Hello again, it’s been awhile. Unfortunately I have had much less time to write than I did before, so things are going slowly, but I am still writing. Posts will likely be irregular and have a long wait in between, but that's just all the time I have right now. Anyway, this part features the final two ‘main’ characters, hope you enjoy!

NOTE THAT THIS IS THE OLD VERSION, WHICH I AM KEEPING ON HERE TO SAVE THE COMMENTS (and I don't know how to delete it -.-).

THE EDITED VERSION IS POSTED AND THIS OLD VERSION CONTAINS NOTHING NEW TO THE STORY.

-Tas

 

 

 

Part 9

 

 

Chapter 4: Ilos, Day 1

 

Tasalin flinched, startled by the sudden lack of pain in addition to finding himself back in the main plaza of Ilos. His mind blazed with questions, his limbs quivered with remembered pain, and his eyes darted, taking in their surroundings from atop his height of 6’3”. Just moments before, he’d been getting used to combat again, using his sword and shield to kill the wolves that populated the Western Forest, when shockwaves abruptly began to rip through his body. The pain was intense. It numbed his body and stole away his breath, and then it was gone, leaving him as he was now, in a place far from where he once stood.

He recognized this place as the main plaza of Ilos, but the tiles on the ground were black rather than white now, and there was some sort of inscription on the plaza’s Centerstone. He couldn’t see it clearly enough to read it due to a small girl with long midnight black hair crouching over it, but it wasn’t a pressing issue so he dismissed it. Surrounding him were a large number of players, most dazed like he was, but there were not nearly enough of them to number the million that supposedly bought the game. At most there was only one percent of that.

The ground shook, sending him into a stumble but not knocking him off his feet. Most of the other players were not so lucky, ending up on their rumps or even sprawled out on the ground in the few moments the tremor lasted. Whatever they had been thinking before, there was only one thing on the minds of the people now.

What the hell is going on?

“Welcome to Ilos. I am Xynus, the one who has summoned you here.” A deep voice boomed, filling the plaza, seeming to emanate from everywhere at once. “You are the ten thousand of the Silver Key, offered the priceless gift of extra time.

So these are the beta players… but what is this all about?

Do not waste this time attempting to return to your previous world, you cannot get back of your own power until the remaining champions join you. The clock is your enemy, and the final trial will begin regardless of your wishes when the time you have here expires. This is no longer the illusionary world that you were previously shown, and as it continues its journey it will need to be protected. Even now the wild inhabitants have begun to emerge from their lairs, and will seek to hold Ilos when the final challenge begins. Be wary, for while this city is a great stronghold, the Great Sleep is failing, and your enemies will grow more powerful and may overwhelm you given time.”

Tasalin remembered dumping buckets of scalding oil off of the walls of Ilos to burn the goblins that were sieging it, leading an attacking force against the main group to destroy their crude battering ram, watching his companions die and not return. Damn this is serious, if we can’t return to Earth, what happens if we die and the city is taken?

“Death is not the end here while my power still lasts. However, beware; should you remain dead for a significant time, there will not be enough left of what is you to be reconstructed. Let this be very clear: you are all stuck here until the end, be that your own end or the end of the final trial. You cannot log out. I have done all I can for you, so go! Grow strong, for the fate of two worlds rests in your hands.”

The rumbling voice faded out, and silence reigned. Nearly everyone simply stood or lay where they had fallen. Then some began shouting, others pleading with this unknown entity to let them go home, and a few even sent up cheers, but the reaction was generally pretty subdued, most people unable to get over their shock.

Tasalin’s eyes were wide, and he felt himself shaking, frozen in place. We’re… stuck here? No. There has to be a way out. He tried to log out; going through the same mental shift he had dozens of times. Nothing. He crossed his arms over his chest, holding his first three fingers up, and commanded, “Log out!” Nothing. I need to get out! How do I get out??

I’m panicking, unable to think straight, I need to calm down. He tensed, forcing all the stress on his mind into his body, every muscle flexing, then with a deep exhalation, relaxed everything at once. The fog of fear that was clouding his brain dissipated immediately, and he caught himself before he could fall to the ground, activating his muscles again. Okay, there has to be someone who isn’t paralyzed with fear right now, and I need to find them. If we truly can’t log out, then I need a friend, or at least an ally, to talk things out with. Dismissing those around him who were still frozen where they sat or stood, he gathered his wits and walked out of the plaza, hoping to find someone that had at least some control over their mental faculties.

Within seconds, he spotted a man talking to a girl, that same girl that was crouching over the Centerstone earlier. He took a few steps in that direction, but stopped when they both ran off towards the North Gate, the girl vanishing into an alleyway while the man took the normal street.

Players wandered by, dazed at this sudden turn of events, but there was no one who seemed lucid enough to talk to. Tasalin sighed, but within a few minutes spotted someone. He was standing by a wall, searching the wandering players for something or someone, but more importantly he seemed calm and aware. The man was right about the average height, probably right at six foot, and held himself easily. He seemed knowledgeable, but inviting, sporting well-defined features, though not to the extent that most champions had. There were a pair of daggers strapped to his waist, and several more about his person hidden under his light armor.

Stopping in front of the man, Tasalin took in his relaxed posture and the small questioning smile on his face, then nodded. Calm, and well-equipped, just what I’m looking for. “Well you look like the only one who has his wits about him around here.”

The man extended his hand. “Wits, and little else. Name’s Corvid, and you are?”

Tasalin grasped the offered hand, giving it a firm shake and smiling at the man’s honesty.“I’m Tasalin Viridis, nice to meet you Corvid.” He glanced at a player who wandered close, then grimaced. Is this guy the only one who isn’t shell-shocked? Moving from directly in front of Corvid, he leaned back against the wall. “Are you waiting for someone?”

“To be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the situation.” He paused, “although… I’ve been thinking…” he trailed off, lost in thought, then seeming to remember he was in the middle of a conversation, quickly recovers, “A friend would be nice since we are stuck here, do you have any plans for this ‘Final Trial’?”

“Well you’re in luck; I'm looking for a friend as well. As for whatever the ‘Final Trial’ is, well, I expect that to be a long ways off. From the way – Xynus? – was talking, I’m going to guess that we’ll have a lot of time before we have to face that.” Tasalin frowned, furrowing his brow. “What I’m more concerned about is that very last part: ‘The fate of two worlds rests in your hands’.”

“I guess with all the commotion I missed that part.” Corvid replied quizzically, and after a short pause continues, “Tasalin was it? I am a pretty rational man myself and see this type of game; a VRMMO as they call it, as a great way to learn more, and delve deeper into the human psyche. I myself conducted a study of sorts involving the effect of immersing oneself in a virtual world. I believe we are stuck here, as I have tried, and failed to log out, but this talk of saving the world,” he raised one eyebrow, “seems more like a carefully constructed plot hook. So I ask you, how much time did you spend in the beta?”

“The human psyche huh? Well, you’ll get that, and probably not the good side either. I spent quite a bit of time in the beta, got up to the sixth Island by working with those that came along before the Call to Arms to push back the goblins came.” Tasalin sighed, “But there had better be a point to trapping us here. As much as I like Ilos, it’s not somewhere I was looking to stay. How about you? What were you doing in the beta?”

“I ran a guild. We took lower leveled players and gave them the skills to enjoy the game to its full extent. I personally tried to help people who were having trouble adjusting to the differences between real life and virtual reality.” He smiled warmly, “You got a lot further than me in the beta, perhaps you would care to join me in helping some of the players find their place in this game?”

Tasalin laughed deeply. “Being invited to join a guild within the first half hour of the game?” He shook his head, then shrugged. “Ah hell, let’s do it. I’m no good solo anyways, and maybe I’ll be able to do some good like this. You have a plan then?”

Corvid nodded quickly, then responded “Most of the people in the plaza are still confused, and distressed about the fact that we’re stuck here. We simply need to lend them a helping hand, you seem to understand most of the gameplay in relation to questing and combat, and I have good people and organizational skills. We simply invite people to work together and build on that theme, as people decide what they want, we can split them into groups. i.e, combat groups, crafting groups, merchant groups, leaders, etc. For now, we need members, and there’s a plaza full just a short walk away.” He finished with a devilish grin, “Are you ready to create a guild?”

Tasalin smiled slightly and nodded. “It shouldn’t be hard to do; these are all people who have been here before, they should know a lot of things already. I’ll just follow your lead… Guildmaster.”

“Try to gather people around the center of the plaza, while I gather some… supplies.” Corvid requested.

“Hmmm, alright.” Tasalin nodded again, “How long are you planning on being?”

“This should only take a few minutes.” He paused then smiled again, “In fact I may finish before you do.” With a final handshake and pat on the back, Corvid left, striding off to go ‘gather some supplies’.

Tasalin scratched his head, not really liking being left in the dark, then shrugged and headed back to the plaza. The people there were milling about, talking amongst each other, and really just seemed lost, like they didn’t know what to do with this turn of events.

“Hmm… gather people…” His eyes were drawn to the Centerstone in the middle of the plaza, and he grinned. “Here we go.”

Maneuvering his way through the crowd, he made his way to the Centerstone then muttered. “Res.” Reacting to his will and the word of power, the earth under the Centerstone pushed upwards, raising him several feet in the air at the cost of about half of his annoyingly small mana pool.

The players around began gathering almost immediately, drawn to the disturbance… and probably for the distraction. The murmur and crowd grew around him as he stood there, waiting for Corvid. Well, that was easy. What preparations did he have to make?

A man pushing through the crowd drew his attention, resolving into the form of Corvid carrying a bar stool. Tasalin raised a hand, waving, and laughed at the stool. “You should have told me you just needed a platform!”

Corvid laughed, stopping by the pillar and setting down the stool. “I guess we should have talked over the plan a bit before I went lone wolf on you.”

Tasalin jumped down, his armor clanking as he hit the ground, and Corvid climbed up. “Thank you friend, I have been interested in finding an Earth mage, didn’t expect to be this lucky.” He smiled down at Tasalin, then looked up towards the crowd. “Now it’s my turn.” He waved a hand slightly, uttering a word of power. “Su’is.”

Corvid suddenly seemed much more important, a figure that demanded attention and the crowd quieted almost immediately. Tasalin blinked, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment before the realization hit him. This is Spirit elemental magic! Spirit affects the mind, and he’s using it to draw attention to himself.

The man standing on the platform smiled his easy disarming smile as he saw he had the attention of the crowd. “I know you are all scared, or confused. You are having trouble understanding what is going on. What Xynus said is true, we are trapped here, but that doesn’t mean this will be our grave. Just like the first settlers in America, this is a new world, our world. It is our right, and duty to shape it into a better place, a place of peace and wellbeing.” Some of the crowd nodded, others seeming to calm down, their shock fading.

“We all enjoyed this place while it was a game, when there were no stakes, and now that these trials have been thrust upon us, we must use the knowledge we gained from before to overcome them. I ask for your aid now, join me, join together, we will leave this place and gain experience, just as we did in the game, but we will work together, we will protect each other, and we will protect Ilos!!!”

Despite himself, Tasalin couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Others in the crowd nodded as well or even pumped their fists and shouted their agreement. Some shook their heads and began to leave, and some seemed undecided, but everyone who heard the man seemed to have gotten over their initial shock. Those who didn’t leave crowded closer, wanting to get a better look, or perhaps make sure they heard everything.

Corvid paused as those who wanted to leave did so, and allowed the other people to crowd closer. “I can’t offer you much that you don’t already know in the ways of gaining experience, but I can offer you leadership and organization so that we may work together. Instead of simply fighting as individuals, we will become an organized force, greater than any mere party; we will become the bastion upon which Ilos stands. Follow me, as we fight to regain the expertise we had in beta.” With those last words, Corvid jumped down into the crowd, the people parting before him, and started marching towards the Western Gate.

“Res.” The column holding the Centerstone up in the air sunk back into the ground, and Tasalin jogged after his new friend, gently shouldering aside those in his way. He glanced back, noting that what looked like other guild leaders from the beta were making their own platforms, gathering those they worked with before to join them once again. Finially breaking though the throng of people, he fell in beside Corvid, looking back to see how many had actually listened and followed.

“Well. That was… impressive.” Tasalin commented. “I didn’t expect nearly this many to come, a few hundred perhaps. It looks like we have several thousand behind us.” He paused, his eyebrows lowering as he thought, drawing on his dad’s military teachings and his own knowledge of the workings of Ilos. “We’ll have to divide them up into much smaller groups somehow, preferably into groups of four to gain the most xp. Hopefully they can do that themselves, but implementing a command structure for so many is going to be difficult.”

Corvid seemed to ponder those words as they took the hour walk to the Western Gate. Players began splitting off after the initial inspiration of Corvid’s speech faded, most rejoining the group after a short time.

As they reached the West Gate, Corvid turned to face the rather large crowd following him, raising his voice to be heard. “We need to split into parties of four, and I cannot watch over each and every one of you during this time. Use what you learned in beta and make good decisions. To make finding a party easy, tanks will be party leaders, find a tank and follow your roles. These enemies are relatively easy, so now it is crucial that you learn party balance and teamwork. I will wait here until everyone has a party, and once we all get some good experience, meet back here and we can take a break to get to know each other.”

A quiet murmur started when Corvid stopped speaking, then grew quickly in volume as the gathered players began trying to find their friends or someone to group with. As parties of four formed, they slowly filtered out of the West Gate to go kill the boar and other weak enemies that existed just outside the city.

Tasalin looked around, watching the organized chaos, and his ears caught a nearby conversation.

“Why groups of four?” A man wielding a curved sword and a buckler said, asking someone next to him.

The man asked shook his head, causing the arrow shafts in the quiver strapped to his back to rattle. “Didn’t you read the forums when we were in beta? There was a group of people that focused on figuring out how Ilos worked, and after testing different group sizes, they found that parties of four gained the most experience for the time taken to kill things and do quests.”

“But how? There isn’t an experience number anyone can see.”

“They trained until five of them could just break a certain kind of rock with an Iron Hammer in a single blow, then grouped in different size parties and trained until they could break a slightly harder kind of rock with the same hammer. The guy in the party of four did it the fastest, then the party of three, then two, then five, and the guy who trained solo was last.”

“Wow, that must have taken a lot of work.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason the Ilos Testing Crew had the most visited page on the forum.”

“Hey, want to group up? I can play tank.”

“Sure, I have a couple people who might join us if we can find them.”

As the men wandered off, Tasalin started meandering through the crowd, grabbing the people that were too shy to ask anyone if they wanted to group up and sticking them in parties. He turned down anyone who invited him, having already decided that he would be in a party with Corvid, who probably didn’t have all that much combat experience having spent all his time running a guild in the beta.

It took a good half an hour to get everyone out of the gate, leaving Tasalin and Corvid as the only two left. “Well it looks like it’s just the two of us.” Tasalin stated, watching the last party leave the gate.

Before they could head out themselves, a guard approached the pair of them from the gatehouse, seemingly concerned, and bowed his head in greeting. “Avendavida, Champions, is everything alright? We’ve been watching a large number of you head into the wilds, and frankly we’re worried with so many of you all in the same place. Do you have word that something is going to attack the city?”

Corvid turned to the guard, a puzzled look on his face, “Yes. And No.” He paused to figure out a way to explain, “Well, the goblins will be coming in a matter of months, and even that may have changed. There is no current threat that I am aware of, but if we are to protect this city, we need the strength to do so, and that can only be found outside its walls.”

The guard’s uptight posture relaxed and he nodded. “Alright, you had us all worried for a bit there. I will let you be about your business then Champions.” With that he turned and headed back towards the guard house, signaling for the men there to relax.

Tasalin and Corvid headed out the gate and into the Western Fields, populated mostly by boar. Many of the men (and a few women) that they had lead there were using these fields to fight and gain exp. Having all had varying amounts of experience in battle in the beta; they were making quick work of the weak animals. Being in a party allowed them relax a little, and most were setting to it with a will, as if they could fight off the knowledge that they were stuck here. It seemed that there would be no good hunting spots here, so the party of two continued towards the forest that was just beyond the fields.

“He didn’t really seem like an NPC did he? The guard I mean,” Tasalin mused as they walked. “I’ve never seen a computer act that way in response to player actions unless it was a scripted event.”

Perhaps it was. We don’t know what they’ve changed since beta.” Corvid replied, “Either way, it’s one more thing we need to consider when planning for the future.”

“Aye.” Tasalin nodded.

They continued into the forest, passing more of the people they led to the area killing wolves and the like. It took a little bit, but they finally got far enough away from the city to find a good hunting area.

The monsters were probably too much for most of the groups in the newly forming guild, not to mention the guild leader, but Tasalin still strode confidently ahead, secure in his battle prowess. A thought struck him, and he stopped, glancing at his new friend. “You’re a dagger user right? That’s the only kind of weapon I’ve noticed you have. I’m assuming you can throw them as well, considering you have eight of them on you”

“Yep, I like to stay out of close combat, and use my magic to stun enemies and keep them away.” Corvid drew his dagger, and began walking towards a small group of wolves, “Any particular strategies that you prefer using?”

Tasalin shrugged, “I’m a tank. I bash things with my shield and hit them with my sword. There’s a lot more to it than that of course, but that’s the general idea. Let me pull if you wouldn’t mind, makes keeping aggro easier.”

“Sounds good, I’ll use my daggers and stuns to try to keep them off your flank.” Corvid stopped to let his heavily armored companion lead the way, “Any earth magic tricks I should know about?”

Tasalin strode forwards, drawing his sword and shield and banging them together loudly, attracting the attention of a trio of nearby wolves. “Well I generally use earth magic to strengthen myself and my armor-” The wolves attacked, and Tasalin blocked their claws and teeth with his shield, getting used to battle again. “-but I think I’ll save the small amount of mana I have in case either of us gets hurt.” Seeing an opening, he slashed at one with his sword, hitting it and returning to his defensive posture before giving any opportunity for a counterattack. “I use Nature elemental spells as well as Earth, so I can do healing as well as buffs. My spells are rarely offensive.”

Corvid flanked to the side and began throwing his daggers, focusing on the nearest wolf.

The pair of daggers struck accurately, but the wolf hardly seemed hurt, the blades not even sinking in enough to stick. Tasalin sighed to himself, attacking with his sword at another opening and blocking the subsequent counterattack. The experience difference was simply too high to do much damage. That would change pretty quickly if they kept killing these wolves, but it was hardly the most efficient way to get experience.

A few more daggers hit the wolf, doing enough to make it notice Corvid, but before it could make any sort of move to attack the guild leader, Tasalin bashed it with his shield, pulling its attention back to him. He moved slowly backwards in a circle, keeping the wolves in front of him and allowing Corvid to collect his daggers to throw again without getting close to the monsters.

A good few minutes sufficed to bring down each wolf, getting slightly faster each time as the pair got used to live combat again.

A few hours passed as they trained by killing the wolves and other forest monsters, gaining a good amount of experience, enough to take down most of the enemies in less than a minute each. Tasalin still focused on keeping their attention on him until there was only one remaining each time, not trusting Corvid’s battle experience against multiple enemies. They had just finished off a group of monsters when Tasalin noticed a glint in the foliage and spun to face it.

A giant stag stepped carefully through the trees, stopping when it was fully in view of the two men. Its head stood at a height with Tasalin, and it had glistening silver antlers that seemed to shine in the dappled sunlight.

Tasalin heard Corvid slowly sheath his daggers, seemingly as stunned as he himself was. Following his friend’s example, Tasalin crouched down and placed his sword and shield on the ground, they would do little good against an enemy this strong anyway. He hesitated for a moment, then began taking slow steps towards the magnificent animal who stood motionless, watching.

Tasalin used Nature magic, and thus had the ability to tame monsters, turning them into allies. Of course it didn’t always work, and the more powerful the creature the less chance there was of success, but even if it was only a fraction of one percent, he had to try.

Removing his glove, Tasalin held out his hand, slowly moving it so the creature could smell it. Gently, carefully, he moved the hand to rest on the stag’s head, right between its antlers, and whispered, “Kerka.” A warm peaceful feeling encompassed him, like the one you’d get when relaxing by the fireplace at home, wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate, a side effect of the spell. He stared into the creature’s eyes, silently asking for its cooperation, and after a moment, the stag bowed its head.

Tasalin let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and smiled, a shot of excitement flashing through his system. He knew a few things immediately, the stag’s name was Oakheart, he was intelligent, and he had accepted the magic willingly. Stroking the animal’s head, Tasalin looked back at Corvid who seemed to be rooted in place. “I didn’t think I’d be able to pull that off.”

“What… is that?” Corvid whispers in an awed tone.

“This is Oakheart, he’s a…” Tasalin frowned, then asked the silver stag, “What are you?”

*I am a Lord of the Forest, champions.* A deep majestic voice filled their heads. *I would not accept the harness of magic normally, but otherwise I cannot communicate with your kind. A darkness lies over the land, and you are the ones chosen to force it back. Just I will allow you call upon me and my subjects to aid you, so must we be allowed to call upon your help as well.*

“I’m gathering there’s something you need help with right now, else you wouldn’t have shown yourself.”

*Your assumption is correct. A corruption has taken hold in the Western Forest that is my domain, yet any sent against it inevitably fall to its influence, twisting them into abominations!* Oakheart’s ‘voice’ boomed in anger, sending sharp pains through Tasalin’s head and making him flinch and put a hand to his temple. Oakheart bowed his head, seemingly in remorse. *My apologies champions, I am not normally so volatile, but the situation has me on edge. For the first time I am powerless against something that threatens my lands. It is my belief that champions such as yourselves would be immune to the corruption and can safely combat it. I would request your assistance in this matter with as many allies as you can gather, for a great many of my subjects have fallen to the curse.*

“As much as I would like to help, I’m not the leader here. Corvid, what do you want to do?”

Corvid looked at Oakheart, then back to Tasalin, “I don’t… know. We haven’t been here a day and this seems like a difficult quest. I am worried that it may be related to the trials mentioned earlier, but also for the wellbeing of the members we recruited. For now, we should train, and warn the more cowardly members of possibly dangerous and horrific monsters in Western Forest.”

Tasalin frowned. This did seem like a quest that would require a significant force and would be highly difficult for champions that had had to restart from nothing, but they were close enough to Ilos that it couldn’t be too hard. “Oakheart, compared to the wolves and other animals we’ve been fighting here, how much stronger are the monsters troubling your lands?”

*Only a small amount. The taint grants them power but also corrodes their bodies, leaving them slightly more powerful than the warriors I can use to defend against them.*

Damn, there’s no way we can do this, everyone is still getting used to combat again and they’re too weak to last against the wolves this far away, much less something stronger. Tasalin shook his head slightly, looking at the stag. “That would be too much for most of the men to handle right now. Corvid is right Oakheart; we cannot help you until we have trained more. How long can you last against the corruption?”

Oakheart hesitated for a moment before replying. *Ten days, twelve with great losses. After that there will be too little of this forest remaining, and I will perish.*

That would work, and the rewards must be amazing for a raid as big as this sounds like it will be. Tasalin looked at Corvid, doing some quick calculations and hoping to convince him. “If we train slightly more than we did today, we can be ready to face creatures stronger than the ones we were killing earlier in five days. If we add an extra two or three for the rest of the members and a day for preparation and travel, we can make that time limit.”

“That is a great plan; I also think we should scout out the area and see how these corrupted creatures act. Keep in mind that this world can also be very immersive, and some of the players may have panic attacks, or other psychological episodes if they are forced to fight monsters that are too scary.” Corvid turned to Oakheart, “Tas is right about the training, is there any way you could help us to become stronger in battle, perhaps lure out weaker corrupted enemies, or summon weak minions for us to fight?”

*Nature will take its course and the weak will feed the strong, but I will not summon the animals of the forest to a slaughter, even the mindless ones. I can instruct my subjects to draw the corrupted closer to your city, but I cannot control which of them come this far. Some of the corrupted are fearful, but many look almost as they did before the taint took hold. I have watched you for some time, and surely you would have no trouble striking down the corrupted just as you did the animals here.*

“We aren’t exactly representative of the champions as a whole Oakheart. Very few can match me in battle, and even less my mental fortitude like Corvid here can. If one of these corrupted creatures came after them and it was much different than a normal animal, they would flee in fear.” He turned to look at Corvid. “We’re going to have to warn everyone anyway then. What if someone comes across one of these and carries stories back to everyone else? It’ll be a lot harder to get people outside the walls if they think there are creatures from a horror movie lurking around.” Tasalin sighed, “I don’t know dude, I’m no people person. I know how I’d react, and that would be to go find out how strong they are, regardless of appearance, while preferably remaining as close to the city as possible.”

*The weaker corrupted will likely be drawn first, they are generally the front line of the enemy, trying to expose us to their taint with their deaths, but stronger ones will surely follow.*

Corvid nodded sharply as if confirming the decision. “Stay here and keep the corrupted contained Oakheart, me and Tas will gather companions to defeat this threat”

The stag bowed his head, *I am grateful for your assistance champions. I will instruct my followers to begin drawing the corrupted towards the city and to flee rather than fight any champions they come across. Farewell.*

The two men watched the majestic creature turn and walk further into the forest, vanishing from sight almost immediately from some machination of the trees. Tasalin let out a breath, “Well, that happened. Shall we head back? We’ve likely gotten a good amount more experience than most will be able to today.”

Corvid nodded. “I don’t think I’d be able to focus on combat now anyway.”

Tasalin returned the nod, then placed his index fingers and thumbs together, forming a rough circle and concentrating on Ilos. The compass faded into view in the empty space between his hands, a glowing arrow pointing the way back towards the city. The two traveled in silence, wrapped in their own thoughts. Tasalin could feel Oakheart behind them in the distance somehow, but there was no communication from that end. He wasn’t sure of the exact nature of the connection between him and the stag, but questioning magic only served to drive yourself crazy, you just had to accept that it was something you couldn’t understand.

When the pair reached the city, they found a large gathering of players, certainly more than a hundred, but only a fraction of those sent out. It had only been a few hours, and while looking them over Tasalin concluded that these must be the best fighters of the newly forming guild, probably with a few slackers mixed in. They simply had that confident air about them, that knowledge that they could handle themselves in a battle, and it showed in their bodies and their gait. Some are sitting in their groups of four, others walking around, or eating, or just generally mingling. There were a few duels going on with their colorful light displays and people watching, some groups playing cards they had picked up in the city somewhere, and even a few players napping in the afternoon sun. They could be from any country, any walk of life, any race, but there was a complete lack of animosity between anyone. These people had two major things in common, they were gamers and they were all trapped here, and that was a lot of ground for potential friendships. A party on the outskirts of the crowd saw the two approaching and rose to greet them, a few others in the area following their example.

Word spread quickly, and the low rumble of conversation softened, going almost entirely quiet when Corvid raised a hand and began speaking so all could hear. “It is good to see so many of you have already completed today’s training. We should celebrate the formation of the guild with a real party. Head to the Sunset Wall tavern and begin the festivities, me and Tas will direct the other members as they arrive.”

Tasalin wiggled a finger in his ear. Damn but the man can project.

Seeing that that was all the guild leader had to say, conversation bubbled up again almost instantly.

“A party?”

“I know where that is, it’s a pretty big place.”

“Can you get drunk here? I’ve never tried.”

“Yeah, you can. The tavern maids are pretty hot too.”

“Hell, why not? If we’re gonna be stuck here we may as well enjoy it.”

“I’ll let the guards know so they don’t flip out.”

“I’m pretty sure there are a bunch of other taverns and inns in that area as well, there might be enough room for everyone.”

“C’mon, what are you waiting for? Let’s go! Parties are crazy here!”

“And we can get rooms before everyone else shows up.”

Tasalin waited with his new friend as the hundred or so players began to drift towards the city gates. “A party huh? Not a bad way to get everyone familiar with each other, but the guards aren’t going to be happy with a few thousand drunken people in such a small area.” He commented as the initial group traveled out of earshot.

“It will be good for morale, and I need them busy while I begin work on getting a guild hall and some more information about Oakheart and the corruption.” Corvid paused as a group of adventurers appeared, and after a warm greeting, he directed them to the party. Returning to his conversation with Tasalin, he continued, “Besides, I’m curious about what exactly has changed since this was a game. I don’t remember hearing anything about Oakheart and the corruption.”

Tasalin frowned. “Neither do I, and I feel like that would have been mentioned at some point had it happened in the beta. The biggest change is that we can’t log out of course, but other than this corruption thing and the black floor stones in the plaza, I haven’t noticed anything different. My sword and shield still feel the same, though the system assist isn’t helping me as much with the attacks because I don’t have enough xp, the inventory system is still working as well as the compass, and we still don’t feel pain or anything. That Xynus guy said that we would respawn if we died, but I don’t particularly want to test that myself.”

“For now we need to make sure everyone knows where the party is at, and then we can stop in for a chat before beginning with some guild work.”

Tasalin nodded, then spotting another group approaching, waved to get their attention. There would be a lot to do, even with Corvid taking care of the guild and social aspects. He would have to find and meet with the best warriors, probably splitting them up to train some of the players who didn’t have the skill to deal with a quest like this. There would probably be a large guild meeting the next day where he would have to explain about the corruption with telepathic help from Oakheart, and then he’d have to see about forming parties of scouts to gather information about the area, organize those who were great in combat but didn’t incline towards teaching into groups, set up some sort of communication network with spirit magic telepathy, separate out those that didn’t want to fight and set them to support work, and probably a hundred other things he couldn’t think of at the moment.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He’d never felt so alive! Any place that could give him this feeling was worth protecting, and if there was something he was good at, it was defending his friends and allies. For the first time he looked up at the city, the towering walls, the glistening buildings inside, the Palace rising from the center, sparking with color and light as the sun reflected off of it. They were stuck here, and while Ilos wasn’t ‘home’ yet, it was already on its way.