War Aeternus: The Beginning Read online

  What the . . .?! How could you just sign us both up like that? Lee so badly wanted to yell at Miller for just putting his neck out there too, but given the client was right in front of them, he was forced to just bite his tongue and smile as they left the building.

  “I can’t believe you—” Lee was getting ready to chew him out, but Miller just interrupted him, assuming he was going in another direction.

  “Got us a chain quest? I can’t either! How great is that? All we have to do is find one girl in a tiny, little town. How hard can that be? This is great!” Miller’s wide grin was grating to look at.

  Well, since we’re already stuck on the quest, and I still need to stay in this guy’s good graces until he shows me that cheap tavern to stay at . . . Lee decided to just roll with it.

  “Well, do you want to split up? I can take the east side of town? You can take the left?” Lee offered.

  “No,” Miller said, shaking his head. “If one of us finds her, there won’t be a way to let the other know that it happened. We need to both be there during the turn in.”

  So, there isn’t an in-game message system? How do party members meet up for questing without one? Maybe there is, but it just doesn’t work for NPCs. He felt assured that was a much more reasonable explanation than there simply not being one.

  “Well, you want to start asking random people?” Lee tried a different route. “Surely someone has seen her?”

  “Sounds good to me.” Miller nodded his agreement, and the two of them started to do just that. They asked every person they could find on the street where Ling might be, but no one knew. Finally, after half an hour, they even started asking people who were in their homes, knocking on doors to see if anyone had seen which way she might have gone earlier in the day.

  Lee was ready to give up hope when someone finally gave the answer he needed: “She went into the fields east of town, where the tall, yellow flowers grow, hoping to find her cat among them.” It wasn’t much to go on, but at least it was a definite starting point for their second quest.

  Chapter 2

  Name: Lee

  Race: Human

  Class: Herald - None

  Level: 2

  Health: 120/120

  EXP: 84/150

  Primary Stats:

  Power 12

  Toughness 12

  Spirit 12

  Secondary Stats:

  Intelligence 14

  Charisma 1

  Divine Skills:

  Golem Sculpting: Initiate Level 2

  Appreciative Drunk: Initiate Level 2

  Lee became painfully aware of the fact that his only combat instrument was incredibly inadequate as soon as they left the town and began walking through the field of yellow flowers. He knew well enough that if there was one situation in which people got attacked in games it was walking through tall grass near well-occupied towns. He half-expected to be jumped by either a band of roaming insects twice the size of a man or some random kid who was way too into watching beetles fight and had decided to tame some of the larger beasts as a step up in his pet abuse future.

  “Erm . . . Miller,” Lee began, “if you don’t mind my asking, how much damage does your spear do?”

  “Well, it only does fourteen damage, but it’s still only a level one weapon. It doesn’t have any magical properties or additional stats either. Why do you ask?”

  Fourteen damage versus the three that mine does? That’s ridiculous. If a level one starting weapon does fourteen damage, I might as well call this stupid sword the Blade of Failure.

  Would you like to rename Every Noob’s Starting Sword?

  No, Lee answered the prompt. Then he sighed and said, “No reason. I was just curious, that’s all.”

  The duo spent almost a full half hour combing through the field trying to find the girl without much luck. Lee used his little pet Ethan to try and cover ground as quickly as possible, but even with the additional pair of eyes, it wasn’t much use. The tall grass was more of a hindrance than he had anticipated, but after a while, they were fairly certain that the girl wasn’t going to be found in the field. Lee was just about to give up and suggest they change their search tactic when something unexpected happened.

  Due to prolonged use of Golem Sculpting, Golem Sculpting has been promoted to Initiate Level 3. Golems created by Golem Sculpting are now 5% more effective in combat. Current Combat bonus: 15.75%. Future golems created by Golem Sculpting may now take up an additional 5% more space. Current Max Space: 2.315 fluid ounces.

  Due to improving Golem Sculpting, you have received +1 Intelligence. Current Intelligence: 15.

  So, did it level up because I was actively sending commands back and forth with my golem, or did it just level up because the golem is still active? Lee wondered, but no helpful prompt answered his query. He also wondered what the biggest animal he could make with his Golem Sculpting would be.

  As if showing off after his level up, Ethan squeaked twice into Lee’s mind and alerted him to the fact that it smelled blood—human blood. Lee used his connection to see what the mouse saw, and was surprised to find that it was more than just a little. There was a patch of torn red fabric on the ground, about the size of a man’s fist, and both it and the ground around it were swathed in dark red blood. The trampled grasses and copious bloodstains made it evident that there had been a struggle.

  “Hey, Miller, over here,” Lee called over to his companion. He still hadn’t told the other man about Ethan, and he had no intentions of doing so until he was sure that he could trust him, so he had to walk around aimlessly for a moment in order to make it look like he had just stumbled upon the fabric on his own.

  “What is it?” Miller asked.

  “Was the daughter wearing a red dress?”

  “Uhm. . . Yeah, I think so. I just remember that her clothing didn’t fit that well . . . like she was wearing hand-me-downs that were too large for her. Why do you ask?” Miller queried as he started looking for what Lee had spotted.

  “Oh, just . . .” Lee reached down and carefully picked up the red fabric. “I think we might be dealing with more than just a simple ‘your cat has been found.’”

  Hey, Ethan, Lee thought at the mouse. Do you think you can find the trail of the blood? He didn’t know if the mouse could understand him one hundred percent, or if it could even take orders, but the mouse emphatically chirped out a string of high-pitched noises in response as soon as Lee asked, so he figured it somehow received the message. Alright, go take care of that.

  “Seriously, how did you spot that?” Miller asked, wide-eyed and clearly amazed. “First the cat, and now this? I would have had to have been crawling around on my hands and knees to spot this. It’s like you’ve got eagle eyes and a canine nose or something.”

  Lee just nodded without explaining anything. “Or something,” he said. “If she’s been taken, then we need to alert the people in the village and let them know what direction they went. I’m sure someone in town can help us out”

  “What are you talking about? You were kidnapped yourself! Can you imagine what they’ll do to a girl? We have to save her! We can’t let her be in their clutches when night comes. A good and righteous man would never wait to take action when a life is on the line!”

  Yeah, but what happens if we die? Then no one will even know what happened to her. Lee resisted the frown that was trying to cover his face with disappointment. What are you, like five? Come on, man. We can’t pull something off just because it’s the right thing to do. Don’t you have public service announcements where you’re from? ‘Contact authorities first. Do not act on your own’ and stuff?

  “I just . . . I just don’t think we’re combat ready enough to take this task on,” Lee said again. “I mean, my weapon is kinda poor, and I’m only level two—”

  He started to list out excuses, but the Firbolg slapped him on the back and pointed toward the forest bordering the field. “I have an extra starting sword that you can use, but does she
have an extra life? Will justice even remember her name as they ravage and abuse her? We cannot let this happen! Do you not want to spread the name of your god across the great and wondrous kingdom of Spicy Chicken Noodle Surprise? This is where your story begins!” Miller’s tone was clearly trying to add gravitas to the situation and inspire Lee, but all it did was make him want to shrink away from the challenge even more.

  What are you talking about?! I’m a freaking office worker! At best! I haven’t done martial arts in years, and I almost died to a stupid zombie! My health still hasn’t even recovered from that damnable cat!

  Truthfully, his health had slowly risen back up and was now sitting at a comfortable 104 out of 120, but with the prospect of death looming around the corner, he wasn’t eager to risk an encounter with anything worse than that furball. Instead of yelling out all those complaints, however, all that left his mouth was his last logical argument against the option. “But what if we die before we save her?”

  “Have faith! If anything happens, your god will surely protect us and her,” he said, his giant baseball-mitt-sized hand still resting on Lee’s back.

  Why did I have to live such a yes-man life? Lee grumbled. In order to avoid pointless confrontations that often did little more than waste time and energy, he had grown accustomed to simply nodding his head and agreeing with people no matter what his internal dialogue said. Thus, when it came down to it, he simply had no experience in properly rejecting someone’s proposal or idea—a trait he really wished he had right now. Why couldn’t I be more like my buddy Wolfe? He could talk people out of anything.

  “Look, I just . . .”

  “Don’t worry. Shake that fear off and walk the righteous path. I’ll be with you the whole way, and nothing will keep us from success,” Miller continued, refusing to budge even an inch from his crazy plan and completely ignoring the fact that it was a level ten quest and most likely way above their ability at the moment. “I can’t do this without you, and if we don’t do this . . . What the bandits might do to her . . . I’m going with or without you, but I could use your help and your faith.”

  Lee sighed. There are probably a bunch of level ten bandits—or worse—there is definitely a fight to the death, and I’m being dragged around by a guy just to save some NPC. I don’t want to take a penalty as a result of dropping a quest midway through, but . . . Lee cringed. Ugh. “Fine. Let’s go,” Lee agreed, finally acquiescing to Miller’s need to do the right and knightly thing.

  “Excellent!” Miller cheered triumphantly. “‘Cause I had no idea which way to go once we got into the forest, and that place is huge. Do you have any ideas?” Miller asked. “I mean, you’re good at finding stuff, right? Oh, and before I forget, here’s that sword I promised.”

  You have received Adventurer’s Starting Sword.

  So, that’s why you pushed so hard to bring me with you. Lee just shook his head as he opened up his inventory to look at the sword. Wait, this sword is only four damage. What the hell? Do I need a two-handed weapon? At least I have two weapons now, and this one does more damage than the other, but still! Lee pondered his weapon choice, Prompt thing, can you tell me how damage even works?

  Damage is calculated by adding the base damage of the weapon with one’s total Power, then subtracting armor effects. Depending on where one strikes an opponent, this damage may be multiplied or reduced and come with unique status effects.

  “Yeah, I got an idea of which way to go,” he answered. He didn’t personally have any talent or experience tracking, but Ethan was already proving himself to be a better bloodhound than the real thing. The mouse had picked up the scent left behind by the blood and was scurrying after it as fast as his tiny mouse feet would carry him.

  Lee grumbled to himself for a moment before just giving up and following after the mouse, following the blood trail into the forest. The trees in the forest were large, and there wasn’t much space between them, so he was worried about what he would find as he ran past each one. He briefly hoped that the mobs wouldn’t randomly spawn out of nowhere like the JRPGs he loved as a child, but that optimism was quickly dashed. Almost as soon as they entered the woods, he once more found himself being overridden with a wave of fear from Ethan.

  Crap, Lee thought as he used his connection with the rodent to understand what was causing the intense emotions.

  Oh no, he groaned. I thought I avoided this when the tall grass didn’t have anything in it.

  “Hey, Miller, how good are you at fighting beasts?” Lee asked as he readied both swords.

  Miller slammed the butt of his spear into the ground and proudly proclaimed, “I will, of course, be excellent! I have the power of my spear and the protection of a holy man!”

  You have got to be kidding me. Did you drag me around on this quest because you didn’t care if you got an NPC killed? No, of course he doesn’t care if an NPC gets killed. Would I? I’ve played dozens of games where I led NPCs to their death just to complete an objective. I just never even considered bad luck or karma or the fact that I might actually be in their position one day.

  “How ‘bout you go in front of me,” Lee offered. Gauging by his efforts against the zombie, he knew that he wasn’t in any position to go charging off head-first into battle, and he was already trying to figure out how to go about this fight as defensively as possible.

  Little Ethan came scurrying back a moment later, squeaking in fear, and no sooner had he crawled up Lee’s pants leg and into his pocket than three wolves burst out from around the trees in front of them. Two of the beasts immediately circled around the two men from either side, and the third planted itself in front of them, baring its long canine fangs in a menacing gesture.

  “Wolves! This is great! They’ll be a great way for us to sharpen our blades and test our mettle!” Miller shouted cheerfully.

  Miller’s spear struck out in a blur as he lunged forward, charging the lead wolf before it even had a chance to try and attack them. His first strike stabbed the creature between its shoulder blades, and he quickly yanked his weapon back in preparation for a second attack. As soon as he withdrew his weapon, however, the other two dogs leapt forward, gnashing at his arms.

  Lee felt a fleeting sense of panic surge through him as he watched the wolves attack, but he quickly realized that they weren’t actually able to draw blood. Despite the fact that it had appeared rather shabby, Miller’s leather armor was apparently sturdier than Lee had suspected at first glance. Indeed, it seemed to hold up fairly well under the repeated attacks from two canines.

  The lead dog recovered from its wound and leapt forward as well, forcing Miller to use the haft of his spear as a makeshift barricade in order to halt its advance. He had effectively found a way stopped the canines from reaching him, but with the dogs positioned as they were, there was no opportunity for Miller to find an opening for an attack. The Firbolg was doing his best to both bludgeon the wolves and push them away at the same time, but despite his moderate ability, there was never enough room between his opponents to turn his spear and use it the way it was intended. Rather than being able to use his spear as an offensive weapon, he was instead forced to use it defensively.

  To make things worse, Lee could tell just from watching that Miller was having trouble keeping his balance. The three wolves weren’t just doing everything they could to rip him apart: they were also throwing their bodies up against him in obvious attempts to topple over the massive Firbolg. Lee knew that wolves often brought down large animals before actually killing it in such a fashion, and Miller apparently fell under the classification of big game. Two of the wolves had risen up on their hind legs, and every surge forward threatened to send the massive fighter to the ground. He had widened his stance and dug his feet into the ground in response, but it was clearly only a matter of time until he made a mistake and the mongrels won.

  Seeing the predicament, Lee darted over with as much speed as he could. He sliced downward with both blades into a wolf’s back as s
oon as he was within striking distance and was rewarded by the sound of the wolf yelping out in pain and releasing its hold on Miller.

  Lee felt a surge of excitement run through him for a moment, thinking his attack was a stunning success that had killed the beast, but his elation was quickly dashed as the injured wolf jumped back and switched targets. The beast lowered itself until its snout was almost touching the ground and pounced toward Lee. He stabbed forward blindly, sinking his Blade of Failure into the wolf’s gut as it bounded through the air, but that didn’t stop the beast from landing square on his chest and knocking him over onto the flat of his back.

  He lost his grip on the Sword of Slight Stabbing as the wolf collided with him, so he used the Adventurer’s Starting Sword to try and stab at the beast. Without much mobility, however, he was only able to weakly jab at the wolf’s ribs with his sword hilt. Its jaws snapped toward his face, and Lee narrowly escaped a bite that would have torn his face off as he shifted to the left. He pushed against the wolf with his left hand and twisted his body around, and with a good bit of effort, he was able to roll the wolf off of him.

  He wildly struck out at the wolf before it could respond, but the problem was that the slash had no power in it. Without being able to squarely plant his feet on the ground and push through his attack, and the cut didn't even draw blood, and within seconds, the canine was back on its feet. Lee tried to get back up as well, but the wolf made it impossible by lurching toward his legs and snapping at his ankles. He kicked the mutt in the snout a few times as it tried to sink its teeth into his skin, but the weak blows did little to actually deter the animal.

  He could feel adrenaline kick in as he realized what was about to happen. It pushed him through the pain and helped him ignore the scraping on his back as he shifted his body over and over again, kicking and backing up at the same time. Finally, after fending off the ninth attempt from the mongrel, he decided to try something new. When the wolf came in for another attack on his feet, he pulled his leg back all the way to his chest instead of trying to kick it again. The wolf came even closer, and Lee used all of his effort to do one of his most dreaded exercises as swiftly as he could: a sit up. He pulled his whole upper body off the ground, reached forward with his free arm, and grabbed its head just as it started to sink its teeth into his thigh.