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Chapter Five

Bitz: 420

Days in Game: Fifteen

Level: Twelve

Upgrade Available - Level Thirteen!

“See, your health and mana are already recovering.”

I tried to let the panic fade, but it felt like I wasn’t getting air in my lungs. I would be okay. That was close.

“You are in so much trouble - You have 38 skill points to spend! What are you thinking!”

Well, this was going to suck.

The first thing to return was my ability to hear and block out Hex lecturing me on spending my skill points. I focused on the conversation in front of me.

“She’ll be fine,” said a male voice. “There’s no speeding that up unless you have the right potion. With the stun on top of it, it's best to just let it tick down.”

“Are you sure?” asked Shift, from right behind me. “I have all this anti-poison, but only anti-stun for myself.”

Someone had found us in the woods. That fight had been noisy, between the screaming cockatrice and my explosive arrow. I could feel the horse beneath me moving. We were moving on the horses. Shift had to be holding me on the horse, otherwise this wouldn’t work.

“We’re almost to my camp,” said the stranger. “You’re lucky you were that close and the horses came to my fire.”

My fingers twitched, and I cracked my eyelids open. I could see the back of someone riding on Bee.

Abraham, level 28.

“I don’t know how you would have missed us,” muttered Shift.

He snorted. “More than likely I would have ignored it.”

“Not likely with your oath,” I whispered.

Abraham’s back stiffened and I felt Shift clench me tighter.

Shift: I thought you were a goner.

Mia: I’m fine, my hit points are back to normal. Things just hurt a bit.

Shift: Yeah, but you weren’t fine. When you’re stunned, you don’t gain hit points and you can’t take potions. It’s why I love using it so much if I can line up a sneak attack.

Hex: Were you even listening to me, Mia?

“You don’t know anything about my oath,” said Abraham. “Chatting can wait until we're back at camp. It's just ahead.”

I glanced around as the feeling came back to more of my limbs. Masi padded right next to Honey, close enough that he was nearly touching the horse. He glanced up at me and took a step back when he saw my eyes were open. My notifications were bouncing, but I wasn’t ready to open those, not with the slight headache behind my eyelids. Hitting that tree had hurt, but at least I was okay now, and the helm was fine.

Shift: Let me guess, she hasn’t spent her skill points.

Hex: Nope.

Shift: I get one guess, it's because she wants to learn new skills and spend them there.

Hex: Probably.

Mia: You guys know me too well.

“We're here,” said Abraham.

I realized I had been staring at Honey’s mane and not paying attention to my surroundings. The headache was distracting, but I tried to ignore it like everything else I couldn’t do anything about.

Abraham slid off Bee and tied the reins to a low tree branch. He was right next to me within a second. “Here, let me help you down.” His hands grabbed my hips to steady me as Shift slid off behind me. Once she had moved with Abraham’s help, I dismounted. I wobbled only a little and used Honey for support. “You will be steadier after a little rest.” He helped me over to a log next to the small campfire, which was smoldering.

A low pup tent was near the fire, and a pot hung over the small pile of coals. Masi snuggled up next to me on the ground and purred when I placed my hand on his head. He nudged me lightly, then settled down. Shift took a seat next to me, her eyes flashing concern.

Abraham sat down across the fire from us and tossed a stick into the coals, causing the fire to flare up. He stared at me, and then his eyes flickered up to the helm. “You really kicked the hornet's nest.”

“Just a little.”

“So, why are you out here?”

“Searching for you, of course.”

He nodded like he expected that. I triggered Insights.

“I wondered when someone would find it,” his voice was soft. The aura covering him was a little light green, and I didn’t know what that meant, since I hadn’t seen it before. I needed a cheat sheet for these colors sooner rather than later.

“I wouldn’t have without Mary’s help.”

His eyes snapped to me and his hand tightened on the hilt of a sword next to him. “You’ve seen Mary?” Now, there was a rapid flash of red, purple, and blue.

“I started the game in Haven, and she was doing fine the last time I was there.” Noticing his agitation, I added, “Just over a week ago.” While I couldn’t imagine what he was going through, obviously a lot, I had to push him. We really didn’t have a choice, and I wouldn’t let the Ivory Dragons win. “It’s time for you to come back, Abraham.”

He snorted. “Come back to what?”

“The Warhog Paladins. End your Exile.”

“The Paladins are dead.”

I chuckled and wobbled a little, but at least my headache was lessening. “False.” I motioned to myself and Shift. “I’m the First Tusk, and Shift is the Second Tusk. I’d love it if you became the Third.”

He leaned back and grabbed a stick that was next to him. He used it to poke the coals. “I don’t want to get involved with all of that. I did my duty, I got the Helm out and kept the Guild alive.”

“That’s the other reason we’re here,” I said. “Someone is challenging the active status, claiming the guild was dead.”

Bright red spread over his body as he tossed the stick in the fire. He suddenly pointed at me, then yanked his hand back. “That’s bullshit!” The flames flared up, just like his aura. “Our charter says as long as we have a member, no matter the status, we’re active.”

The mental sound of my trap snapping shut filled my mind. Yep, still a Warhog.

“That’s what we're going to say in response to the injunction. Hex wants to have you there as proof.” I shrugged. “Maybe you don’t head into Crescent with us, maybe you work on getting the Haven Guildhall up and running again. It’d keep you closer to your family.”

Shift: That isn’t what we talked about.

Hex: Crescent would better.

Mia: You can appear in Haven as well, right? I assume we have cameras in that Guildhall?

Hex: True.

The anger deflated, and the color red slowly faded as his shoulders caved in. “It’s been seven long years,” he said. Abraham hesitated and his colors flipped from a light orange to a light green. “I don’t know if I can go back.” His eyes stayed on the dying flames.

“Of course, you can. You hid in the forest for seven years, dodging how many players?!” I leaned forward, my eyes staring at him. “You’ve got a daughter who misses her dad. That’s a quest you can complete. Will it be hard? Yes. Is it one of the most important things you can do? Yes.” I kept my eyes on him, not letting him off the hook. “You can do this. I have faith in you.”

He glanced at me, then away. Finally, he answered, “We can head to Haven.”

“Good. We should be able to get there by this afternoon,” I said, standing up. This time I didn’t wobble.

Shift: You’re a little intense sometimes.

Mia: He needed the boot to get moving.

“How can we help pack your camp up?” I asked.

In less than an hour, Shift and I were back on Honey and Abraham was riding Bee. He led the way through the trees, heading north. It wasn’t a straight line to Haven, but it was a narrow trail that the horses could go down while being ridden. Riding with Shift was a tight fit, but neither of us cared, even finding some comfort in the companionship. Time was ticking, and the sooner we cleared the inunction, the better. Masi had vanished under the tree cover, walking silently next to us.

Hex: You need to look at your skill points now!

Shift: Yeah, what Hex said! Also, next time don’t fire an explosive arrow at a creature like ten feet away. Okay? Thanks.

I opened my skill sheet and frowned. My experience was right under leveling up to fourteen. Even with all of that, I still needed a bit more to push me over the edge. That frustrated me, but I’d get there. My skill points were a different story, I’d wanted to discover a few more skills before I spent any points, but Hex made a good point. Some of these needed to be allocated.

“You unlocked Aura Detection?” asked Hex. “That’s a good one. I’d toss a few points in it.”

“Do you know what the various colors mean with Insight?”

“No, I think it needs to be a at higher level for you to get that hint. When a skill reaches level 5, either through earning levels or using points, it usually becomes a much better skill. The same goes for 10, 15 and so forth.”

I tossed 2 points into Insight, and 3 into Force Block to get them all to a base of 5. Then shrugged and got Quick Shot, Double Shot, and Sneak Attack that high as well. All that still left me with 25 skill points to spend. I kept going, getting the most common skills I used to at least level 5. I was realizing I should have done this sooner, and I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake by using all these now.

“What else do you think I should do?” I asked Hex.

“Maybe check your notifications.”

Again I felt the burn from them. The notification icon was bouncing in the corner of my screen. I hadn’t checked it after the fight with the Cockatrice. I didn’t really think it was important once I saw I hadn’t leveled up.

New Skill Level: Riding

New Skill Level: Force Shield

New Skill Level: Negotiation

New Pet Level: Level 8

New Pet Skill Level: Sneak Attack

“Oh, you finally got Animal Handling and Riding. Which is good, they are interconnected skills,” said Hex.

Let’s test that out, I thought to myself. I tossed 4 points into Animal Handling and my Riding Skill increased as well. Suddenly, I shifted my weight and tightened my core, sitting better on Honey, even with Shift behind me.

“Riding is going to be important in the future with Masi, I’ll get that to Five as well,” I said to Hex. Before they could respond, I added 3 points to the skill. Now, I was down to an even 10, which felt good. I could leave that amount in case I earned more skills that I needed to level quickly.

“I can’t complain about you keeping a little reserve,” muttered Hex. “But you need to look at Masi and make some choices. He’s going to have more choices at ten.”

Name: Masi

Level: 8

HitPoints: 28

Mana: 25

Strength: 14

Intelligence: 9

Dexterity: 16

Constitution: 12

Key Skills:

Camouflage: 25

Sneak Attack: 24

Pounce: 23

He had 15 skill points that were open and 5 stat points for the new level. Unlike leveling myself, so far I’d been able to assign Masi’s stats without being at a temple.

“I think I want to put a stat in Intelligence,” I said.

“Once you do that, they cross a threshold,” said Hex. They had the ‘this is serious voice’ on. “You’ll need to talk to them before doing more. It’s like you said, you view them as another Team member. At that intelligence level, they will be. You need to decide if that’s something you want. On the flip side, they will be able to use magic.”

“Hey Masi,” I asked.

The cat jumped out from behind a tree, his green eyes locked on me and his tail twitched.

“Do you want to be smarter and use magic?”

The cat padded along next to us. I triggered Insights and looked over the cat.

“It’s up to you.”

The cat was a light orange. My notification icon danced. So I clicked it.

New Skill: Animal Understanding. You get a feeling you understand animals.

I looked at Masi again, and he glanced at me. The orange meant he was interested, but he didn’t know what would change.

“Nothing will change between me and you.”

The cat then nodded.

Shift: You can talk to Masi. Like legit.

Mia: I’m getting there.

Hex: Give it a few more stat changes and he might be able to talk to both of you.

“I’ll wait until we get to the hall then we can update your stats together,” I told the cat. I didn’t want to do this while traveling on the road. Who knew how Masi would react to suddenly being smarter, or at least smart enough to want to give input on their character sheet?

“Well, you won’t need to wait too long,” said Abraham from up ahead. “The Guildhall is just a half hour ahead.”

I checked my map, and he was correct. It shouldn’t take long at all for us to get to the lonesome building on horseback. Hopefully we had recently killed what was left of the Cockatrice in the area. I didn’t want to run into any more of them.

“I’m just ready to get off this horse,” said Shift. “I don’t want to spend too many points on riding.”

“I put enough in it for both of us, for now.”

“I noticed. I can put a few more in it, but I just don’t know how much we're going to use it.”

That wasn’t something that I could predict. I planned on riding Masi once he was big enough to be a mount. Riding an armored sneaky cat into battle was the most bad-ass thing I could think of. The benefits were amazing quick movements, disappearing with camouflage, and sneak attacks.

“You're going to need a mount. Both Adam and Dan have them and they put enough in the skill to be decent at it.” Or at least I’d assumed so since they rode off into battle through the boss fight.

I felt Shift nod behind me.

Bee’s hooves hit cobblestone, and it jerked my attention forward. In front of us was the open courtyard outside of the Guildhall. Trees lined the area and vines crept along the cobblestones, trying to cover everything up. More vines grew up the two pillars framing the doorway, but bright white flowers dotted the arch.

Warhog Paladins: Stubborn Protectors & Seekers of Truth.

Finally. This was where all of this started. Instead of turning away, I’d unlocked that door and kicked off this whole chain of events. Now I was right back here, this time making it right.

We all dismounted and tied the horses to a tree.

“We used to recommend that folks bring their mounts to the stable in town and then walk over,” said Abraham. “But we can leave them here for now.”

I wondered what this place had looked like in its prime, how many recruits walked through the door and signed up. It would get there again.

Masi sat down next to the horses, giving the impression he would guard them for now.

I gave him a thumbs-up and approached the archway.

Do you want to unlock the door?

I hit yes. The door slid open, and I stepped inside. I took a deep breath and coughed. It took a few moments to get my breathing under control. Abraham followed quickly behind me.

The lights flickered before turning on, highlighting the dusty room. Everything was still the same. From the wooden table with benches, to the doorways. Bright pink lights gathered in the center of the room. I couldn’t help but smile as a figure formed from the ground up until Hex stood there.

“Welcome, Guild Master. Do you want to reopen the Haven Guildhall?”

“Yes, please. Appoint Abraham to Third Tusk with the responsibility of running this Guildhall.” My notification icon went crazy, and I opened it.

Quest Completed: Find Abraham and bring him back to the Guildhall.

Reward: 450 Bitz

New Guild Achievement: You have reopened a Guildhall

Reward: +5 Renown

Abraham shuddered, then stood tall. “I’m really here.”

The screens flickered to life, showing the current roster of the Guild. The screens cast a blue light over that side of the room.

“You’re gonna have a ton of work getting this place into shape.” I glanced around the dirty room, wondering how true that really was. It wasn’t like new shuttles would appear until next season, which was months away. Still, it’d give him time to get settled and into a better mental space.

“I finished the quest,” his voice was but a whisper. Both Hex and I snapped toward him. My notification icon danced, and I quickly opened it.

A Guild Quest has been completed!

Quest: Redeem Your Honor. You have failed in your oath but have been given a chance to redeem yourself. Protect your fallen Guild. Keep the helm secret and safe until it is time to start anew.

Reward: Return to Active Duty, as a full member of the guild.

Member: Abraham

I blinked. What did this mean?

“Hex, what the?”

“I’m searching the database. Someone registered the quest after I had been removed from service. I hadn’t noticed it before now.”

Shift: There’s a hunter out here who says he knows you. Masi is uh, sitting on him.

Mia: We need a few minutes - that's fine.

“Abraham, what happened with your exile?” I asked softly. “With Elizabeth?” My heart pounded in my chest, and I took a small step toward the man.

“She exiled me all because I fell in love with Betty.” He closed his eyes. “Elizabeth recalled me back to Crescent and wanted me to stay there. She kept talking about how I didn’t understand, and she needed people she trusted around her.” He let out a sigh and his shoulders fell. “I held my ground and said no, I needed to come back here.” His eyes snapped open, and he stared at me. “I didn’t think it was that serious, or I would have stayed.” He shook his head again, pacing around the space. “But she exiled me without explaining. Forced the quest on me and told me to hide the helm. I had no idea what was going on.” He paused, staring at the screens showing three members, and the list of recruits.

“By the time I was halfway to Haven, she was dead. From there I hid. People were dying and fleeing the game left and right. I just…” His voice stopped, then continued. “Hid.”

Abraham had tears in his eyes when he looked at me again. “Six months later, I checked in with Betty and discovered she had Mary. But a player in town followed me out, so I led him on a wild chase until I lost him. I knew I’d be hunted, and Betty and Mary wouldn’t be safe if I stayed in town.

“I found Joshua, and I told him to hide the helm, somewhere that no one would find it. He wasn’t supposed to tell me where it was, but I watched him hide it on the map. Then I had the bright idea to close the hall. No one could get in.”

“And you told Mary where the key was…” I added.

“Not until she was much older. I didn’t dare visit the first year. After that, I slipped into town as I could or met them at the berry patch. The season after Elizabeth’s murder, the arena opened up and the game rules had a reshuffle.” He wiped his face. “We were old news, the guild was old news. Now you could watch people battle each other on a schedule.”

He shuffled closer to the screens. “It’s probably the only thing that saved me. People weren’t looking for answers anymore, and all that the Warhogs had built faded.”

“What about Elizabeth?” asked Hex.

He turned to look at the glowing figure. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know. I spent that first year trying to figure out what happened. Somehow she ended up dead, and the other Tusks died within days of each other. It was a coordinated attack. She knew something was coming. She had to. That’s why she wanted me there.”

“But she gave you the helm?” asked Hex.

“Yes, I had to hide it.”

“She knew she couldn’t win whatever was coming,” said Hex. “Elizabeth always tried to have a backup plan. Her focus those last few weeks was leveling the leadership as fast as she could. That and building the new guildhall near Bravenport and the Deep Below.”

Neither of them spoke after that. I couldn’t stand the heavy silence.

“So, Elizabeth knew something was going to happen but gave you the helm just in case,” I said. “Someone wanted to take down the Paladins, we already knew that. This changes nothing. Anyway, Joshua is outside and Masi is sitting on him.”

Abraham blinked then darted toward the door, which opened at his approach. He left Hex and I inside.

“I feel like we’re getting closer,” I said.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. If she knew something was coming, why didn’t she say anything to me?” asked Hex.

“I’m sorry Hex.” I shrugged. “I’d give you a hug if I could.”

“I appreciate that, Mia.”

“We should go rescue Joshua from Masi.”

“Probably.”

“Is it going to be hard splitting yourself into three places?” I asked, walking toward the door.

“No, sometimes I get a little distracted, but that’s because you do something stupid like firing an explosive arrow at point-blank range.”

I walked out the door chuckling, ‘cause Hex wasn’t wrong. We’d only done a few dumb things in-game, like racing through the Boss fight, but so far this topped even that. Outside, Shift was sitting on a rock watching Abraham try to convince Masi to get off of Joshua. Joshua was on his stomach and most of Masi draped over his legs and butt. I wished I’d seen how the cat had snuck up on him.

Masi’s head turned to me, and I knew he was proud of catching Joshua.

“You did good! That’s quite a mouse you caught,” I said.

Joshua couldn’t turn to look at me from his position. “Mia, get this cat off me! I am not a mouse!”

“It’s Masi, and I think Masi can decide when he gets off of you.” I turned to face the cat. “Masi, it's safe now to level you, if you want.”

The cat slowly pulled himself to his feet being careful to not hurt Joshua, then made his way over to me.

“Inside or out?” I asked the cat.

Masi sat down at my feet, so I sat down cross-legged as well on the warm stone.

Abraham and Joshua embraced and spoke in low tones. Shift kept her perch on a rock that was higher up. She gave me a thumbs up.

I opened Masi’s character sheet and added a point to Intelligence.

Warning: This action will increase your Pet’s Intelligence to Independence.

I clicked on Independence for more info.

Independence: Your pet is no longer bound by the pet whistle. You can no longer give your pet orders, they are now suggestions. They follow you out of friendship. You have unlocked a friendship bond with your Pet. This will ebb and flow depending on how they feel treated. A 1 means they will likely break the bond, a 10 means they view you as family.

I added the point to intelligence.

New Achievement: Your Pet has gained Independence. You have unlocked the friendship bond with your Pet. Current Level: 9.

“You good?” I asked. My eyes traced over the cat, who was breathing right near my face. Cat breath stank, but I didn’t move. I triggered Animal Understanding.

Masi blinked a few times then nodded.

Good.

Woah, Masi just said a word.

Masi rubbed a paw over the back of his ears and down the side of his face.

“Do you want to keep going?” I asked.

He nodded again, lowering his paw.

I kept my voice soft as I continued. “Do you want to be smarter, stronger, faster, or harder to hurt?”

Yes.

Technically, I could do that. Put one in each of them. I started with the one in intelligence.

Masi shook his head and rubbed a paw over his ears again.

I waited several seconds for him to look my way again. “You have 3 more.” I held up three fingers. “One for stronger, speed and hitpoints?”

Yes.

This time they didn’t shudder.

Food.

“Joshua, you got any rabbits I can buy off of you?”

The hunter glanced over at me, stopping his conversation with Abraham. “Sure, 2 for 5 Bitz.”

I glared at him.

“Fine, 3 for 5 Bitz.”

“Deal.” I climbed to my feet but Masi beat me, padding over to him.

Joshua blinked then pulled the first rabbit out of his inventory. Masi took it in his mouth and moved to the shaded area next to the rock Shift was lounging on. He tore into it quickly and I looked away. Joshua tossed the next two near the cat.

Shift: So, do we have what we need for the injunction?

Hex: Yes, I can pull together a response and get it sent off.

Shift: So, now we just need to get back to Crescent?

The afternoon sun was just touching the treetops. I frowned at the sight, since it meant night wasn’t far off.

Mia: We aren’t going to make it today. Tomorrow we can ride back to Boulder and turn the horses in, from there we can take the shuttle back into town. For now, let’s go get a room at the inn.

By the time I looked back at Masi, he was done with the rabbits, and he looked somehow bigger. His head was higher than it had been before, and his shoulders looked wider.

“Alright, let's head into town,” I said.