty and Leah is coated in the blood of her opponents while the lightning burns up any splash of blood that comes in contact with my skin, the soldiers backed to the gate make a pathway for the two people responsible for my capture .

”thanks for coming for this event Arthur and Morgana” I say to the two players I will never forget.”just go back into your cell quietly and we won’t kill you and your accomplice” Arthur says as he unsheathes a long sword.”I could have left this place the moment my cuffs were open why do you think I was wasting time with these small fries” I ask as I charge a large fireball in my right hand the size of a horse and compress the flame to the size of a soccer ball increasing the heat it generates .

”Leah please keep the guy with the sword busy for me” I yell as I shot my fireball at Morgana who erects an earth wall that melts halfway from my attack.”Got it” Leah yells back as she disappears and appears behind Arthur with her sword aiming for his neck only for him to row away from the attack.

“How are you this fast” Arthur asks as he blocks a furry of slashes from the two swords Leah is wielding. “sorry can’t tell you, it’s a secret” she answers as she disappears again only to appear with a sword in Arthurs gut .Arthur” Morgana yells as she shoots a spike made of earth at Leah .

Blasting the spike I knock it off course, “your fight is with me” I tell her .I have always wondered if most mages are any good in close range combat, running towards Morgana I dodge or block all her spells until she summons an earth golem that looks like a lion .

”Is this the best you can do” I ask as I summon two golems, a wind one that resembles an eagle and a fire golem in the shape of a lion. “Kill them “she orders her golem as it charges at I and my golems.”Wind of the East, flames of hell” I whisper as my wind golem releases large bursts of wind that increases the already large fireball from the fire golem.

The resultant spell destroys everything in front of me from the Earth golem to the dead bodies of the soldiers, even the wall is blackened and at the center of it all is Morgana with most of her body burnt as she lays on the ground ”hmm you managed to survive that blast” I say walking to her .

“I would have left you to die here but this is a chance to bring you closer to game over so” I tell her as I conjure an earth spike through her heart and her body disappears .”how did they capture you if you were this strong” Leah asks me as she walks towards me .turning to her I answer” I wasn’t this strong and you could say I wasn’t ready to start killing players”.

”but you are ready now” she asks.”Yes, I will tell you where to come collect your money when we chat in the real world” I tell her.”don’t worry I don’t want your money, I want something else “she tell me with a smile ”what do you want” I ask her as we walk out of the destroyed prison yard into the open air where the smoke is less .”Let’s create a dark guild together” she answers with a smirk as she teleports away.