This is the last of what I have written so far. Hopefully I’ll still be able to post next week, but I’m not going to put up anything I’m not satisfied with, so it’s kind of up in the air. Anyway, thank all of you who commented, it really helps me out :)

-Tas

Part 6

Ilos, Day 2

*Thump*

I woke up on the floor next to the bed, scared completely out of my wits and my eyes blurry with tears. There was no feeling of threat, which would have made me reach for my quarterstaff, just a sense of fear, as if I had been trapped somehow and was unable to escape. I gathered myself and stood up, brushing back my hair and wiping my face and eyes to clear them. The panicky feeling slowly faded away as I took a few deep breaths and tried to convince my subconscious that there was nothing to be afraid of. Whatever that dream had been, or nightmare really, it must have been a doozy for me to fall out of bed.

I glanced at the bed, considering going back to sleep, but the sleep I did get must have done some good because there was only a small wisp of the exhaustion I had felt earlier remaining. And I really did not want to wake up that way again.

My quarterstaff, leaning against the wall by the bed, caught my eye. I should really work through some of the forms if I have the time right now.

I grabbed the weapon, my only possession in the room I wasn’t wearing, and walked towards the door. I caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of my eye as I neared the door, and spun to confront them. How the hell did someone get into my room? The system is supposed to prevent that!

I snapped my quarterstaff up into a ready position and started to demand the identity of the intruder. Then I realized that I was glaring through the mirror over the washstand… at myself.

Letting my quarterstaff drop, I felt my cheeks heat, and I was suddenly glad I was the only one who was there to see me ready to fight a reflection in a mirror. I absently brushed back the fan of hair that liked to drop over my left eye when I moved so suddenly, and smiled slightly. I was so glad Ilos didn’t include hair tangles after the tossing and turning I suspected I did while I was asleep. Thankfully my long midnight black hair fell as straight and soft as ever down to my lower back. At least that’s one thing I don’t have to deal with.

Recalling my introspection the previous night, the smile faded from the girl’s face. I concentrated, dropping into the Stillness so I could consider things without my annoyingly stronger emotions getting the way. The sense of oddness in this body faded as I relaxed, the unease, the loneliness, the fear and frustration and anger fading until they were unnoticeable, leaving me in a bubble of calm, of Stillness. The question is ‘can I do anything about this being a girl thing?’ Would it help to tell someone, that guy I’m traveling with maybe, what happened to me? Is there anything more practical I could be doing than what I’m doing right now?

I had certainly overreacted to many of the minor things that had happened to me yesterday. Most of the small insults from my traveling companion, the way the Ilosians looked at me, the flirtatious guard at the North Gate, all of those things would have just slid off me when I was Cariss. However, aside from that, I had done very well in gaining an advantage over most of the player populace in Ilos. By reaching one of the four main starting areas around the City and running through the quests there first, I not only got to complete the best quests in terms of efficiency and rewards, but also made sure any other players would be long in following.

Most quests could be completed again and again for a reducing reward by one player or for the same reward by many different players as long as the NPC in question needed something done, but not all quests followed this rule. Running errands, killing non-unique monsters, and many of the gathering quests were this way, the Ilosians seeming to leave things unfinished just so the players could have quests, though maybe they were just really lazy. ‘The Lazy Shepherd’ was an example of a quest that could only be completed once a day, as once the shepherd boy had placed the bags of scent, they would last the rest of the day and there would be no need for the owner of the livestock to hire another champion or group to protect his animals. Quests that involved killing a unique monster, like the Grizzled Grizzly, were very difficult and could only be completed once in a long period of time. The Grizzly would inevitably be succeeded by another bear or wolf or other animal, and then the quest would need to be completed again, but that could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Finally, some quests that involved unique events or circumstances would only be completed once, the bulk of these involving the bosses that guarded the path upwards into the islands above Ilos.

If there was a big enough group of players working together, it would be possible for them to catch us with their lower level of exp, but that kind of group seemed unlikely. I very much doubted that the other players were still frozen in fear in the city. Some might be, but I suspected that there were many who would consider this the best thing that ever happened to them, and considering all of them were in the beta, they knew most of Ilos’ rules and many of the quests in the starting areas. Some might gather together, but they would need to be very good in order to catch us now, especially with the boots we had just received.

So to answer my own question, this is the most practical thing I could be doing right now. I’ve done what I could with what I have and gained as much of a lead as possible.

Abandoning the Stillness and the cute young girl in the mirror, I headed down to the common room, stopping to ask the innkeeper if there was a clear space nearby I could practice with my quarterstaff.

He gestured towards the back of the inn, his hands busy polishing a bowl. “There’s a clear spot out back for hitching wagons, you’re welcome to use it unless there’s someone else there.”

I inclined my head for a moment. “Thank you.”

There was indeed a place behind the inn where a few spots of grass grew, but was mostly open dirt in front of a stable. I checked around, making sure there was indeed no one there, then unlimbered my quarterstaff and spun it between my hands and started working through the basic forms at a moderate speed. No problems, but that was expected after all the fighting I’d done yesterday. I sped up to full speed, the ends of the wood in my hands blurring out of sight and producing a low whirring sound.

It took a few minutes to run through all the basics, and when I stopped I saw a few of the village children peeking around a corner at me, probably come to investigate the noise. I smiled and waved them over. “Come on then. If you want to watch, I don’t mind as long as you stay clear.”

They ran over to a grassy spot and sat down, talking amongst themselves excitedly as they stared at me with wonder on their faces. They gasped and the soft babble increased as they noticed my oddly colored eyes. My smile widened slightly, and I spun up my quarterstaff again, flowing into the forms I hadn’t tried yet.

Unfortunately, most of those needed slight corrections to work with my new body, or rather to avoid hitting my chest or comparatively wider hips. It was slow and annoying progress, but getting things in order was necessary.

After a little while I gave up on fixing my technique and just moved. Each form was designed for transition into others, and you could chain them together with a little practice. I slipped into the flow and closed my eyes, a tension I didn’t know I’d had leaving my body as I spun the wood in my hands and danced to an unheard melody.

The sound of my quarterstaff cutting through the air grew louder until it was a constant rich thrumming, moving through every possible space a weapon or attacker could use. I slipped into the Stillness again, relaxing in the peace that was so absent in the past day. As always when I was in that state, the… presences, for lack of a better word… around me became clearer. I wasn’t sure if it was a product of the rules in Ilos, or something specific to the Stillness, but I could tell the general direction and number of any living thing near me, even with my eyes closed and my ears filled with the thrum of my weapon. The children were still there, and a strong presence approached, then after watching for a moment, left.

That must have been my companion. I really need to come up with a name for him, or get him to tell me his. I thought, but for some reason I knew I would wait until he gave me his name to call him anything.

Letting my quarterstaff gradually slow, I let go of the Stillness, sighing as I felt the full force of all the emotions in this foreign body hit me. That was one of the only drawbacks about the peace I could find with my weapon and the Stillness, everything else just seemed so much more when that calm vanished.

Rather than dwell on what would inevitably turn into me getting angry or depressed, I walked off towards where ‘An Errand for the Cobbler’ started to join my mysterious traveling partner.

We made good progress, moving through quests quickly, though I did end up taking some of my anger and other emotions out on nameless guy. It was like I couldn’t bring myself to be polite to him, though I did manage to hold any cutting remarks from the villagers that treated me like a little girl. Those always seemed to think that the guy traveling with me had some authority over me, or that he spoke for both of us, and would only talk to him, sometimes even ignoring me completely. It was annoying, and I took it out on him rather than be rude to the NPCs.

Regardless, we still got a good hour to nap after we finished the quests available in the daytime before the night quests unlocked.

-----

Night quests certainly weren’t easy, but between the pair of us we had little enough trouble with them. The real trouble came about an hour later.

The pair of us were talking to the mayor, one Briar Brisbane, who was a guardsman in his youth. He was born and raised in Neatar, and after seeing us help out his people he decided we might be able take on something that was plaguing the whole village.

As he was about to explain what he needed from us, there was a noise from beyond the door. Torchlight shone from outside, and I moved to look out the window. Seven men stood just outside the village border holding torches and a mixed assortment of ill-maintained swords.

“Damn, they are here already. Please, get rid of these men. I will give you my old sword as a reward, but please just drive them off.” At my questioning look he continues to explain, gesturing towards the window with a long face. “They used to be people who lived in this very village, but when times got hard they decided that robbery was the best way to go about things. We do not have the men to repel them anymore because of all the monster attacks, and we no longer have the money to pay them off. I do not know what they will do then. I just wish they would come back to us.”

My companion took my place at the window, examining the men who were beginning to approach the house.

I scowled. Bandits were the one thing in Ilos I hated most. They were cowardly, mean, and a blight on everything and everyone around them. Ilos was my home now, and bandits defaced the beauty that it had and was. “I hate bandits.” I muttered, “Can we kill them?”

Turning from the window, my partner addressed Mayor Briar. “Mayor I can promise only one thing, as I am a loner and have no more charisma than a wolf, if I am to take this task all those men out there will die. I will make it as clean and quiet as can be in return for that sword but if you wish them a different fate I am not the one to ask.”

The mayor bowed his head, sighing heavily as if giving up, but nodded. “Very well. If they do not leave we will all die.”

A small smile began to grow on my face, but vanished as the unnamed man turned and looked down to speak to me. “Masso you will let me handle this and you will let me handle it alone. I will not tolerate an argument otherwise lest you believe yourself a match for my swords. You may watch and kill what ones slip me by but I will be doing this my way and you are not suited for such methods.”

What? Does he still think I can’t fight?! “But I-“ I started to argue, indignant, but caught the look on his face. He was entirely serious about doing this alone, and I was suddenly sure that if I tried to interfere or help he would turn on me. The anger faded from my face, and I nodded sharply. The bandits would still die, and being able to travel with someone so skilled was worth the price of not killing them with my own hands. “Show no mercy.”

Without further word, he walked out the rear door of house with me following, and both of us vanished into the shadows. I stayed back in the darkness of the house, holding one eye shut against the torchlight, and watched my companion as he moved forwards, silent as mist.

Abruptly, the three torches the bandits had between them went dark. Rather than go out suddenly, this was something different. Three small orbs of darkness had replaced the ends of the torches, an effect I recognized as the Shadow elemental magic spell Tu. I opened my closed eye, and the world brightened from the pitch blackness that had suffused it for a moment. My companion was among them, his swords slicing necks and piercing chests. Four of them died before any of them realized something was wrong, the fifth before any of them see him, and the sixth as he flinched back in fear. The last bandit dropped his crude sword in his panic and stumbled backwards. He opened his mouth to scream, but a sword appeared in his throat before he could make the slightest noise.

“Seven seconds. Damn.” I muttered, walking towards my companion, who was busy snuffing out the torches before dismissing the Shadow spell. Without a word, we searched the bodies for any valuables, finding a small amount of money and a few of the weapons worth selling.

Standing, he looked at the corpses and blood, and they began to quickly waste away, dissolving into motes in a couple minutes rather than the hours they would take otherwise.

“A trick such as that won’t work on those who expect it or those who a better trained than mere bandits.”

I nodded, agreeing. “That was Tu right? I should start working on my Shadow magic.” I motioned towards what little was left of the bandits with a hand. “Is that a Death magic spell? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one.”

“Hope that you don’t see many more. Death magic is a dangerous spell type as is anything that so readily strikes against the living, and its users are seldom the kind you want to accompany.”

We waited until the last vestiges of the dead men dissolved away, then headed back inside the mayor’s house.

He greeted my partner, bowing low. "Thank you. I wish they could have come back to us, but this was the next best way. Most of the village is asleep, and this way I can say the bandits left and never came back. You've saved my people a lot of grief tonight sir."

He turned and walked back into the house, coming back with the sword. "Here is the sword as promised, and this is something I was given to pass on to someone whom I deemed fit." Along with the sword, he also handed him a White Carnation. It was beautiful, pure as newfallen snow, and drew my eyes like a moth to flame.

He checked the item description, a window appearing over the object low enough that I could read it. It read: ‘A Flower whose meaning lies in remembrance. It has an unknown effect, but may hold a special meaning to a certain someone.’

The mayor cleared his throat. “Sir, what name may I call you? I must have something I can tell the elders at the meeting I must call tomorrow morning. You and Aria have helped us greatly this day."

Do I finally get to find out this guy’s name?

"I have no name good sir, and I would ask it as a favor if you would make no mention of me. Tell your elders it was the doing of this young girl, and if your tongue cannot lie lest it be cut, only mention me as a man in her company. I would appreciate it so."

I sighed slightly. Of course not.

"I see. Well please, my son runs the inn, I'm sure he would let you stay free tonight and give you quite the feast. We all owe you a debt for your actions tonight and it is the least we can do to show our gratitude.”

A free bed would be nice, but… I shook my head. "Thank you for the offer, but I believe that we are traveling to Gladen tonight.

I glanced up at my partner, who gave a tiny nod. “It is so.”

Bidding the mayor a good night, we headed out of the village.

As the dim light faded to shadow along the path under the canopy of the forest, I looked up at the black haired guy I was traveling with. "That was really impressive with the bandits, but you should let me help next time. As much as I don't advertise it, I'm good with more than just a quarterstaff." I slipped out the throwing daggers hidden in my sleeves and twirled them, then made them vanish back to their places with a flourish. "Maybe you can teach me some that Shadow magic of yours and I can help out, I only know a few spells of that element."

He held my eyes for a moment longer, expressionless as usual, then turned to look back forwards.

I frowned, then shrugged “I… guess not.”

Putting it out of my mind, I opened my senses and made sure my footsteps were silent as we ran. I occasionally glanced at the nameless man I was matching my pace to, noticing he was also keeping alert despite traveling down a safe path as well as keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible.

A comfortable silence settled as we traveled, neither of us feeling the need to speak. Despite his annoying tendency to get on my nerves, I was glad that I had found someone so skilled and had the same views on socializing that I did, namely that it wasn’t always needed.

After a two or three hours of traveling, I heard movement up ahead of us as well as the sound of leaves rustling against each other. There was no wind and therefore the source of the noise must be some nearby Plantea. As could be assumed from their name, Plantea were essentially semi-sentient vegetation, along the same intelligence of most wild animals. They were territorial, and used ambushes as a means of attacking their enemies when in forested areas.

Up ahead, the path suddenly narrowed with large bushes lining each side, or rather Foliage Plantea, the weakest of all Plantea. Around three feet tall, I knew they attacked with whipping vines and roots that tried to entangle the legs of their prey. Unfortunately, Plantea were pretty resistant to blunt attacks, like those of a quarterstaff, so I drew a pair of throwing daggers as we approached the ambush site.

Rather than try to avoid the monsters, we simply attacked them. My partner’s swords cut them down easily, and while I wasn’t used to fighting with just daggers, I was still able to do much more damage that I would have with a quarterstaff. Parrying the vines with a sharp weapon generally severed them, eliciting a cry of pain from the Plantea, and I was too light on my feet to be entangled with the roots. The nameless man didn’t even bother dodging the roots, but was perceptive enough to simply cut them apart just as they started to creep towards his feet.

After the failed ambush, we simply continued on our way.

Ilos, Day 3-7

For the next few days we just continued the pattern that we had started with the previous villages. We’d arrive at dawn, Nameless would tell me how long he would sleep, then we would eat bread and water, rent rooms, and rest. The mild panic that would wake me from my slumber faded after a day or two, allowing me to rest for almost the full time I had available, though I still took half to a quarter of an hour to train with my quarterstaff after I awoke.

After a short while my traveling companion would come out of the inn, ending my practice, and we would do quests and kill things until we’d completed all of the valuable quests in the area. Generally by then it was dusk, or close to it, and we would take a break to eat and visit the shops, selling what items we didn’t need and restocking on potions if we had used any.

That comfortable silence reigned whenever we weren’t talking to the NPCs, or the Ilosians as I had begun calling them, or in battle. We gradually began to work together rather than simply fighting solo with someone else there, and the experience we gained began to increase as a result.

As soon as night truly set, we started the night quests, which always culminated in some big event or quest with appropriate rewards, and then continued on to the next village to repeat the cycle.

Between the quest rewards and the extra gifts the Ilosians gave us, we ended up with a good amount of decent equipment.

I still had the same quarterstaff, but I picked up a pair of long knives I kept sheathed at the small of my back to help deal with any Plantea we came across. I also replaced the light red (it was not pink) starting armor with a green and brown colored Hunter’s Garb and now had a small hair clip in the shape of a wolf that not only kept my hair out of my face, but also slightly increased my senses.

I still had mixed feelings about that clip, mainly because it was the only overtly feminine thing I owned, but in all practicality I couldn’t dismiss the benefits of not only keeping my hair out of the way, but also that enchantment on the clip. I also liked the wolf design on it. The necklace that had my Spell Gem attached to it didn’t count as feminine, as that’s the way I would have worn it anyway.

Nameless guy had managed to replace both of his starting swords with much better versions, and was wearing a matching Hunter’s Garb, albeit in darker colors. He was also wearing a ring in the shape of a boar’s head that slightly increased the strength of his blows.

It was startling how reliant I had grown on his company. Along with when I was training with my quarterstaff or in the Stillness, questing alone with the guy was the only time I could truly relax. Unlike the Ilosians, he treated me just the same as he would anyone else with my skill level, completely disregarding my appearance. The NPCs, on the other hand, seemed to think we were related as brother and sister or even father and daughter, or failing that, lovers. They also seemed to think I was completely helpless and needed to be protected. I suspected that if I hadn’t been traveling with my much older looking partner I wouldn’t even have been able to do some of the quests. With all of this, dealing with the Ilosians in a polite manner was… grating.

Regardless, I persevered, and generally by the time dusk fell the villagers understood I wasn’t anything like they had assumed me to be. The children, unlike their elders, didn’t seem to notice how young or small I looked, and followed us whenever we were in the village borders. To them we weren’t people that could cause trouble, or lovers, or related, or too young, or whatever, we were Champions. We went and did awesome things and used real weapons and killed real monsters, and that was just the coolest thing to them.

I loved them for it, and would often entertain them with flourishes and juggling with my throwing daggers, or when I practiced with my quarterstaff.

After we finished the last village's quests, we were faced with a dilemma. This was the village at the northernmost edge of the forest and it would take two days of travel to get to the next town.

I followed my companion to the inn, where he rented a room and told me to be ready at dawn rather than in a few hours like normal. We ate together, bread and water again, and then went to our rooms to sleep.

-----

The man with no name closed the door to his rented room at the inn, but made no move to make ready for sleep. Sitting down on the bed, he opened his inventory and took stock of all that he had, adjusted his equipment, reviewed the words of power he knew, and thought through his plan to make sure there were no holes.

He needed to rent a room at the inn, being sure to have a separate room from Aria, which had already been accomplished. After a brief wait, just long enough for Aria to have fallen asleep, he would sneak away from the inn and set out for the next village, spending the night traveling. At first light he would leave the road and sleep for several hours in the tall grass that covered most of the land just outside the forest, fending off what weaker daytime monsters came.

At that point he would continue traveling at a leisurely speed to the next village, predicting that Aria would have certainly passed him while he was sleeping, but before reaching the town he would take a loop around the settlement’s borders and continue straight on to the next rather than stop there like he normally would. After observing her for the past week, he was confident that if Aria didn’t find him in the next town she would give up on searching for him.

When the nameless man sensed that about a half hour had passed, he rose and silently opened the window, slipping out onto the roof and closing the hinged glass behind him. It was child’s play for him to avoid the small number of villagers still awake at this time of night, and before a minute had elapsed he was out of the village and traveling towards the next town.

When dawn broke, he continued traveling for another hour or so before leaving the dirt road. The area around was hilly but had the type of terrain used in plains, and was largely covered in long emerald green grass. After a small stint of searching, he found a small flattened patch of grass that was invisible for the road, and settled down to sleep there.

The girl will surely be fine on her own. Best sever ties with her before I become attached. I am a loner, and she'll be better off not following the path I've set for myself. If we ever meet again I hope it won’t be at the end of my blade.