Chapter 5

Mal was awoken early the next day by movement around him in the dorm as the day slowly wound up like a jack in the box. Mal wondered what would happen to him today when the box sprang to life. Resolving to find out Mal closed the email from his mother he had fallen asleep reading and headed for the bath area.

After rubbing the sleep from his eyes and pouring a bucket of water over his head. Mal did the best he could to enact his normal morning routine. Using the facilities then washing up Mal thought one of the things he would do in this world would be to invent a shower, with soap!

He took a moment to top off his three waterskins he had now having two more acquired in the quest reward loot from last night. Mal wandered over and took a seat at the same table he had been drinking at last night. He gazed at the smouldering embers as others emerged and started moving about.

Tallum’s young daughter asked him if he wanted some bread and ale. Mal flicked a copper through the air she deftly caught and bit sharply in a move that Mal found humorous. His laugh echoed around the still stirring camp. Mal passed on the ale but the buttered bread was a decent breakfast to be sure.

It was interesting the hunger and thirst mechanics in this game. If you skipped eating or drinking for a time you could go far longer than you could in the real world with say perhaps no water but you took hits to all your stats the longer you kept this up. Eventually you would die Mal was sure but he definitely didn’t want to feel simulated death by dehydration or hunger so he munched away on the fresh baked bread.

Alison sauntered over to Mal’s table just as he finished breaking his fast. She put one boot up on the bench next to Mal and leaned down over her leg regarding him. Mal returned her gaze not sure what was going to happen with this one. While he was waiting for her to speak he appreciated her beauty. Tall and lithe she moved with an easy grace of an acrobat or athlete. She had that cool confidence you see in someone who is sure of themselves and their abilities. Curly blonde hair with blue eyes that were like pools of crystal pure waters.

“So where ya headed?” She said finally.

“Don’t know.” Mal said testing her.

“You looking for loot?” She said.

“Aye and power.” he said meeting her gaze fully. They locked eyes for several seconds before she finally looked away.

“Well I’ll be joining you then, I do enjoy loot and power. That is of course unless you don’t want a beautiful women traveling with you? Do you think I’m beautiful?” She batted her eyes at him as she joked with him about her looks putting a playful air on the last question.

“Aye, aye, there’ll be plenty of loot and power to be had on my path, danger too though” Mal said half laughing.

In a smooth quick move she flipped over the table and sat opposite of him in the same movement while in the air she drew her dagger and slammed it into the center of the table. She ended up with her hand on the dagger meeting his surprised look at the sudden flurry of the leap.

“Danger and me go way back. We’re well acquainted.” She said yanking the dagger out of the table and turning to place an order for bread as Tallum’s daughter walked over.

Would you like to add Allison to your party? Yes or no?

Mal selected yes wondering what benefits there would be and was instantly rewarded with seeing a small portrait of Allison in his top left vision with her health and stamina represented by little red and green bars. Very cool.

By accepting Allison’s request to adventure together you have received a small boost to reputation with her, current level, Trusted

Mal ordered another loaf of bread with a copper piece to stow in Sly’s pack with all his other trail rations and venison jerky. It’s never too early to think about lunch he thought. The new party members chatted lightly while Allison nibbled away. Mal tried to tease details out of her about her class she had remarked on the night before. She was playfully shy about it and said all in good time.

Mal tried in vain to examine her again and get her stats like he was normally able to do with most everything in the game. Allison explained it was a mental trick to shield yourself and showed him the basics of it after making Mal say pretty please with a cherry on top. The way Allison described it is you put up a passive wall around your mind letting nothing in or out unless you wish it so.

Congratulations! You have learned Mental Shield, lvl 1

Mal practiced his new skill a little bit but without an actual real enemy to defend against it wouldn’t level up very quickly. He was just about to ask her the obvious if, there is Mental Shield what about Mental Attack, when Jake joined them.

“Morning.” Mal said as way of greeting.

Jake gave Mal a grunt and a nod then tucked into some bread with a jam on it he had pulled from his pack. Allison was still nibbling away so Mal decided to try his new pipe out. He packed it carefully and was wishing for a good bic lighter because using a small stick with a glowing ember on the end just wasn’t the same thing.

Mal enjoyed the earthy taste of the sonus herb and he felt like everything around him got a little sharper like he had been half dozing but was suddenly wide awake. Ah now this was a good stimulant, maybe I can actually live without nicotine and caffeine with stuff like this here he thought.

“I smell sonus, let me have a hit there deary.” Allison said putting her bread aside. Mal handed her the pipe and used the glowing ember to light it fresh for her as she puffed. “Ah that’s good.”

“I’m never gonna get used to their not being a pot of coffee around.” Jake said wistfully to no one in particular. Then with an exaggerated sigh he turned to Mal “So anyway now that I am somewhat awake. Mal you impressed me yesterday and I want us to continue to work together. So let me tell you why I am up in these parts, where I am going, and what my plans are.”

“Fire away, Jake.” Mal said wondering where this was going and if he would be interested or not. He liked Jake but he didn’t fully trust him, he knew far too much, was far too geared, and was more than a little interested in Mal’s golem.

“I’ve been in these forsaken woods looking for someone, an NPC. Apparently this guy, some kind of mystic, can teach some rare spells at a super cheap cost. Also I’ve heard he can become a companion if you play your cards right but that I’m not sure about.”

“Wait wait, how do you know this? I’ve been trolling all over the forums for this area near Clear Waters and there was zero mention of any companions or spellcasters.” Mal interrupted him. “Just a couple basic spell trainers in Clear Waters downtown area.”

“Well...about that, here I’ll tell you, but please keep it to yourself, there is a certain stigma with it but I was a tester in the alpha and the beta phases of the game. So I paid attention to certain landmarks and points of interest getting ready for the full launch. Other players call us cheaters and we get some shit for that. So that’s where I got my intel.” Jake said looking at Mal firmly.

“Oh well that explains a lot, like the great gear you have. Hey somebody's gotta test the game. No complaint from me especially as it seems you're going to be using your very intel to help us both out it sounds like.” Mal said

“Exactly my man!” Jake said smiling like Mal had passed some test. “Now with the gold I’ve gotten from beating some secret quests and also with pawning this war axe from last night I should have enough to form a guild. You know what a guild is right?”

“Yeah a group of players of the same faction or whatever working together towards common goals.” Mal said.

“Yes but more importantly is that there are certain perks and things you can get only from being in a guild. Like the guildhouse for example or the XP% boost on kills. A guild in this game can level up sorta like players do and if I can form one of the first ones in Planus, well….the sky’s the limit then!” Jake said excitedly.

“Oh now that is really rad! But go back some, so you found this mystic?”

“No goddamn it and I’m wasting time wandering around these woods. I’ve given up on finding him but maybe you can, ask around like Emmet he may know something and here take this.” Jake handed Mal a small parchment with a simple map drawn on it. “And if you do learn the secret spells maybe someday you can teach them to me, you know when we aren’t super busy leading our massively successful guild.” Jake said ending with a chuckle.

Mal looked at the crude map for a moment and said “Yeah I’ll try to find him for sure, but what are you going to do?”

“I’m headed for Imperial City to the guild registry, I should be one of the very first ones to be able to make the steep formation payment. I have the player’s ready to go, some IRL friends and some other testers. So can I count you in when I form it?” Jake said offering his hand to Mal.

“Aye of course bro.” Mal said enthusiastically shaking Jake’s hand. The idea sounded stellar to Mal. A new guild full of testers from the alpha who would have tons of info and would have already scored some of the best loot with their knowledge. They would blow everyone else away. Now Mal just needed to find this mystic guy and learn his spells so he would bring something to the table when the guild met up.

A friend request popped up in Mal’s vision from Jake and he quickly accepted and he now had Jake on his list. Looking at it he could see there were multiple ways for them to communicate now which would be great for coordinating.

“Alright man. I’m off. I’ll hit you up when I’m about to form the guild. It’s kinda a hike to Imperial city so it may be a week or longer if I run into trouble but I’ll keep ya posted. Good luck finding the mystic.” Jake said getting ready to depart.

“Alright man, safe travels, see you soon I hope.” Mal said rising to see him on his way.

“Bye big guy.” Allison said.

Jake nodded at Allison then to Mal “Good luck with that one.” He winked. “Oh also don’t be afraid to recruit if you come across worthy players, even non combat type players we’ll need them too, you know craftsmen and the like.” Jake called out over his shoulder as he moved off. “Later!”

“At last I have you all to myself.” Allison said quietly and mischievously.

Mal’s full belly laugh echoed around the courtyard for the second time that morning.

A couple hours later Mal and Allison had asked just about everyone at the post about the mysterious mystic. No one seemed to have a clue but they all kept referring the pair back to Emmet who of course was sleeping off his drinks from the night before.

“You would think a battle would sober him up eh?” Mal said impatiently

“Oh Emmet went back to his cups after it was all said and done. Shouldn’t be much longer luvy.” Alison replied.

Mal took the time to look at the simple parchment map as well for what felt like the fiftieth time. No one could make heads or tails of it that they had asked. Mal was thinking they may be screwed on this quest. He watched a few of the trappers dragging the bodies of the slain bandits out towards a mass grave down the road. Mal allowed himself a grim grin watching them work. That was partly his handiwork he thought, maybe I’ll make a name for myself after all.

Finally Emmet emerged stumbling for the bath area. Mal made to intercept him but Alison put a hand on his arm and shook her head. Mal saw the wisdom of not questioning Emmet while he was taking his morning piss and he tried to quell his impatient feelings.

Taking a breath Mal realized he was seeking and looking into the future. Not simply being in the moment like he should be and appreciating it. He was anxious to be off on the next leg of his journey to acquire power so that he could be accepted by the other players he was going to meet sometime. He shook his head, he had killed the bandit chief and Jake had already invited him to join in his plans. Looking around at the other NPCs Mal saw they were all watching him surreptitiously. He was actually the hero, Mal made a point of smiling and waving at a couple of the trappers. The gesture was returned in kind.

Emmet almost surprised Mal when he sat down right when he was supposed to instead of by some timer in Mal’s head that revolved around him like he was the center of the universe. Glad at the change of perspective Mal gave his NPC friend a hearty greeting.

“Emmet! How’s your noggin?”

“Noggin sir?” Emmet said uncertainly.

“Your head bro.” Mal said pointing. “And don’t you call me sir, you saw me come out of the blood forest and you didn’t call me sir then.”

“Ah! My head is pounding….Mal” he said with a wince. “I love ale to fault I’ve come to find out. That’s why I spend so much time roaming far and wide hunting, no ale in the forest!”

Mal laughed at the logic. “Tell me friend, what do you make of this?” Mal offered the scrap of map to Emmet.

Emmet took the map gingerly then rubbed his eyes before peering down at it. He stared for a moment then there was a small flash of light like with an identity scroll and Emmet’s eyes opened wide.

“Ah yes I know this general area, shall I take you there? The hunting is good in those parts.”

Do you accept the quest to find the Mysterious Mystic, reward, unknown, penalty, unknown, yes or no?

Mal selected yes surprised by the quest prompt, wasn’t this kind of a mission Jake had given him? Then Emmet triggered it somehow. Strange how the mechanics were working with this one. Then there was that flash of light, curious.

“So we going?” Alison prompted as Mal was considering the odd nature of the quest.

“Oh. Yeah, Hell yeah! Grab your stuff kids, let's go now!” Mal said coming back to his virtual senses. Mal was practically salivating at the prospect of getting some cheap and rare spells added to his arsenal.

Emmet bought a loaf of bread for the road while they shouldered their packs and headed for the gate. They received a warm send off from the trappers and the couple of guards in the towers. Tallum’s daughter ran up and gave Mal a flower that he turned and put behind Allison’s ear, to her effusive delight. The beautiful purple orchid showing vividly on her pale complexion and blonde ringlets.

Mal felt a little silly playing the romantic game with an NPC, a simulated intelligence, but there was no harm in it he decided for now. She certainly looked real enough he thought as he appreciated her smile at his gesture. Gotta build those reputation points he thought letting his gaze wander.

Soon enough the trading outpost was well into their rearview mirror and Emmet took the lead heading a northeasterly bearing on the compass Mal noted. Apparently Imperial City was to the south as were many of the larger cities of the human realm. Mal had yet to see any other character type other than human which led him to believe the game world was probably huge and the other races each had their own general area. Those were the theories anyway on the game hub web portal. A larger map had yet to be pieced together. The alpha and beta testers were jealously guarding any information on the subject. As they say, knowledge is power.

Alison walked alongside Mal as they followed Emmet down an old game trail. She took her stringed instrument out and plucked at it absently a tune that mimicked the birdsong around them. It was relaxing to Mal and after a moment he realized there was some magic to it. They had begun to stride in pace to the notes and Mal noted a quicker pace with added energy being granted by whatever ability she was using.

Sylvester kept pace no problem being a rock magical creature and soon the miles were disappearing easily under their tread. Mal felt he had come a long way since the Blood Forest to have allies like this with him and a positive future ahead if Jake’s plans played out like he hoped. It brought a smile to his face as they trekked on in search of the old mystic.