“Son of a BIIIIIIIIIIITCCH!” I yelled as I fell to the canopy below. The ground was a lot farther than when I was up in the tree but that didn’t stop it from happily rushing to meet me. I crashed through the branches and leaves, cursing and muttering all the way down.
“Ow. Watch it. Coming through. That was my face! Gonna need stitches for that. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BRANCHES?!” After what seemed like an hour, I finally reacquainted the ground with my face. It was quite a touching reunion.
Achievement Unlocked: Long way down- gained 10 XP
You are now at level two
‘Don’t patronize me.’ I thought as I laid there. The recent memory flashed through my mind and I felt the anger rise in me.
“That harpy is so dead.” I whispered to myself as I began to plan its horrible demise. Call me possessive, but I absolutely hate it when people take my stuff without asking. A bully tried to take a book of mine in middle school and I almost got him sent to the hospital.
I flipped myself over and stood up, dusting myself off and checking for any damages. Surprisingly, I was unharmed, though my health meter dropped a bit but I felt a bit stronger as well. ‘Maybe it’s from the level up?’ Once I was done, my vision blurred and a screen appeared before me.
New Quest: Fowl Play
Rescue Swift Grass from clutches of the harpy before he gets eaten.
Bonus XP Challenges:
Complete quest in 10 minutes-15 XP
Do not let zebra get harmed-20 XP
Reward- Unknown
Accept/Decline
“Unknown reward? And why is there a decline option? Whatever, as long as I can kill the harpy.” I hit the accept option and the screen disappeared. I noticed a green dot on my mini map that appeared and began to move. It had to be Swift Grass, but I couldn’t hope to catch them at that speed.
But that didn’t stop me from trying. I turned myself around and took off in the direction of the dot. I was a blur as I raced past the trees, using my claws to cut away the underbrush that attempted to block my path. Keeping an eye on the path ahead, I glanced at my mini map to see it was updated from the view point on the tree. The dot was moving towards the rocky outcrop from before, possibly the nest’s location.
I picked up my speed, even using my claws to propel me forward at this point. The clock now had about eight minutes left and counting. Each disappearing second urging me forward even more. I reached the tree line and had to stop before I left the safety of the shade. I looked to the skies where the dot would be and saw a winged speck coming in for a landing deep in the outcrop. I searched the terrain for any feasible shade from the setting sun but didn’t find much.
'Okay Gunhaver, think! We have a hostage kept deep in potentially hostile territory. You have no weapon and there’s not much shade to get you across safely. What other options do you have?'
Scanning…
Scanning…
Scanning…
Scanning…
Scan complete. One potential solution found. Open file?
Y
…
Use magic.
I faceplamed at the obvious solution. ‘Of course! Why can’t I use magic to solve all my problems? Except, how do I use it? Wait, Erebus said something about remembering Latin. That might be the key. Thank god for Harry Potter and my college English professors!’ I had to cut my celebration short seeing I only had seven minutes left and I had a long way to go.
Glancing at my health, I knew I needed a spell that got me there quick but didn’t consume much energy. 'Probably a speed spell would work best here; I’ll work on teleportation later. Okay a word for speed…not velocity…can’t use quick…how about accelerate? Accelerate... similar to accelerando (thank you band nerds), so the root would have to be…accelero? It'll have to do.'
I put myself on the ground in a runner’s stance, eyes focused on the winged speck that just disappeared behind some rocks. I cleared my mind and took a few deep breaths before yelling “Accelero.”
Achievement Unlocked: Alright, I wanna cast a spell- gained 20 XP
I felt a bit of fatigue but the world blurred past me as I sped forward like a rocket. I jumped from cover to cover making my way to the harpy’s nest on my map. I felt the sun’s rays on my back and, strangely enough, it only felt like I got a light sunburn. 'Maybe the sun’s position affects the damage it does to me?' I thought idly.
After weaving past several hills, the entrance to the nest came into view. It was perched in a large alcove high on the hill. The nest itself was made of a menagerie of materials. I could see the harpy toss Swift into the nest and watch its prey squirm like a cat toying with a mouse. Fortunately, it was too distracted to see me reach the bottom of the hill and begin my ascent, but it also worked against me as I wanted its attention off of Swift. Luck is funny like that.
I let the speed spell dissipate and grabbed a good sized rock. Giving it a good once-over in my hands, I chucked it at the harpy’s head. The rock flew through the air and it connected with its target in the back of the head. The harpy tore its gaze from Swift, looking for the offender who harmed it. Its eyes locked onto me and it stared me down, judging as if I was worth its time.
“Hey bitch, remember me?” I don’t know if it understood me or if it had already made up its mind, but when I flipped a double middle finger at it, it jumped at me. It crashed into me and we both went tumbling to the bottom of the hill. Along the way, I took the liberty of scratching it up as much as I could in its vital areas. We hit the bottom and jumped away from each other. We stood there, pacing around in a circle waiting for the other to make the first move. I took note of potential attacks it could use: air assault, leap attack, tackle, or an unknown ability. I made a quick plan for each attack it could use, taking variables into account. We stopped , the harpy flared its wings and pawed the ground, I lowered my body and flexed my claws.
Some rocks tumbled to the side. The harpy took the signal and made the first move, leaping forward, using its wings for additional speed. I let it come at me, ready to embrace it and enact my adrenaline-fed battle plan. I jumped back and let it chase me into the shadow of a large boulder.
“Toro, toro.” When it was close, I dropped into the shadow like it was water and the harpy crashed into the rock, dazing itself. “Ole!”
I took advantage of the moment, knowing that my tactic probably wouldn’t work again, and grabbed it around the neck. As I was about to bite, I felt something collide with my face hard enough to loosen my grip on the harpy.
“Huh? The fuck was that?” I said once I gained enough coherence. I felt the harpy stir under me and suddenly take to the sky. “Oh, shit!” The harpy flew around, performing loops, twists and dives to shake me off. If I wasn’t fighting for my life at the moment, this would be the best rollercoaster ever. Of all time. I glanced at my clock and saw I that had ran out of time. I was disappointed at myself, since I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to missions and challenges, but now I didn’t have to worry about it anymore so I could take some time for this.
“Giant Harpy to ground control. We’re coming in for a landing. Over. Roger that, you’re good and clear.” I acted to myself before grabbing the harpy’s head and forcing it to face the ground. The harpy resisted but it soon changed direction and went careening into the ground. We hit the ground with the grace of a fat man off a diving board and I got to be the one between the fat man and the water.
'Apparently physical attacks don't affect me in this form. Good thing too, otherwise that would be so painful right now.' I thought as I crawled out from under it and looked at the harpy. It was breathing slowly so it was probably out cold.
'Damn, these birds are tough or I’m that weak. Seriously gotta train when this is over.' I noticed my health bar had dropped considerably since I used the spell. I glanced between the HUD and the harpy before giving an evil grin. 'What time is it? Feeding time!'
I opened my jaws and bit down on the harpy’s neck. I felt the life force flow into me and it was a lot more than what the coconut tree gave me. I felt myself be healed and energized enough to do a marathon and this time I watched the process unfold. The harpy’s thick flesh began to shrink like a deflated balloon, the skin becoming wrinkled and stretched over the bones. The feathers on its wings lost their color and began to fall off. The harpy’s mouth was opened in a wordless scream and its eyes dried up and fell back into the skull. The body shifted as it curled up into a fetal position and shrunk in size. After a few moments, I was done and the body was now a pile of bones held together by the barest of skin. If I hadn’t seen it (or eaten it) I would have said it was something out of an archaeological dig.
Scanning…
New form attained: Harpy
New spell: Trans Form- use to change into your different forms
Achievement Unlocked: Say Please...- gained 15 XP
Achievement Unlocked: Tastes like chicken- gained 20 XP
Achievement Unlocked: I didn’t train to be a pilot – gained 10 XP
Achievement Unlocked: The Matador- gained 5 XP
Combat multiplier: 3
Quest complete- earned 50 XP
1 / 2 Challenges completed – 20 Bonus XP
Additional XP: 70 XP
Total XP- 330 XP
Reward:
Nest contents
New weapon
You are now at level 3
I held my arms at my side and put on a tough face, “Fuck yeah.” I picked up the body and began to loot it out of curiosity to see what I could find. All I could really salvage from it were the eight bones that made up the arms and legs. I didn't know what to do with them, I just wanted a little trophy. I'd probably find a use for them later anyways.
I left the body and made my way back to the nest. My health bar was more than full, extended from the level up and the feeding. I now had a small, blue mana bar latched under the red one like a parasite. The icon of my form was flashing from my Base to the Harpy, indicating my new form. “Life is good right now.” I mused.
I rounded a bend and found Swift sliding down the hill and collapsing in a heap. I made my way to him as he tried to shakily stand. I picked him up and set him up straight, “You okay?” I asked.
Swift looked a his left foreleg, which he was holding up tenderly, “I may be a little worse for wear. I believe some of my muscles received a small tear.” He looked up at me, still holding his leg up, “You came to my rescue all the way from the tree, so I must ask, why did you come to help me?”
“A few reasons,” I said, “One, I'm not done with you yet, and two, I don't like it when others take things I'm using. Besides, I got some exercise and a meal out of it.”
Swift nodded slowly, trying to understand what I said. “I never thought I would say this but, thank you. I don't think I could fight off a harpy that appears out of the blue.” he said gratefully.
“Stop trying to get rid of me and we'll call it even.” I held out a hand. Swift sat back on his flank and put his good leg in my hand.
“Deal.” he said as we shook.
I broke it off, “Good, now I want to try something.” I said as I backed away, “Trans Form.”
The icon of my current form flashed and moved to the center of the screen. From it, came a web of empty circles except one, the harpy. “Harpy.” I said. The base icon flashed and the light traveled along the web to the harpy icon before flashing once and returning to its corner, the image now a harpy.
I felt myself begin to change like I was melted wax. It felt weird, not unpleasant, just weird. I dropped to all fours and my neck and face elongated while my arms and legs shortened. I felt two stiff rods jut out of my back, probably my wings, and my fingers retract into a fist. One of the strangest sensations was feeling the feathers grow out. They each started from my skin and just pulled itself out, like pinching and pulling taffy. After of few more moments of this, I finally stopped changing.
I took a look at myself and saw what I had felt. My upper body was that of a horse and from my midsection down, it was a bird’s body. My feet were now sharp eagle talons and my wings extended about my body length. I was still all black like before though, so camouflage wouldn’t work well except at night, though the intimidation factor would make up for it.
I reared up, kicking my forelegs in the air, “Fuck yeah, I look like a badass! Time to test these babies out!” I yelled before running up to the top of the hill to a high ledge. “Ready for take-off.” I ran forward and jumped off the ledge, stretching my back to get the wings out.
I was in the air for a second before immediately crashing face first into the ground. Unlike crashing in my Base form, I could actually feel the pain of my face meeting the ground. “...Ow.” I said. I righted myself up and saw Swift on the ground gasping for air and clutching his sides in laughter. “Oh, fuck you Swift.” I changed back to my Base form.
I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I noticed a strange looking rock out of the corner of my eye. “What's that?” I asked. Swift was still laughing so I asked again and he calmed down enough to look where I was pointing.
“I don’t know what it is, I swear. It had just appeared in the air.” He said as he limped over to the object. “While you were locked in your fight, its appearance was a strange sight.”
The object was a twisted stone shaped like an L. In the crook of it was a small hole that looked strangely familiar. “It couldn’t be…could it?” I picked up the rock and held the short end in my hand. As my grip tightened on it, glowing red cracks formed in the stone and quickly enveloped it, a black smoke rising from them. After a moment, the stone broke apart and fell to the ground, leaving my suspicions in my hand.
“What could it be? It look like a tool from what I could see.”
“It’s a M1911 semi-automatic pistol. It fires about seven .45 caliber bullets. More if you have the right parts. My brother gave me one as a graduation present when he was on leave from the Marines.” I raised the pistol up and loosely aimed at a nearby rock, my reticle, now four lines, didn’t come close together for precision. I frowned, ‘Looks like I’m going to have to increase my accuracy’. “This is my weapon.”
My brain stopped functioning at that last statement, “Wait a minute. This is my weapon? This cruddy little pistol?” I raised my head and waved my pistol as I yelled, “Erebus, you douchebag, what the hell?! You couldn't have given me some amazing sword or enchanted bow, at least? Why do I get a crappy weapon? You didn't even give me extra ammo for it either! This thing better have some good perks or I will personally hunt you down and whip you with this thing!”
Swift Grass gave me a concerned look, “I think it's time to go to bed. You don't seem alright in the head.”
I scowled, “I'm fine. Just fan-fucking-tastic. You go ahead and get back home. I'm going to stay here for the night.”
Swift nodded, “When comes the absence of light, there are thing that lurk in the night. Now, I must search for the herbs I need, but I also must return home with speed.” he said.
“Do what you want. I don’t care.” I turned to Swift, “So, see you tomorrow?”
Swift furrowed his brow, “I suppose so. I will be in the jungle at mid-morning, just so you know.”
“Good, I like to sleep in when I can.”
Swift nodded and then began to limp away. I went through my memory for a certain Latin word “Hey let me get that for you.” I said and I pointed at him, “Medico.”
A small orb of light flew from my fingertip and straight to the sprained leg. It touched the skin and then sunk into it, winking out of existence. Swift stared at his leg and put it down gently. He gave a small gasp and trotted around on his healed up leg. He looked up to me with a smile, “Thank you for healing my leg.”
I shrugged, “I just like things to be in top condition. Oh, and if anyone asks, nothing happened today. You just gathered your plants and saw no one.” If the villagers act the same way as Swift, I don’t want them knowing about me.
Swift gave a small nod, “I understand. Even if someone does beg, today was completely bland.” he said before galloping off into the evening.
I climbed back up to the nest and jumped in. I turned onto my back, and gazed at the darkened sky. The stars were coming out in full bloom tonight, probably due to little to no light pollution. The full moon hung in the sky like a huge silvery-white disk, lighting up the world with its glow. I reached the nest and searched it with the moonlight as aid. The nest didn’t yield much aside from bones, some gems and a couple accessories such as ribbons and clothes, even a bag. Deciding to investigate tomorrow, I rearranged the nest so that the morning sun wouldn’t burn me but just wake me instead. Satisfied with my quick building skills, I curled up and went to sleep.
‘Huh? Where am I?’ The space all around me was total blackness except for blue lines cutting out a grid network. Lights moved around in an orderly, yet chaotic, fashion, going in all different directions. I looked at myself to see I was human again.
“Enjoying yourself so far?” I shot up and looked at the voice. Erebus stood in front of me, hands behind his back, gazing down at me with an amused expression.
“Yeah, for the most part.” I said, “But I have two questions for you.”
He waved his hand, imploring me to go on. “Why the hell did you give me a pistol and why does Swift think I’m talking in his language?”
Erebus chuckled, “I’ll start with your second question as it is easier to explain. As a Night Shade you can understand and speak all languages, no matter how obscure or incomprehensible. After all, darkness is a universal language.”
“Huh? I’m confused now. Swift thought I was speaking his language and I thought he was speaking mine.”
“In a sense. If you were in a room with five other people who each spoke a different language, then you could understand everyone and vice versa, but they wouldn’t understand each other.”
“Oh, well so much for private chat.” I said, “Now about my weapon… “
“That’s no ordinary pistol.” Erebus smirked, “Your weapon is called an Omni-Rifle. It can change into four different weapon classes: Pistol, Assault, Sniper, and Heavy. You currently only have the pistol class, but as you level up your marksmanship, your accuracy will improve, the other classes will unlock and your weapon becomes more powerful.”
‘Yeah, I’m definitely training that skill. The Sniper rifle will be mine.’ I thought evilly.
“However, there are some draw backs to this weapon. First, only the pistol has unlimited ammo. Ammo for the other modes is finite and when empty, you must wait for your stock to replenish itself. Each mode takes a different amount of time to replenish its stock. Luckily, there is no limit to how much ammo you can carry but the Rifle operates like any other gun and must be reloaded frequently.”
“I can live with that.” I was starting to get a bit giddy with excitement.
“Secondly, when you picked up the Rifle, you formed a spirit bond with it. In layman’s terms, you can’t lose your weapon. Ever. You may get it knocked away from you, but it will return after a short time.”
‘Oh good. I don’t want to lose this weapon in a fight. That would suck balls, especially during boss fights.’
“And finally, you can’t kill other players or certain characters with it.”
‘Wait, what?’
“What do you mean by that?” I said with confusion and irritation. “This is bull crap! I wanna shoot people!”
Erebus’ face turned into a cold, disapproving frown as if I just insulted his ideas. He looked like a he could extinguish me with a snap of his fingers. I wanted to curl up out of fear but my body wouldn’t respond. My throat constricted and it started getting harder to breathe right now. “You will listen to me, boy. I said that you can’t kill them with your Rifle. However, as you and the other players are important to the game, certain characters are rather important to this world, despite how annoying some could be. Killing them is allowed but it is highly frowned upon by the other Game Masters. Also there are about four of my associates who go as royalty and the gods of this game’s world.
“If you wish to know who is who, remember this. Players will appear with a silver aura around them and VIP characters will appear with a gold aura around them. If you attempt to use your rifle on them, it will only fire red paintballs. Everyone else, however, will receive bullets. Understand?”
I let his words sink in. ‘So this game is friendly-fire proof, that’s good in case I accidently shoot an ally. But red paintballs? I could have some fun with that, especially when I get the sniper rifle. Plus if one of the players messes with me too much, I can always make his life in this game a living hell.’ I nod my head.
Erebus lightened up and I could feel myself breathe easier, taking deep breaths. “Now that you have started your journey in this game, I feel it’s appropriate to tell you some information regarding your situation.” He said with a smile.
I felt a dark chill go up my spine. “W-What do you mean?”
Erebus’ smile increased, as if he was laughing at a joke and I was the punch line. “For starters, this game simulator isn’t like others where you get in, play and get out. In here, the Game Masters choose players to go into the Game and when you come in, you stay in until you die.”
I narrowed my eyes, “What happens when I die?”
“Your mind is connected to the game, so when you die, your mind will perceive your death and you will fall into a temporary coma. Be warned, your safety is not guaranteed when you die in the game.” he explained flatly.
I fell on my ass in shock. My mind scrambled to formulate an explanation to what I was hearing but all that came up was, ‘What…the…fuck?’ I grabbed my head as if it could keep it from exploding from the pressure. My thought’s raced, ‘I can’t get out? I could go into a coma? Why didn’t he say this before? Unless…this is more than just a beta testing.’ I looked up at Erebus with cool anger on my face.
“Anything else, you need to tell me?” I spat venomously.
Erebus just smiled again and tapped a finger against his chin. The casual gesture made me hate him even more. “Well, I suppose there is one thing, but it’s not that important.”
“Tell me.” I needed all the information I could get.
“What do you know about the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic?”
I honestly wasn’t expecting that answer. “Well, I have a friend who was interested in it and talked about it a lot. I tolerated him, but mostly because he could kick my ass half the time in a Deathmatch game.”
“You’d better recall what he said. This entire world was based off the show.”
“…what?” I said dumbly.
“We needed a template for the Game and this one seemed the most entertaining.” Erebus smiled, “Now I’m afraid our time is up. Goodbye.” He snapped his fingers and the world turned black.