New Story -- Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“They’re… gone. I can’t believe…  This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. We were supposed to keep everything relatively normal until the Contenders arrived, but now with this—” The Coalition Leader put his head in his hands and bent over, rocking back and forth. “What are we going to do?”

Thaden still wasn’t sure how this whole world worked, what with the people that had come decades ago to get the world ready for his people that were coming as Contenders, or what role the Charee – and from what he understood, other races – played in the greater scheme of things. The more he considered them, the more he thought of them as background NPCs, or Non-Player Characters, but the problem with that was that they seemed as real and alive as he was.

Or… was this entire thing a simulation? Was it supposed to mimic the RPGs he’d played when he was younger? Or were those RPGs a reflection or glimpse into how the whole Assimilation System operated, as if they were designed to teach people about it before this whole thing happened? Without alienating himself and professing that he was Contender who had somehow glitched out of Training, there wasn’t any way for Thaden to ask those questions.  The warning he’d received from the Town Guard was scary enough for him to want to avoid too much attention in that regard.

As much as everything seemed game-like, it felt enough like real life that he was going to treat it that way. And it might be a little selfish, but if this was all real, then he’d rather avoid being eaten again; he couldn’t imagine that being munched on by a zombie was any better than a Vogmite. All of which meant that he needed to get stronger and improve if he wanted to live through (a.k.a. not being eaten by) what appeared to be an Undead uprising – and this Quest seemed like the perfect opportunity.

If he was able to find a party to join, of course, since even after Leveling up, he didn’t really have much in the way of offensive potential.

“The Quest says that it’s open to any Ranks, doesn’t it?” Thaden asked. “Because I’m sure that the other Coalitions from nearby towns or cities will send their best members to complete the Special Quest, right?”

Boydlen picked his head up as his expression turned hopeful. “That’s right! Now that it’s gone red, the range of the Special Quest should reach even more Coalition locations.” His face fell a little bit. “Though, I’m not sure how many would even be able to come.”

“Why is that?”

“Because there aren’t many members of the Adventurer Coalition anywhere that are above Level 25. In all, there are only a handful of members that are above Bronze, and most of those are administrators, such as myself, with very little combat experience.”

Thaden was confused, because the solution seemed easy. “Then how about Town Guards? I think Virlo was Level 45, and I’m sure—”

The Coalition Leader looked at Thaden as if he was crazy. “It doesn’t work like that, as you should know,” he said with a snort. “As soon as any Town or City Guard leaves the range of the town or city they are protecting, they lose almost all of their power. Virlo is tied to the same protections around Ashcleft, and he can’t venture more than 500 feet in any direction without becoming as powerless as a Level 1.”

Ah. That explains why he was so strong and why his Level seemed so out of place.

“Regardless, there should be more Coalition members going to fight the Undead, correct?”

Boydlen nodded reluctantly.

“Well then, I’ll go do my part and join up with them. I’m sure they could use a healer—”

“No! It’s suicide for someone of your Level!” the Charee shouted, standing up and waving his hands frantically. “The minimum Level of the weakest Undead from the Medial Mausoleum of Despair is Level 20, which is entirely too strong for you. One hit from them will kill you faster than you can blink.”

“Nevertheless, I need to find a party to join with, or else I’m going to be useless as a member of the Adventurer Coalition.” While that wasn’t the entire truth, it was close enough to it that it didn’t matter. He really did need to find other people to party with so that he could act his part as a healer, and this seemed like the best bet to finding one. If there had been some other members out of Ashcleft that still lived, he might wait for them to come back, but it was obvious now that such a thing wasn’t going to happen.

“But you’ll just be throwing your life away! It’s too dangerous around there now to even travel toward it. I strongly recommend that you reconsider this plan; I’m sure there will be someone else that will join up with the Coalition if you just wait for a little bit of time,” Boydlen pleaded.

“And how long had it been since you got your last member before I arrived?”

This time, Thaden was able to make out what the Coalition Leader mumbled in response. “Four months.”

“Exactly. This Quest seems like it is time-sensitive, and we can’t afford to take the chance that anyone will show up in time. I need to go now and see if I can find some other members of the Coalition to party with before it’s too late.”

Boydlen seemed to deflate as he threw himself back into his chair. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not relieved to hear you say that, but I still think this is too dangerous – especially as this is your first day as a member of the Coalition! Are you sure you want to do this Quest?” he asked, the latter part a bit more formally than his previous statement. When Thaden confirmed it with him, he sighed and nodded, before placing his hand on the red piece of paper he'd taken back from the Assistant Healer. A moment later, there was a small flash of light, and from his position nearby, Thaden could see that the last line had changed.

Current Ashcleft Adventurer Coalition Members Assigned: 1/1

Well, I guess that’s it.

“Now that you’ve been assigned the Quest, you should feel a general pull in your mind toward your destination,” Boydlen said abruptly, startling Thaden away from staring at the red Quest paper. “This is common for Quests that have a particular location as part of their objective, so if you ever get lost, just focus on this pull to find your way.”

Thaden nodded. “Anything else I should know?”

“Yes, get yourself some supplies before you go, because there’s no telling how long you’ll be out there before you’re able to resupply. Do you have enough for a week’s worth of travel rations?”

The Assistant Healer, recently arrived in this world, had absolutely no idea. “I’m not sure. I have around 5 silver – is that enough?”

“It should be, even if the shops around here end up gouging you on the cost. I would suggest leaving in the morning as soon as the sun is up, because traveling toward Undead-infested lands at night is a very poor idea.”

Thaden had to agree, especially as he’d rarely traveled late at night back on Earth; he couldn’t imagine trying to journey across unfamiliar lands filled with dangerous beasts and monsters when there were no streetlights and only the moon and stars to see by. If there even was a moon, of course, which wasn’t a guarantee; he hadn’t been awake at night, so he had no idea if there was.

Boydlen gave him advice in where to go to pick up “travel rations”, which turned out to be packages of dried meat strips, hard biscuit-like squares, and a trail mix of nuts and berries that actually looked quite delicious. Thaden was fairly certain he was overcharged for everything, especially the canvas sack with straps and canteens for water that he bought from a separate store (where the store owner just looked at him funny the entire time he was there), but he amazingly had just enough to pay for it all.

He wasn’t able to find any restaurants that would serve him dinner, as the only permanent establishment seemed to be the same Cracked Cup Inn that he was kicked out of, though there was a corner stall near the center of the city that sold hot meat and vegetable pies; he was hungry enough by that point, as his body was still recovering from its starvation, that he quickly consumed the two he bought and almost went for a third, but the nasty looks he was getting from people walking nearby as he shoved his face full on the street made him skip it for now. When he was done with all his purchases, he walked back to the Coalition building and found his way up to his rented room, falling asleep on his dusty bed within seconds.

He woke up sneezing early the next morning to a pounding on his door, his wake-up call that he neither requested nor appreciated, but he’d rather get started on the day than wait too long so that he didn’t arrive at his destination before sundown. He used the Coalition bathing room, which was large and seemed to be communal based on the size of the tubs, and found that there was actual running water in the place – and it was hot! He realized after burning himself with the scalding water that Varla hadn’t intentionally attempted to hurt him back at her Inn when he took a bath, as it seemed the Charee liked their water hot enough to boil a lobster. Thankfully, even with his Weak Regeneration healing him, he wasn’t seriously hurt – or at least not hurt for long.

As he was bathing, relaxing in the tub before getting out, he finally took the time to look at his Competency Advancements for Defensive Spellcasting.

Please select (2) Advancements for your Defensive Spellcasting Competency:

Faster Protection – All Defensive spells now have a 25% permanent casting time decrease

Longer Protection – All Defensive spells now have a 25% permanent duration increase

Thicker Protection – All Defensive spells now prevent 25% more damage

Harder Protection – All Defensive spells now protect from sources 5 Levels higher than before

Extended Protection – All single-target Defensive spells now extend to protect an additional target

Disease Protection – All Defensive spells now temporarily protect against Burning, Charmed, Poisoned, and Sleep afflictions

Thaden couldn’t help it – he laughed out loud when he saw the potential Advancements for his Defensive Spellcasting Competency. After his giggles settled down, he quickly eliminated the few that would be practically useless for him.  Faster and Longer Protection didn’t really help him because the casting time for his protection spells were instant and since he didn’t have to worry about Mana, they would stay active perpetually – which meant that duration didn’t matter all that much. The same went with Thicker Protection, as his defensive spells prevent all damage from different sources, so a 25% increase in the damage prevented wasn’t useful; he was sure there would probably be spells in the future that might benefit from this, but since he didn’t know what they were and didn’t have them, he passed on this Advancement.

The last three were a little more interesting. Being able to protect from sources that were 5 Levels higher than normal with Harder Protection was big, as it meant that his Weak Absorption Field could prevent damage from magical sources up to Level 25, while Minor Repulsion Field did the same for physical damage all the way up to Level 35.

Extended Protection was also good for when he got into a party, as he thought that his own self-only defensive spells – such as Minor Repulsion Field – could also target another party member. This could literally be a life-saver, as he could theoretically protect a tank from taking any damage at all.

Lastly, Disease Protection seemed good at first, as it was able to prevent a few different afflictions, but he also had two different spells that would remove those afflictions if they appeared. Granted, if it was Thaden that was afflicted with, for instance, Sleep, then it would be more difficult to cure it with a spell – since he’d be asleep – but he felt that if he was going to be in a party, he be better served protecting his party members from damage rather than afflictions.

With the relatively easy choices, he added the Harder Protection and Extended Protection Advancements, which showed up just under his Defensive Spellcasting Competency on his Character Report. He didn’t experience anything different after picking them, though he wasn’t sure exactly what he thought he might feel. Regardless, there wasn’t any other reason to delay his departure, so he got out of the tub, dried off, got dressed, and headed out into the main are in the Coalition building.

Boydlen was already there waiting for him, and he had a surprise for Thaden.

“I normally wouldn’t do this, but since this is your first Quest and it’s a big one, I got you breakfast so that you didn’t have to worry about finding something before you set out,” the Coalition Leader said with a smile and a flourish at the plate of what appeared to be scrambled eggs and a pastry that looked remarkably like a muffin, but was flatter than what he was used to.

“Thank you, Boydlen. I appreciate it.”

And he did, too, because he absolutely devoured the meal within minutes, finally feeling like he’d gotten a handle on his hunger by this time and his body had recovered from the exhaustion and starvation that he’d undergone a couple of days before.

“Good luck and don’t die!” the boisterous Charee said when he was leaving a minute or so after finishing his breakfast.

Thaden chuckled and waved back at the Coalition Leader, before taking off down the street. He could feel the pull of the Quest location that had been mentioned the previous day, which felt more like a remembered task that needed to be done that was constantly on his mind; it wasn’t distracting at least, and if he was doing something else and not paying attention to it, he couldn’t feel it at all. Regardless, he followed this “pull” out through the town, ignoring the looks of the few early morning townsfolk out and about, before finding himself in front of a closed gate along the wall of town.

“Chose to join the Coalition, did you?” a voice said from above. Thaden looked up and saw what he thought was a familiar face, which turned out to be accurate as Virlo jumped down from where he had been perched at the top of the wall.

“I did. Thank you for the advice.”

“Heading out so soon? You should be careful; there are a lot of dangers for a Level 1—wait. How are you Level 17? How did you hide your Level?” the Town Guard asked angrily, getting right up into Thaden’s face.

“Whoa! Hold on, now!” the Assistant Healer said, holding up his hands as if to ward off an attack. “I just hadn’t Leveled-up after everything that happened to me. Remember what I told you before? You may or may not believe it, but it happened – and I received a whole lot of PICK for it. Now, are you going to open up the gate for me? I’m on a very important Special Quest.”

Virlo stared at him for nearly a minute from about a foot away, but Thaden did his best to hold his ground and not flinch away like he wanted. He had done nothing wrong, after all, and it wasn’t like he was hiding anything; he had told the Guard everything that happened to him, and it was his own issue if he didn’t believe it.

“Special Quest, huh? The same one the other three Adventurers departed for weeks ago?” Virlo finally asked, stepping back a few feet. Thaden stopped himself from breathing out in relief as he answered.

“Yes, the same one. I’m hoping to join up with other Adventurers from neighboring towns while I’m there, so that we can stop the Undead from rising up and covering the land with their numbers.” He was being a little dramatic, but he also wanted to impress upon Virlo that he had something important to do and to let him leave.

There was another staring contest for another half-minute before the Town Guard silently walked to the gate and moved a bar that was keeping a small door closed. Without a word, he gestured toward the exit, and Thaden didn’t hesitate to walk out. “Thanks.”

“Try not to die.” That was all Thaden heard before the gate door closed behind him, and then he was on his way down the beaten dirt road leading off toward his Quest location, the Mausoleum of Despair.