Neophyte E-Book

Michael Anderle

• Herausgeber: LMBPN Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Chronicles Of KieraFreya
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 420

Beschreibung

Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 02

Leseprobe

Neophyte

Chronicles Of KieraFreya™ Book 02

Michael Anderle

This book is a work of fiction.

All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

Copyright © 2019-20 LMBPN Publishing

Cover by Mihaela Voicu http://www.mihaelavoicu.com/

Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

A Michael Anderle Production

LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

LMBPN Publishing

PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

Las Vegas, NV 89109

First US edition, June 2020

eBook ISBN: 978-1-64971-002-4

Print ISBN: 978-1-64971-048-2

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Epilogue

Books by Michael Anderle

Connect with the author

The Neophyte Team

Thanks to our Beta Team

Daniel Weigert, Erika Everest, John Ashmore, Kelly O’Donnell, Sarah Weir, and Mary Morris

Thanks to our JIT Readers

Jeff Eaton

Dave Hicks

Dorothy Lloyd

Misty Roa

Peter Manis

Joshua Ahles

Daniel Weigert

If We’ve missed anyone, please let us know!

Editor

The Skyhunter Editing Team

To Family, Friends and

Those Who Love

To Read.

May We All Enjoy Grace

To Live The Life We Are

Called.

Prologue

The very air changed the moment they stepped into the room, a dark cloud hovering over them as Hugo held the door open, allowing his wife to enter the boardroom first.

The room was extravagant, a testament to the years of hard, grinding work the pair had put into their enterprise. Not a speck of dust hovered in the air or rested on the glass panels covering the walls, nor the marbled furniture that bordered a long black-glass table.

There were enough seats for 40 in that room. A large white wall at the room’s farthest reaches featured the charts, tables, and presentations that had been given in the room over the years by a range of the finest entrepreneurs the city had to offer, as well as a few weak-willed, knee-knocking saps who left with their tails tucked between their legs and their pride shattered.

This room could make or break a person’s career. The patriarch and matriarch of the Lagarde family knew that well, and had always been careful not to let their egos or pride destroy their humility. They gave people chances. They may have ended people’s reigns, but they always did their best to rule with a fair hand.

Olympus. That was the name the room had colloquially been given by those in the Lagarde empire. The holy throne room where the gods of the enterprise sat and ruled. Billions of dollars made. Thousands of employees’ lives changed.

And now one man sat alone, back straight, briefcase on the table in front of him as the Lagardes approached.

“You’re early,” Hugo said, his voice deep and commanding. Not a question. Rarely a question.

Demetri squeaked the chair back, rising and nodding curtly as the two swept into the room and took seats opposite him. He waited until Hugo and Helen Lagarde were settled before returning to his own.

“Aren’t I always?” He smiled.

Hugo nodded, his straight expression unfaltering. It was something he had developed over the years—a true poker face, unreadable by any save his wife. He sported a short gray beard, and his hair was combed back sleekly. Beside him, Helen crossed her legs, her own hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her makeup was modest but flattering. Their suits were tailored and designed to match and complement each other.

They were a true force to be reckoned with.

“Tell me, Mr. Smythe, any news about my children? I trust there are no problems or concerns?”

Demetri opened his briefcase, filing through a stack of papers covered in the scrawls that he had set down after the sessions he’d had with the Lagarde siblings over the past week.

Running through the notes one by one, Demetri listed the complaints and successes he had uncovered. Hector Lagarde was as happy as sin, relishing his investments in the Tesla program and bringing in so much return, it made Warren Buffet look like a coin collector. He did reveal that things had taken a sour turn with his wife Aisha. According to Hector, their arguments had increased in frequency because his tightly-packed business schedule often conflicted with any dating arrangements they made. Even though Hector kept explaining the importance and chaos of his role in the company, Aisha’s patience was wearing thin.

Hilary Lagarde had recently flown to China and was exploring the notion of further investment in a range of makeup products that were free from animal testing, eco-friendly on all accounts, and would lower the standard cost of beauty products by a margin of at least 10% across all developed countries.

She had recently met the company’s CEO and was now doing her due diligence that the products truly lived up to their claims before investing. The last thing anyone wanted to do was devalue or destroy the family name.

Henrietta and Henry had made progress in their development of advanced AI to embed within AR and VR, the company now promising its first major trials within the next few months. They had gone into several disagreements they’d had over the recent public launch of a competitor system by a little-known company called Praxis Games Ltd, and now they were at each other’s throats as Henrietta pushed to launch the games earlier, while Henry preferred not to rush into launch due to panic.

Demetri had kept his eyes down when he mentioned that one, aware that Hugo and Henry had signed a contract a little over 2 weeks ago to allow their youngest, Chloe, to pursue her first investment with Praxis Games. The last thing he wanted was for Hugo and Helen to blame him for causing a fracture in their family relations.

“I trust you told the twins nothing of our venture with Chloe?” Helen asked, her words calm and measured.

Demetri confirmed that he hadn’t. Helen gave a small nod and Demetri continued, reeling off Harry’s and Harvey’s progress (about which there was little to report, other than that Harvey was now seeing some 22-year-old supermodel from the Czech Republic and was flying across the world with Harry and his glamorous wife, attending ritzy functions and keeping the world very much aware of the Lagarde name and its prominence within modern society.

Then Demetri pulled out some notes on paper with the Praxis logo in the corner.

“And last but not least, there’s Chloe.” Demetri’s eyes met Hugo’s. He couldn’t explain it, but even though there seemed to be no emotion behind those eyes, he felt as though he was being scanned from head to foot.

“Ah, yes,” Helen said, shifting in her chair. “How is our little experiment going? I trust that we are already seeing results from the...‘pod,’ was it?”

Demetri nodded enthusiastically, swallowing hard. “Yes, we’re seeing progress. Chloe has already made it to the first main town in Obsidian and has a group of three adventurers with her. They’re working their way through the quest to find the rest of KieraFreya’s equipment, but they’re at a bit of an impasse. They’re currently asking around town for any information they can find on Nauriel or the guy who tried to have Chloe murdered, but so far no dice.”

The tale spun from Demetri’s mouth like water on porcelain. He had never been a serious gamer, but having watched Chloe’s journey so far, he had to admit that the whole thing was pretty entertaining. He now understood how people could sink hours of their lives into pretending to be something they were not in the digital world.

Helen’s nostrils flared, a minute movement. She adjusted her position in her chair, looming closer to Demetri, who sank slightly, his cheeks flushing as he realized just how stupid he must have sounded to a pair of business-minded gods who had likely never played a game in their lives.

“I meant, how is the investment? Is the company turning a profit yet? What’s the forecast for the next 6–12 months?”

Demetri flicked through the sheets of paper, pulling out several pages with graphs and charts and statistics.

Hugo and Helen stared at the pages for a long time in silence. Demetri watched the digital clock on the wall, taking some solace in knowing that, no matter how important or unimportant a meeting was to the Lagardes, they always made their next meeting on time. They were painfully punctual.

Hugo made a musing sound in the back of his throat. “Seems aboveboard. Not quite the trajectory that was initially promised, but at least we can say the company is growing. The forecast could be better, but we’re in the clear...for now.”

“The company is making strides,” Demetri said. “They’ve been slow to grow due to the beta phase of their testing, but as of this morning, they’ve rolled out the platform to the public. They’re starting in the US, then looking to expand and offer the game to players across Europe and Australasia, then the wider world.”

“We’ll trust your judgment.” Helen nodded. “Keep us up to date with the company’s progress, and we’ll hopefully be able to avoid intervening in your work. Good job, Mr. Smythe.”

Just as Helen was about to rise from her chair, Hugo placed a hand on hers.

Demetri followed Hugo’s eyes to several back-to-back pieces of paper that held dozens upon dozens of lines of text detailing error reports filed by users of the game, and the steps the company was taking to fix them.

Hugo’s finger hovered over Chloe’s name.

“Our daughter is experiencing grievous physical pain...from a game?” His voice came as a rumble. “Mr. Smythe, please explain.”

Demetri sighed, detailing Chloe’s experiences within the game and how Praxis had wanted to make the full-immersion experience as accurate and real as possible. The programming caused the player to experience true pain from injury within the game, meaning that a punch would feel like a punch and a scratch would feel like a scratch.

Unfortunately, that also extended to death scenarios in which a player might get cut, burned, or broken into pieces by the game’s various monsters and dangers.

“The bug is broadly fixed now. Praxis has lowered the pain receptors for their current pool of players.”

“It says here that Chloe is the exception.” Hugo’s eyes bore into Demetri’s. “It says that there is no fix.”

“A game-wide patch has been rolled out, but because Chloe was the first into the game and is experiencing the full-immersion version, they can’t modify her pain receptor programming without pulling her out of the game.”

Hugo and Helen were silent once more. They scanned the list of bugs, and eventually worked their way to a document that displayed Chloe’s image with a list of numbers and long words that had been pulled straight out of the game’s medical analysis program.

“All of her vitals are fine?” Hugo asked.

Demetri nodded.

“And her in-game demeanor?”

Demetri gave a soft smile. “She seems to be having the time of her life.”

Hugo’s head turned back to the documents.

“It says here that the public rollout will include a live-stream option for the game, allowing anyone who wishes to log in and view. What does this mean?”

Demetri’s shoulders slumped as he explained that, since the game was now open to the public, part of the game’s initiative to increase sales and promote virality was to make it so that all gamers were now available to instantly be watched by anyone with a working internet connection.

This would work the same way TV channels did, and would mean that those who couldn’t afford the game could whet their whistles watching others play. Praxis’ long-term goal was to bring in advertisers to promote the channels and increase revenue.

The live-stream rollout was the update Demetri had been least looking forward to sharing with the Lagardes. Part of the original agreement was that Chloe’s plunge into the game would be under conditions of complete anonymity. No one was to know that a Lagarde was investing in this game, and Chloe was to be given two years free of the burden of her heritage in order to grow as a person and overcome her low-confidence issues from standing in the shadows of the gods that were her family.

Now, though…

“Does this mean that anyone can tune in and watch Chloe play live?”

Demetri nodded. “Although no one will know who the player is. Unless the player specifically gives away their identity in the game, there’s no chance anyone other than us and those sworn to secrecy under NDAs at Praxis will know that Chloe is a Lagarde.”

Hugo and Helen chewed on this for a moment before a beep came and they checked their watches in unison.

Hugo stood up, casting one more intense stare straight into Demetri’s eyes. A flicker of a warning flashed over his pupils. “See that it stays that way,” he said simply, turning and moving to the door. He allowed Helen to pass in front once more before adding, “and see to it that Chloe comes to no further harm. Tell Praxis the Lagardes are watching them.”

With that, he left the room, the dark clouds going with him.

Chapter One

Chloe smiled heartily as Tag precariously stood on the long bench in the tavern. Already those crowded were raising their cups and demanding an encore. The dwarf had been on fire since they’d arrived, and now the hungry crowd wanted more.

“Fine! You want to hear stories, huh? You want to know about my first love?”

A raucous cheer from the crowd.

Tag cleared his throat, wobbled, then began to sing. His voice turned from the rough bark of trees to the pouring of spring water.

Harken ye round and I’ll tell ye my tale

Of ale that’s gone bitter, of bread that’s gone stale

The bestest of things do go rotten with time

But never me wine, lad. Never me wine.

While girls can run off in the dark of the night

With some prissy-ass floozy who calls him a knight

I know that red liquid is much more sublime

No, don’t take me wine, lad. Don’t take me wine.

Tag began to dance around the table, grabbing a jug of wine from its end and sloshing red liquid into the many cups that were held in his direction. Chloe, Ben, and Gideon laughed with teary eyes, their cheeks flushed from the open fire and their own healthy measures of drink.

Nights turn blue, and days turn dead

While dragons and flames soar overhead

But once the sun comes before and aft the bed

The sky will turn the color wine-red

Now, never delay as I chug this away

and fill up my gullet and liver and lungs

Never run short and never run dry

or pack up your homes ‘cause I’ll grab my guns

I’ll sing it once more just in case you ain’t heard

That wine is my last and was always my first

As long as I’ve throat and lungs that may dry

I’ll soak them with wine, man. I’ll soak them with wine!

Tag repeated the final line, bringing the song to a crescendo as the entire tavern erupted in a reflective chorus. A large goblet of wine made its way from the nodding barmaid and was passed through the crowd to Tag, who raised it high, cheered, and drained the thing in one go. Dark-red liquid soaked his mustache and dripped down his cheeks.

He raised the goblet once more and cheered. The crowd echoed his excitement as he jumped to the bench, caught his foot on a wet patch, and flipped onto his back.

Chloe wondered how many HP that fall took off Tag’s overall health score.

Tag was pulled up by two ladies wearing tunics that showed off their ample bosoms. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he thanked them and made his way back to the others, reveling in the backslaps and “Well dones” he received on the way.

“My, oh my, you sure know how to work a crowd,” Ben greeted him. Standing much taller than Tag, the elf looked down his nose and laughed affectionately. He slow-clapped until the dwarf blushed.

“It was nothing,” Tag replied, emitting a deep, growling burp. “Everyone is blessed with hidden talents. It’s not my fault that mine is singing.”

“I thought yours was getting smashed to a pulp by trolls,” Chloe teased, referring to a previous dungeon exploration in which Tag had faced death until Gideon used his healing abilities to bring him back to health.

“Oh, a bold retort from a woman who seems to favor death far more than life. Tell me, isn’t this some kind of a record for you? Over a week without dying?” Tag hiccupped, forcing back down a lump of vomit. “Surely you must be missing the white room by now? Aren’t you desperate to return?”

Chloe laughed, scruffing the dwarf’s hair with her knuckles. “Aren’t you the funny man?”

“Hey! Not the hair!” Tag said, wriggling free of Chloe’s grasp and falling over once more. Several people turned and laughed at Tag, then bent down and helped him up once more.

Chloe beamed, her head a little woozy from her own alcohol. She was still unable to believe they had found this little piece of paradise out on the Obsidian plains. After traveling for several days, they had reached the small town they had seen from the top of the mountains.

Hobblesville, as they discovered its name to be, was a real step up from the little forest tribal town of Oakston. This place had all the hallmarks Chloe had come to expect from fantasy MMORPGs. In fact, this town seemed to be almost a direct rip-off of one of the places her ex-boyfriend Blake had preferred when he’d played Relic Hunter years ago.

Their journey to Hobblesville had been pretty easy. Bar their few chance encounters with some of the wildlife that prowled the woods and plains—wolves, badgers, hawks, and, at one point, a few lonely bears skulking near the caves—they had made steady progress.

The other side of the mountains was definitely a whole different ball game than the thick woods they had traveled through. The land rose and fell over grassy hillocks, and they saw rivers and streams winding for miles upon miles from the higher rises they scaled.

Sparse copses of trees provided modest shelter during the nights, when Chloe was left alone to watch the avatars of Gideon, Ben, and Tag after they logged off and re-entered the real world, attending to their lives before returning hours later. On some level, Chloe thought she might envy the others for having the chance to pop the bubble and go back into the world, but then Chloe thought about her real life.

She had lived for the weekend, spending her money on friends she wasn’t even sure had felt the absence of her presence while she had been immersed in Obsidian. The doc had told her that anyone who asked about her was given the line that Chloe had gone overseas on a 2-year hiatus to “find herself.” A gap year wasn’t uncommon for women in their early 20s, so the line had been soaked up like water into a sponge.

There was nothing really for Chloe to go back to. Her brothers and sisters had the Midas touch, turning everything they had into gold. Her parents dominated the rest of the gods from their thrones in Olympus, and Chloe had been nothing more than a drunken wastrel who had no business sense, much less cared enough to bother to learn.

No. Chloe was happier here in Obsidian, even if, on some level, she knew the whole experience wasn’t really real.

On the way to Hobblesville, none of the adventurers had leveled up, which hadn’t really surprised them. Tag, Ben, and Gideon were sitting pretty at level 9, while Chloe had reached level 10 and was now tasked with choosing which class she should devote her character to out of a pool of 5 options the AI had selected for her.

Most of the talk on their trip had been about the possibilities of each class and what Chloe could do with each one, but she had delayed the decision, knowing that whatever she selected, she’d be stuck with for the rest of her time in Obsidian. She was smart enough to know that her knowledge of MMORPGs was vastly less than that of the other three, who had adventured together across a range of games for years. If she was to make the right decision, she needed to not rush this.

“If you choose anything other than Berzerker, I’ll never talk to you again,” Tag had said.

“Oh, that sounds incredibly tempting.” Chloe winked.

“Berzerker is amazing! A unique class in which you can smash and destroy people. That Red Rage sounds incredible.”

Red Rage, as described through Chloe’s in-vision notifications, was an ability that took over the player’s avatar when they were in a pinch. If a player’s health was low enough, a red mist would descend and the character would, in essence, black out until the rage was over.

“Do we really want someone like that on our team?” Gideon asked, picking the mushrooms Chloe had cooked for them out of his teeth. “A liability who could hurt us as much as help us?”

Tag huffed. “I’d pick it if it was offered.”

“Well, we’ll have to watch out for that, then.” Chloe chuckled.

“Go for cleric!” Ben had said. “We need more devotion to the gods in this game. For all we know, the gods are watching us right now. What would it hurt to have a devotee in our party? Surely that would work greatly in our favor.”

While Ben had looked at the sky, Chloe had turned her attention to the emerald and gold bracers she had found on her first trip into a dungeon. It had been quite a surprise when Chloe learned that these pieces of armor had been enchanted, possessed by the disembodied spirit of KieraFreya, a goddess who had fallen from grace and now berated Chloe and sniped at her every chance she got.

Little does he know just how closely a god is watching him. KieraFreya laughed darkly, her voice sounding in Chloe’s mind. When I make it back to the heavens, I wonder what I’ll do to him?

Chloe had shaken her head, choosing to ignore KieraFreya as the town came into sight, and they had picked up their pace.

Now, several days into their residence in Hobblesville, they were all feeling more at home than ever. Chloe watched as Tag was pulled away by several of the local dwarves who had traveled to the town on their way to other ventures. She smiled when Ben engaged in deep conversation with the barmaid who had been batting her eyelashes and waving her breasts in his face since their first trip to the Bucket & Pale.

She laughed whole-heartedly as Gideon attempted to make his way back from the restroom, looking more uncomfortable than ever as his gangly limbs seemed to get away from his control. People danced and laughed and bumped into him, almost knocking him to the floor on several occasions.

“Watch your step.” She grinned.

“That’s easier said than done when there are dwarves, cats, spilled booze, and a whole host of other things on the floor. Do they really act like this every night?”

Chloe sipped her drink. “As long as good ol’ Tag brings the entertainment.”

Yep. Hobblesville was a fine town indeed. And although Chloe was having a blast getting to know the town and stocking up on provisions, the main question kept coming back to her: was the information they sought really here, or were they just wasting their time when they could be getting on with her quest to collect the rest of the pieces of KieraFreya and unite the goddess once more?

Chapter Two

Chloe awoke on a hard bed with a thumping head, feeling an eerie sense of déjà vu wash over her as she thought back to her life in the city.

“So much for a new outlook on life,” she said, rising from the bed and wobbling on her feet.

“Were you this much of a lightweight in your home realm?” KieraFreya snarked. “Seriously, you could get drunk on spring water.”

Chloe glared at her wrists, imagining a face reflecting back at her from the metal. She had glimpsed KieraFreya once in a vision that had swum in her mind after she made a request of the old Oakston Shaman, but it hadn’t been clear enough to know what the goddess looked like.

Which begged a bigger question: what did gods look like in Obsidian?

“What do you think they look like?” KieraFreya asked. “They’re half-frog and half-elephant, or at least the good ones are. The bad ones are more snake-like, with the wings of a moth.”

“Really?”

“No, you idiot! They look human, for the most part. Big beards. Big boobs. Kind of like a cross between you and Tag, only much, much better looking.”

Chloe snatched her clothes up and put them on. “It’s too early in the morning for your shit.” She glanced outside, where the sun was high in the sky. “And what have I told you about staying out of my thoughts?”

“What have I told you about needing to reunite with the rest of my armor? You don’t seem to be in any hurry to live up to your end of the bargain, so why should I?”

Chloe’s mouth flapped open, then shut. She had a point. Their search in Hobblesville had thus far been fruitless, but the guys had been more than happy to drain the town dry of its free(ish) entertainment in the meantime. Maybe it was time to knuckle down and move on.

“Fine. Fair point. If I agree to get the other guys’ asses in gear, do you agree to leave my thoughts alone?”

KieraFreya thought for a minute. “Sure. Why not?”

“Great.”

Chloe was crossing the room, still nursing her sore head, when she heard, Oh, yeah. Because I’m reeeeeally going to make deals with a blockhead mortal.

“I heard you.”

A pause. “Shit.”

They found Gideon already downstairs, tucked in a corner by himself. They found that foot traffic in the morning was often pretty light, and Chloe wasn’t surprised. If the NPCs of Hobblesville drank half as much each night as they had over the last few, it was no wonder this sleepy town seemed as if it moved in slow motion.

Chloe joined Gideon for a breakfast of broiled meat, toast, and eggs. There was little conversation while they ate, for which Chloe was grateful. With each bite of food and sip of her water, she felt her hangover subsiding. When she’d scraped the last pieces off her plate, she closed her eyes and stretched.

“Another bad one?” Gideon asked.

“Hmm?”

“Your head? Hanging, I guess?”

Chloe gave Gideon a look as if to say, “Are you kidding?”

“Just because you received an update to your game so you apparently no longer feel the effects of hangovers as strongly, it doesn’t mean you can just taunt me, right? Something will come along one day, I’m sure. Just...you’ll have to be a little bit more sensitive around me until that day comes, okay?”

“I was always told that girls were more sensitive than guys,” Gideon said, taking a sip of his water. “I just didn’t think that logic would apply to video games, too.”

Chloe laughed and banged into his shoulder. Gideon’s water slopped over the rim of the glass and stained the crotch of his pants.

“Oops,” Chloe teased. “I didn’t think guys had to worry about wetting themselves in-game, but here we are. Guess we both suffer in some respects.”

Gideon’s cheeks flushed as he tried to dab away the dark stain with a length of linen. After several minutes of trying, Chloe heard movement from the stairs and Ben’s tall form emerged, followed shortly by the barmaid, who coyly went behind the bar and vanished into the back.

Chloe raised her eyebrows.

Ben grinned. “What? It’s not what you think.”

“Really?” Chloe replied. “Because I think you might have got some VR tail last night, as weird as that is to say. Tell me, what was it like? Were her parts all blurry and pixelated? Did you feel anything at all when you screwed a piece of someone’s imagination?”

Although Chloe was clearly trying to push his buttons, the smile didn’t leave Ben’s face. “It was...good. Different, but good.”

Gideon looked up from his pants. “What does that mean?”

“It means a true gentleman never tells. Now I’m going to find some food. Oh, Ronda!”

Chloe watched Ben wolf his food down like a man who had never eaten in his life. A slight wrinkle of disgust impinged on her nose as he leaned over the plate and shoveled the food into his mouth.

“You eat almost as desperately as Tag,” Chloe mumbled.

“Don’t. Care,” Ben told her between mouthfuls. “Speaking of that, where is the little guy?”

“Guess,” Gideon replied, turning toward the fireplace, where a large table was standing with chairs stacked on top. Underneath it, a chest rose and fell with each dozing breath its owner took. At first, Chloe mistook the shape for a dog, until it moved and Tag’s unmistakable beard came into view.

They all laughed together. Chloe was the first to rise and walk over to Tag, and she prodded his form with her boot. “Okay, soldier! Up and at ‘em. Let’s not waste another moment. Move it! Move it! Move it!”

Tag’s eyes snapped open. He jumped up, smacking his head into the table, then scrambling out. He staggered a few paces, then whirled on Chloe.

“That’s not funny!”

“I beg to differ,” she said, unable to hold her laughter in while she pointed at Gid and Ben. Even Ronda sniggered from the far side of the bar.

It took some time to calm Tag down, and Chloe was envious when his hangover subsided in a matter of minutes. They ordered another round of beverages while Tag ate, discussing the previous night’s events and cooing over Ben’s romantic interlude with Ronda.

When Tag had finished, he shoved the plate away. “Well, that certainly filled a hole. Not quite Ronda’s though, eh?” he added, elbowing Ben. “Now, what’s the plan for today? Another round of questing? Some fun and conversation with the other hotties of Hobblesville? Maybe rounding up some cattle?”

“I think we’ve done all we can, here, folks,” Chloe said, playing the voice of reason. “We’ve stocked up on provisions, we’ve spent some cash, and we’ve made some friends, but we’re no closer to learning any more about Tohken. No one here knows who he is, and no one has the faintest memory of anyone who fits the description of the mage coming through. No one here has even heard of Nauriel. We’re screwed.”

Ben and Gideon nodded. Tag remained quiet.

“Look, I’ve spoken to Jacob, the local stableboy, about getting us some transport. With the money we have, he can’t give us much, but he has a couple of steeds that may have seen worse days but would be able to get us to the next town. I propose that as our next step. Get some transport and follow the horizon. There’s nothing more for us here.”

“What about your wisp friend?” Ben asked.

Chloe scanned the tavern. He was right; the ethereal wisp form the shaman had adopted was nowhere in sight.

Chloe waved a hand. “I’m sure he’s around. He’ll turn up when he’s good and ready. Now, who’s with me?”

Tag grumbled a little more about wanting to stay put, but ultimately they all came around to Chloe’s way of thinking, putting their hands in the middle and throwing them into the air to the chorus of “Goooo, Team Kick-ass!”

The name had been Tag’s suggestion. Chloe, who had struggled to think of another at that moment, had let it slide until she could think of something better.

It couldn’t be that hard, could it?

Anything was better than “Team Kick-ass.”

The sun was hotter out in the open than it ever had been in the woods. As they crossed the town, waving at familiar faces, Chloe felt the sweat drip off of her. She wondered about sunburn in this game, hoping she wouldn’t find out the sadistic programmers had thought it would be a good idea on top of all the death and maiming to also expose characters to dehydration and sun-blistered skin.

The stable lay at the edge of the town, comprised of a large lean-to and shelter on the side of a large farmhouse. A young boy with sandy-blond hair stood atop a wooden stepladder, stretching to reach the rest of a beautiful chestnut horse’s mane. The horse looked powerful, muscles and coat gleaming in the sunlight. If this was what the stableboy was offering as a horse that had seen “better days,” they’d be in great shape.

“He’s a little young for you, isn’t he?” Tag whispered.

Chloe popped him one. The boy couldn’t have been more than 8 years old.

He stepped down from his ladder as they approached, a nervous look on his face. Without speaking, he ran to the side door of the house, and they heard his little voice shouting. A moment later, a tall, lean teen came out, the brim of his hat shading his eyes.

The lad spat on the floor, eyeing them in each turn.

“These the guys you were talking about?” he said, a strange twinge to his voice.

Chloe nodded. “Yes. These are my friends: Tag, Ben, and Gideon. Guys, this is Jacob.” She scanned the stable, unable to see any other horses, just the pretty beast with the shimmering chestnut coat. “You got the other horses inside, or is this the mare you were offering? I have to say, she doesn’t look half as weak as you said she would. Maybe drink loosened your tongue the wrong way?”

Tag scoffed. “They let him drink in the bar? He’s barely old enough to have stopped suckling his mother’s teats.”

Jacob stared at Tag, pulling a cloth from his pocket and twisting the fabric around his hands. Eventually, he said, “You can’t have the horses no more. The offer is off the table.”

Chloe clapped Tag on the arm again and stepped toward Jacob, arms held up in a “come on” gesture. “Please, wait. Is it because of what my friend said? He’s new to this realm and doesn’t know the way of the people. I’m sure he meant you no offense. Isn’t that right?”

Tag opened his mouth, but Chloe cut in before he could answer.

“See? That’s right. Now please, as I told you last night, we need transport to make better haste toward the next town over. We’ve been told it’s 10 days on foot, and we just don’t have the time.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but my hands are tied,” Jacob said. “The horses are gone. I’ve got nothing to give you.”

“You sold them?” Chloe said, failing to hide the annoyance in her voice. “You promised them to us.”

Jacob took a few steps forward, his head cocked and his eyebrows raised. “I’m a man of my word, miss, but I can’t help what can’t be helped. I fully intended to give you those horses, yes I did. In fact, after last night, I decided to be even more reasonable and cut the cost some. But I can’t help fate, and last night I was woken to the sound of dogs barking. I looked out my window to find that someone had stolen my stock.

“See that break in the fence there? Think I’d be dumb enough to do that to myself? No. Only reason old Carey stayed is because I reared her from a foal and she’s loyal to the end.” He jerked a thumb at the chestnut horse, which was now being groomed once more by the small boy.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said, her anger deflating. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Look,” Jacob said, digging into his other pocket and pulling out what looked to be nothing more than a weed. The plant was green with small orange buds. “The thieves left this behind when they went. It’s the only clue I’ve got.

Chloe cast Herb Identification, reading the little notice that appeared above the weed.

“Humblebee pollen? What is that?”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “That goddamn traitorous coward!” he said through gritted teeth, his whole body coiling as if he were a spring being wound.

“Who?” Gideon asked.

“That no-good thieving good-for-nothing Derren McTrewern. He’s the only humblebee keeper for miles around. Takes great pride in bringing his world-famous honey to the towns and selling it. He’s got a bee farm way out by the winding creek on the other side of those there trees.”

Jacob pointed into the distance, where a small group of trees was visible beyond the heat shimmer of the horizon.

“I tell you what,” Jacob continued, eyeing Chloe’s sword. “How’s about we make a deal? You go out to McTrewern’s farm and reclaim my horses, and I’ll let you take your pick of the stock.”

Chloe saw the blinking notification appear in the corner of her vision. She focused her attention on opening the icon, and a new update hovered in her vision.

Quest unlocked: Chasing Nightmares

Someone has stolen the stableboy’s horses. Thanks to the humblebee pollen left behind, he has a sneaking suspicion that Derren McTrewern is behind it all. Track down Derren at his farm and discover the truth behind the lies.

Difficulty: 3/10

Rewards: 1,500 exp, +2 horses

Accept quest: Y/N

Chloe turned to the others, whose eyes were unfocused as they read their own notifications. She laughed and said, “Well? What do we think?”

Gideon blinked out of his. “Oops. I presumed this wouldn’t be a question. I’ve already clicked Y.”

“Me too,” said Tag.

“Me too.” Ben grinned.

Chloe rolled her eyes and selected Y on her display.

Chapter Three

Derren McTrewern’s farm took a lot longer to get to than planned. After they headed out onto the open plains, the sun beat down on them like a physical force, and soon they were all sweating buckets. Had they been dogs, their tongues would have been lolling out the sides of their mouths. Hardly anyone spoke for some time.

Although the landscape was mostly grasslands, there were a lot of animals in sight. Obsidian did a great job of creating a veritable menagerie of wildlife, with birds flying overhead in circles, great Vs of geese navigating across the land, and a selection of cow- and dog-like creatures stalking on the peripheries of their vision.

Only once did they have a combat encounter with a pack of plains hounds, and even then they were easily dispatched, their meat making a nice addition to Chloe’s inventory for later cooking.

After taking care of the dogs, they finally arrived at the winding creek that Jacob had indicated, although it was more of a river. The damn thing was a good forty feet wide, and the gods knew how deep its lazily bubbling center was.

They stopped to rest on the river’s banks, splashing water on their faces to cool themselves down and refilling their water skins. While the others tried to find some kind of shade among the large rocks that lined the edges of the river, Chloe pulled up her character sheet, smiling at the small increases she had gained in Cooking and Armed Combat—which seemed ridiculously tough to level up in somehow—and Herb Identification on their journey to Hobblesville and during their stay there.

Bio

Character name: Chloe (click to select a new character name)

Level: 10

Class: Click for more information on selecting a character class.

Race: Human

Stats

HP: 275/275

MP: 200/200

Stamina: 345/345

Active effects: Null

Attributes

Strength: 22 (+20)

Intelligence: 10 (+14)

Dexterity: 20 (+17)

Endurance: 25 (+18)

Etheric Potential: 9 (+21)

Skills

Languages: Human

Acrobatics: Lv 3

Armed Combat: Lv 2

Cooking: Lv 2

Crafting: Lv 1

Creature Identification: Lv 4

Dark Vision: Lv 4

Dual Wielding: Lv 2

Experimental: Lv 1

Fishing: Lv 1

Hand of the Gods: Lv 1

Herb Identification: Lv 2

Sneak: Lv 4

Swimming: Lv 1

Reckless: Lv 4

Available Points: 0

“You got any ideas about how we’re going to cross?” Tag asked, interrupting Chloe’s study of the sheet. “I’m not being funny, but dwarves aren’t as buoyant as other races.”

“And there I was thinking I was going to use you as a float.” Chloe grinned.

Ben shaded his eyes with one hand, scouring up and down the river. “As far as I can see, there aren’t any easy ways to cross, not without searching for a bridge of some sort.”

“What about a boat?” Gideon suggested.

“Oh, sure,” Tag retorted. “Let me just pull this canoe out of my pocket, and we’ll be well on our way.”

“I’ve got a level in Swimming,” Chloe said, dipping her toe into the water. “Maybe I can swim across? The water doesn’t look like it’s too fast. If someone has a length of rope, we can tie it around my waist and I could fix it to something on the other side. Then you guys can get across.”

They all agreed that sounded like a good plan, and, luckily, Ben had purchased a length of rope in Hobblesville. He winked as he stated, “You never know.”

Chloe tied the rope around her waist and entered the water. It was cooler than she’d thought it would be, stealing some of her breath as she waded in and tested the strength of the current.

“It’s actually a bit stronger than it looks,” she said, treading across the slimy rocks beneath the surface and feeling the tug from the undertow.

“You okay?” Gideon called.

Chloe gave a thumbs-up and continued forward, the water now around chest height. She held her arms above the water, not quite ready to swim yet.

“I swear on all that is good and pure, if you dunk me under the water, I will see to it that you drown where you stand,” KieraFreya whispered when Chloe was almost a third of the way across.

“You’re not afraid of water, are you?” Chloe grinned mischievously. They had, after all, gained a skill in swimming, and KieraFreya had been fine then.

“No,” KieraFreya said. “Lakes and pools are fine. You can see what’s in the water for the most part, and the heat warms them up. Running rivers, though? You have no idea what’s in this water, do you? There could be crocodiles, piranhas, eels, or any number of other things ready to drag you under the water.”

Chloe looked up and down the river, the water covered by a film of bubbly foam that obscured any view of what lay beneath.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. Besides, if you make me drown, doesn’t that go against the whole ‘I’m sick of waiting for you to resurrect’ thing you complained about before? I know you miss me when I’m gone, so maybe don’t threaten to kill the one person who can actually help you get your equipment back and reunite the parts of yourself, okay?”

KieraFreya sighed. “Fine. On your head be it if we are attacked.”

Chloe smiled, always pleased when she won an argument with the goddess. Still, as she continued to wade and she was forced to lower the bracers into the water to start swimming, she began to wonder.

Occasionally she did feel the touch of slimy things against her legs as she swam. The water did grow faster in the center of the river. Chloe used her strength and stamina to fight the current, finding that, although she was making progress across, the river was taking her some distance downstream.

“Try to stay straight if you can,” she heard Ben calling.

Remembering what she had learned in her swim classes all those years ago, Chloe took a deep breath, slid beneath the surface of the water, and made an extra effort to reach the shallows on the other side.

If Chloe hadn’t have been trying to hold her breath in, the sight of the water under the river would have taken her breath away. The water was crystal clear, and unlike in the real world, Chloe was able to open her eyes without the sting of contaminants.

The water frothed and bubbled above, but underneath the river, it was a whole different picture. There were dozens of types of fish following the river’s path, except for a select few that fought with great valor to fight the current and head upriver.

The rocks were a combination of vivid oranges, blues, and greens depending on the type of moss that grew on them. Lengths of river grass waved as scuttling freshwater crabs made their way among the rocks. There were pockets where Chloe could see nothing but eyes in the small crevices between the rocks.

And then the land sloped up once more, and Chloe came up for breath. She emerged from the water and did her best impression of a shampoo advert, waving her hair around and arching her back.

She laughed as she looked back and saw the guys suddenly turn away from her, pretending they hadn’t just watched the whole thing.

Chloe worked her way back upriver and found a good anchor point for the rope.

“All yours!” she called to them through cupped hands. “Come join me. The water’s fine!”

Ben was the first to brave the water, grabbing the rope with nimble fingers and pulling himself along. Gideon followed shortly after, more apprehensive than Ben. He was mumbling that there must be some kind of spell that would keep his person dry as he entered bodies of water.

Tag was the last to follow, and it was with great reluctance. They all laughed when the water rose to his chest within seconds. He grabbed the rope so tightly that his hands turned white, and he mumbled and groaned most of the way across.

“Oh, sure. Laugh all you want. Wait until you need your ass saved again. Guess who’s not going to come to your aid?”

He wasn’t too far from the far bank when Chloe noticed something splashing in the water to her right. At first, she thought that it might just be water running over a large submerged rock, but then she saw some kind of large fish with dark skin leap out of the water at an impressive speed.

“What is that?” Ben asked.

When the fish leaped again, Chloe tried to use Creature Identification, but she was far too slow. Before she had found its entry, it had submerged again, now dangerously close to where Tag was.

“You might want to hurry up,” Gideon called, not knowing that was the worst thing he could have said at that moment.

Tag paused, turning to look for danger.

At that moment, the fish leaped out of the water once more. Chloe spotted the row of dagger-like teeth that lined its jaw now that the fish was closer.

“Move!” she shouted.

Tag tried to hurry, but in his panic, his hands started slipping. The fish jumped out of the water once more, just a few feet away from Tag. Its mouth caught on the rope for a second before it came apart in its teeth with a chomp.

Tag yelped for barely a second before the sound was cut off by the water. He disappeared beneath the surface and was gone.

“Tag!” Chloe shouted, desperately trying to find the shape of the dwarf below the white foam.

“Where is he?” Ben said, panic in his voice.

“I don’t know.”

“Help!” They heard him before they saw him a short way away down the river. He was only a head and flailing arms as the water carried him away. The only relief was that the large fish was still leaping out of the water, making great speed far downriver, seemingly uninterested in the drowning dwarf.

They tore down the river after him, Ben staying just long enough to untie the length of rope that remained on their side. As he ran, he nimbly looped the rope around, creating a makeshift lasso. When they had caught up, he threw it to the dwarf.

The first several attempts failed. Tag’s cries grew weaker and weaker as he fought to keep his dense body afloat. Eventually, Chloe grabbed the other end of the rope and dived into the water, chasing Tag urgently.

When she finally reached him, she looped the rope around his wrist and gave a thumbs-up to Ben and Gideon. They pulled and pulled until the dwarf’s body reached land, his legs still in the water as he coughed and spluttered up the water that had found its way down his throat.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked, kneeling by his side.

Tag took a few moments to catch his breath before managing, “I always knew…I’d be the first of us...to get you wet.”

Chloe slapped the laughing dwarf, causing another bout of coughing to erupt. Gideon rolled his eyes and Ben tried to stifle his laughter.

“I hate you,” Chloe said, unable to suppress her smile.