The Curse
Author: Phoenix Grey
Date: 2018-10-10 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Fiction; Science Fiction; Role Playing Games
Description: A dark epic LitRPG saga for fans of Grimgar, Dungeons and Dragons, and Sword Art Online. Will refused to admit to the HR lady at Radical Interactive that he’d never played their debut virtual reality MMORPG The Realm. From what he’d seen in videos and heard from reviewers, the game sucked. With the company’s failed attempt at entering the gaming industry, they switched their sights to focus on smaller scale educational programs. Being a beta tester for Radical Interactive was not the dream job that Will had envisioned, but he had hoped it would get his foot in the door to one day becoming a gr

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

About the Author

End of Book Character Sheets

End of Book Shit

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The Realm Between

Book 1: The Curse

PHOENIX GREY

Text copyright 2018 by Phoenix Grey

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.

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Dedicated to John for helping me to brainstorm the finer plot twists of this series (coming in later books).

PROLOGUE

EARTH - February 3rd, 2057

Energy zinged through Will as he hastily scribbled his information down on the employment documents for his new beta testing job at Radical Interactive. This was the only time he'd ever felt so much excitement from landing a job. He had walked through the large glass double doors with pep in his step, wearing his best suit. The pretty young receptionist had grinned at his overzealous enthusiasm as she had signed him in and told him to take a seat in the waiting room while he waited for the human resources representative to call him back to fill out his new hire paperwork.

This still didn't seem real to him. How many guys dreamed of working for a company like Radical Interactive, a giant in the virtual reality industry? The spaces on Radical Interactive's beta testing team were limited and coveted by aspiring graphic designers, the first step to beginning a career with the company.

Everyone started at the bottom. Whether you advanced or not depended on your skill and drive. Will had his bachelors in video game graphic design. He'd had it for three years now but had never been able to get his foot in the door with any of the gaming companies. It was a cutthroat industry, with thousands of guys just like him fighting for a tiny sliver of the pie. He had known going in that most people with degrees in video game design never actually got to work in the field. Many of his friends and family members had warned him about pursuing it as a career. Pigheaded and determined, he had ignored their cautionary advice. Two of his friends were also going to college for different aspects of video game design. He never even saw them as competition or thought about the throngs of other people he met online who were going to school for the same thing. For most of his life, he had been lucky enough. He had amazing parents who loved and supported him, great friends who always had his back and a nerdy girlfriend he had met in his character development class. Why shouldn't the gods favor him in this, too?

Right out of college, he had applied to every video game company he could think of. Why start at the bottom when he'd served his time and gotten his degree? He went straight for the jugular, putting his name in for video game graphic design jobs that required years of experience.

After a few months of rejection letters, he became more humble. Maybe it wasn't so easy to land a job in the industry after all? He thought he had an impressive portfolio, but there were admittedly others that he'd seen online that blew him away. It was clear that the world was full of amazingly talented jobless graphic designers.

His parents began to pressure him to get a job, and he eventually took on part-time work at a restaurant while he tried to beef up his portfolio to better match the competition and continue to submit his application whenever a job slot would open at one of the major gaming companies. But luck didn't seem to be on his side, and the cold reality of his folly started to creep in with all of its despair. He would likely never work for a gaming company.

Not wanting to waste his degree entirely, he went into the tech field. He didn't dislike his job, but it wasn't ideal. Few things were more frustrating than getting a service call and walking into someone's home to find that their cat had walked behind their computer and unplugged it. Were people really that lazy these days that it was easier for them to call his company than to follow a cord? The answer was yes. Unfortunately, the world he lived in was full of morons that never ceased to amaze him.

Life became stale, for lack of a better word. He settled into his droll existence, fixing computers during the day and escaping into the fantasy worlds he had wanted to help build at night. It was bittersweet every time a new game came out. While he loved playing them, it was also a reminder of what his life should have been. How did the people who landed these jobs get in? He wondered. Did they have connections? Was his portfolio really shit and he just didn't know it? He had asked several of his friends and they'd always seemed impressed by his work. But perhaps those opinions were biased or they were just trying to be nice. He wasn't sure he cared anymore. Life hadn't dealt him the hand he had wanted, so he just had to play the cards he was given.

He still had his email notifications set up to tell him every time a new gaming job was posted, but he never had much hope when applying to them. Why would he when he knew what to expect? Form letter after form letter telling him they had found a candidate better suited for the position. He had grown numb to reading them. Half of the time, he didn't even open the emails. Why should he when the first visible line in the preview said 'Thank you for your interest. We're sorry to inform you...'

Yeah, I'm sure you're really sorry.

Radical Interactive wasn't a gaming company, which is probably why they hadn't just passed over his application when it landed on their HR desk. Their target market was the education and medical industries, designing software that utilized the advanced VR systems for teaching hands-on application. That wasn't particularly exciting to Will. What was exciting was that they had mastered the most realistic rendering of items in the VR world thus far. They only promoted the best of the best graphic designers to work for them, which meant that Will had a real chance of getting his name out there if he could advance in the company.

Will was so used to getting rejection letters that he almost deleted the response email from Radical Interactive when he first saw it. He had ticked the box next to it with all of the other junk he received on a daily basis. It wasn't until right before he was about to click the delete button that he noticed the preview said 'Congratulations.'

When he opened the email, he thought his heart might burst through his ribcage. He had landed a phone interview! How exciting was that? The first time a company had even given him a chance to prove himself worthy!

The rest seemed like a dream. To be honest, Will hadn't held much hope that he'd make it all the way through the interview process. Even though Radical Interactive wasn't a gaming company, positions were still highly sought after. He nearly shit himself when they raved about his portfolio and wanted to take him on immediately. Now, he was finally going to get a shot at his dream.

He zoomed through the paperwork, scribbling his name so quickly that it was barely legible on most pages. His eyes scanned over the documents, the W-9 and nondisclosure agreements and all the other red tape that comes with starting a new job. He'd seen similar forms many times before at other jobs he'd worked at. It wasn't until he reached the very last form that he gave pause.

Consent to Beta Test The Realm

If he remembered correctly, The Realm had been Radical Interactive's maiden voyage into the VRMMORPG world. Back then, the company was just a startup, and they didn't have the funds to hire the best designers in the business. The game was blocky, glitchy, and had an underwhelming response when pitted against the competition. Sales of the game never really spiked, and it was practically forgotten before it even gained ground. The company nearly went under from the failure of the project. That's when they shifted their focus to smaller applications, focusing on quality for their short educational games instead of spreading their resources thin to build a giant immersive world.

For a moment, Will was excited that they might be trying to revamp and revive the game. That was a project he'd definitely like to work on. But as he read down the paper, he realized that they weren't planning on a wide release. Instead, they were testing the game on patients with brain issues, working with the medical industry in the hopes that they could use the game to repair damaged parts of the brain to make patients whole again. Will just couldn't imagine how the blocky rendering could do anything but frustrate the people subjected to it. The gameplay videos he'd seen were less than impressive, which is why he had never bothered to pick up the game. Of course, he'd never tell them that.

"Is something wrong?" Belinda, the HR lady, asked when she noticed Will furrowing his brow. She looked curt and professional in a beige pencil skirt and a white blouse with a ruffle around the collar. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Thick-rimmed black glasses framed her eyes in squares, giving her that sexy, demure librarian look.

"No." Will shook his head. "I was just kind of hoping you guys were going to revive The Realm." If Radical Interactive did decide to get back into the gaming industry, it would be a dream come true for him.

"Did you ever play it?" her voice rang with skepticism. Will doubted she frequently was told yes. Then again, maybe he was wrong? Most people who really wanted to work for a company researched it thoroughly, and The Realm was the very start of Radical Interactive. Whether he liked it or not, he would probably have to pick up a copy and give it a play through if he ever wanted to advance in the company. It would be a good suck up tactic if he ever got a chance to talk to the higher-ups. Surely, he could find something about the game to praise, even if it was crap.

"Did you?" He turned the question around on her, not wanting to offend.

"No. Video games aren't really my thing," she admitted with a hint of embarrassment.

I guess you don't really need to like video games to work in HR.

"I'd love to see Radical Interactive get back into video game design. Like large-scale VRMMORPGs and such," Will confessed. It certainly didn't hurt to tell her that. Besides, the company was called Radical Interactive. What was so radical about designing stuff for colleges and the medical industry? Nothing. They should have changed their name to something less cool if that's the direction they had planned on going in.

"I'm not sure if that will ever happen," Belinda said, making it obvious that she wasn't really in the know about what projects the company had planned for the future. "But I hear that The Realm is pretty cool. Have you watched any footage of it?"

"Not recently," he replied in a low voice, internally cringing at the memory of players walking through non-textured grass, swinging their unrealistic weapons at unnaturally angular monsters with pixels glitching in the background.

Will would be lying if he said his heart didn't drop a little at the thought that Radical Interactive would likely never get into real game design again. Sure, what they did helped advance the world, but it wasn't exactly a nerd's wet dream. His excitement only ebbed for a second. Maybe if he ascended the ranks, he could change that—he could convince the CEOs that it would be well worth their money to invest in another game. After all, they had one of the best design teams in the world now, and he was confident he could help to fix their wonky graphics problem.

He sighed contentedly at the idea, scrawling his name at the bottom of the paper. At the time, he had no idea what he was actually signing up for.

CHAPTER ONE

EARTH - August 15th, 2057

It was a shitty day, though that was partially Will's own fault. He had stayed up until nearly 4AM the night before playing Masterwind, a new VRMMORPG released by Phantomrealm Media, his favorite gaming company.

When he had put on the white helmet that immersed him in the fantasy world, it had felt like falling into a dream. Everything around him had faded, and he became one with the game. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. The helmet gave the game access to a player's parietal lobe, allowing them to feel sensations.

Phantomreal Media wasn't the first gaming company to tap into brain manipulation, but they were the best at it so far. For the first time ever, they were introducing the sensation of feeling pain. No longer would players absentmindedly rush into combat with a foe twice their level.

Will had felt the consequences of that last night when he had tried fighting a drake with almost a dozen levels on him. A bite from the beast had sent pain pulsing up his arm like the beat of a drum, though it had reminded him more of a muscle spasm than a bite. Uncomfortable and pinching, but not unbearable. Just enough to make him take a step back and rethink his next move before charging in blindly again.

After his friends had joined in to help him defeat the drake, Will had downed a healing potion and then went on about his business. No harm, no foul.

A glutton for punishment and always one to push the boundaries, Will urged his friends to stand in a suicide circle and kill each other just to see what it would feel like. A monster could have accomplished the same, but it was a lot more fun talking shit, faking each other out, and laughing while they waited for their impending deaths.

While not everyone died at once, everyone did eventually get their turn to feel the quick blast of pain wherever they'd been struck and a draining weakness that flowed through the body before the screen faded to black and showed the prompt:

You have died.

The fact that death held some consequence besides the typical oh shit I lost my gear and respawn made the game a lot more realistic and fun.

In truth, Will spent a vast majority of his night touching things needlessly, feeling the textures of metal and cloth and wood. The coolness of water on his fingertips, though it still didn't feel wet. He even managed to convince one of his female friends to allow him to touch her boobs. That was exciting in more ways than one, feeling the muted suppleness of her flesh. It wasn't perfectly realistic, but it was pretty close. Thankfully, his character couldn't visually pop a boner without him willing it, something he wished he had more control over in the real world.

Originally, he had planned to go to bed whenever the game threw up the prompt to warn him that it was time to take a break, but Will had been having so much fun that he took the necessary fifteen-minute log out and then hopped right back in for another four hours. Unfortunately, he was so tired from playing afterward that he slept right through his alarm. When he finally did wake up, Will had half a mind to call in until he remembered that he was already skating on thin ice with his attendance thanks to calling in to watch a gaming tournament with his friends. But damn, was it ever tempting.

The thought of dragging himself out of bed and subjecting himself to eight hours of simulated open-heart surgery wasn't appealing at all, especially since he'd already been working on the same project for nearly three weeks. He was pretty sure that by the time the software was ready for release, he'd be able to perform open-heart surgery in real life. That was the purpose of the software, after all, to teach aspiring surgeons. This was giving Will a completely different type of education than he had ever expected, and he felt no closer to his goal of moving up as a graphic designer in the company, even though that's what he had to tell himself every day just to get out of bed.

He had heard through the grapevine before landing the job that being a beta tester was boring work, but that was an understatement. Performing the same actions over and over again day in and day out made him feel like a drone. Wasn't technology advanced enough that they could just run software to test all of these simulations for flaws? He supposed he should be glad it wasn't; otherwise, he wouldn't have a job.

But there was something else disconcerting about the work. Everything was so realistic. It was like Radical Interactive had gone into an operating room with a video camera and recorded a surgery then somehow managed to put it into the game with a ridiculous amount of detail. Wearing their VR headset, it was like you were right there with a real patient. Will couldn't even imagine designing something this intricate. It was so well done that he would have been able to fool himself into thinking it was real if not for the lack of the scent of rich coppery blood that would have undoubtedly permeated the room from having an open chest cavity right in front of him.

Radical Interactive also made use of accessing the parietal lobe, though to a much lesser degree. Will had thought that years of horror movies and video games had desensitized him already, but it hadn't even begun to prepare him for this kind of realism. He could feel the smoothness of the scalpel in his hand, the way the skin gave way beneath the weight of it, creating the slightest popping sound when he pushed it in. The first time Will had run through the program, it had made him sick to his stomach having to saw through the patient's sternum to get to the still-beating heart inside. He had to take several breaks, at which he was sure his coworkers would have laughed at him had they not been immersed in the same scenario in their own private operating rooms.

But now he was used to it. Seeing blood and gore and the worst of human illness was a daily part of his life. Putting on the headset and being transformed from an aspiring video game graphic designer into a doctor. He and his co-workers jokingly called themselves doctors when they were away from the office grabbing beers. It would have been a good way to pick up girls if Will wasn't already in a relationship—a relationship that felt like it had been dying with each passing day since he'd moved away to California to take this job, leaving his friends and family in Ohio behind.

Will had been excited to move across the country at first. Above all else, his career took precedence. Sheila had known that. Though it broke his heart to do it, Will had given Sheila the opportunity to bail on the relationship before he left, but she had insisted that they could still make it work despite the distance. For about the first month after he left for California, they made sure to video chat every day. But as the weeks and months ticked on, their contact became less and less. Now he was lucky to get a text a day from her and video chat once a week. He could feel her boredom with the relationship when they spoke, and to be honest, he felt it from his end, too. That didn't make him want to let her go any more, though. They had had a good thing when he was in Ohio, so much in common that they never got sick of spending time together. Will had been certain that she was the girl he was going to marry up until he'd gotten the acceptance email from Radical Interactive. He had even bought an engagement ring with the plan to propose to her. But that had all fallen apart the second he found out that he was moving and she wasn't willing to move with him.

She had switched her major shortly after they'd met to veterinary medicine, realizing that it was probably more lucrative than going into the already oversaturated video game industry. She had been working part-time as a kennel tech at one of the local veterinary hospitals when they had met, and it was obvious she had a great love for animals and their well-being. It only made sense that she would want to continue that line of work. Now a veterinary technician, she only had one more year of school left before she could start her internship, and she'd already been promised a position at the veterinary hospital she worked at, so it didn't make sense for her to follow Will to California when she had already begun building the foundation for her career long before he had.

Worse was that they had no tentative plan in place for either of them to eventually relocate to be closer to the other. As much as it hurt him, Will was pretty sure that Sheila was relying on his career failing so that he'd move back to Ohio to be with her, though she always only voiced support for his decision behind a veil of pain. She was a good girlfriend. No man could ask for better, and that's why it hurt him so much to feel like he was losing her.

When Will called to tell his boss that he was going to be late, he was met with irritation. That was to be expected. What hadn't been expected was the meeting that followed when he actually got to work, his superiors rounding him up into one of the empty office rooms typically reserved for small meetings. They scowled at him in disappointment as they informed him that if he was late or tardy one more time, he'd be out the door. He took the lecture like a beaten dog, his tail between his legs, muttering his apologies. They reminded him of what a great opportunity it was to be working for Radical Interactive, and he didn't dare to disagree.

It was true, after all. This was his one chance in a lifetime, an opportunity that most aspiring game designers weren't afforded. He was almost as confused as they were as to why he was fucking up so much. But deep in his heart, he knew it was because his passion wasn't in the work. The first few weeks of seeing everything that Radical Interactive had to offer were exciting, getting to play with their tech in a limited fashion. But the shiny new car smell had worn off quickly with the repetition of his job. And there were days when he downright dreaded coming into work.

"I won't be late again," he promised, trying to sound as earnest as possible.

"You better not be," his supervisor warned in a strictly business voice. Usually, it was hard to take her seriously. At only 5'2 and with a youthful face littered with freckles, it felt like a child was lecturing him, not someone two years his senior. She was a tomboy through and through, and a damn good supervisor, if truth be told. Had they not worked together, Will liked to have thought they could have been friends. He knew she hated lecturing him just as much as he hated receiving the lecture.

As he left the meeting room and returned to his cubical, all he could think was that Sheila might finally get her wish. If Will lost his job, he would hang around California for a month or two to try to land another job with one of the other various video game companies in the state, but the truth of the matter was that the urge to go home was great. He hadn't really made any friends since moving here. His only reprieve from loneliness aside from talking to people back home was to plug himself into a game at night and get lost in the fantasy world, hooking up with the friends he'd made around the globe. They were beginning to seem like truer friends than anyone he'd met in real life. Sometimes, Will liked to pretend that the games were real and what he woke up in every morning was some make-believe nightmare.

Will put in his time slicing open chests, cutting through sternums and rerouting arteries and veins. The software was almost ready for release, so there were few glitches to report. He'd done this so many times that he was pretty sure he could perform open-heart surgery in his sleep. The day was long and boring and filled with the anxiety of worrying about screwing up again. He definitely had to get to bed on time tonight. Masterwind could wait. It wasn't like it was going anywhere, and neither was he.

Will watched the clock display in the top right hand corner of his field of vision almost as intently as he watched what he was doing. It was okay if he botched a scenario, if he dropped a scalpel in the patient's chest or cut the wrong artery. Some of the testing even called for him to make mistakes. All that mattered was that the software didn't lose its realism. That everything was in the correct place. That the patient's reaction was as it should be in the scenario, the machines beeping with the uptick of the patient's blood pressure or flatlining when he cut something vital.

Will let out a sigh as his shift ended and he was finally free from the tedious repetition. Relief flooded him as he walked through the glass double doors of the building. It was crazy to think that just six months ago, the thought of having access to this building thrilled him. Now, it had become his ball and chain.

He shook the thought away with a soft huff before tapping his wrist comp to power it on. While inside the building, all phones and cameras were prohibited. It was understandable. Radical Interactive's technology was cutting edge, and they didn't want what they were working on to leak out. Past employees had been sued for posting pictures online. Idiots, Will thought. Who would be willing to lose their job just for the sake of bragging about what they were working on? Maybe they had been stuck in a redundant position too and were just sick of it. Who knew?

Will brought up his text notifications, and his heart grew lighter as he saw one from Sheila. Damn, did he ever miss her. The tinkling sound of her laughter and the comfort of holding her in his arms. Maybe it was because his day had sucked so much that he was feeling starved for affection. Or perhaps he just wanted to be comforted after getting yelled at by his superiors.

But as soon as he read the message from her, all of the happy feelings inside of him faded away.

"We need to talk."

Historically speaking, nothing a woman has ever said after those words has been a good thing.

Dread gathered in Will's gut, bubbling and leaving a vile taste in his mouth. Something told him that he'd need to be sitting down for whatever she had to say. Something also told him that he was about to get dumped.

"Better get this over with," Will muttered as he headed out into the parking lot. He usually tried to sneak out a few minutes early to avoid the traffic that accumulated from everyone getting off from work at the same time, but his impatience to hear what Sheila had to say would most likely get him stuck behind a line of cars.

He opened the door of his light blue beater and slid inside, looking back at the Radical Interactive building that no longer impressed him. It was red brick on the outside with windows lining all three stories. Branching out in four directions, the building was shaped like a cross. Just like the company it belonged to, it was unique in terms of architecture. The first floor was partially underground. White steps led up to the second floor where Will worked. He sighed, thinking about climbing those steps again in the morning and cutting open more chests. Thankfully, his supervisor had told him that the project should be wrapped up by the end of the week. At least that was something he had to look forward to.

Will tapped on Sheila's face to dial her number. A few rings later, she answered like she wasn't happy to hear from him.

"You wanted to talk?" he said, just wanting to get to the meat of the conversation.

"Yeah," she hesitated.

"What's up?" he spurred her on.

"How was your day?"

Really? Do we need to have this meaningless bit of chatter when you're about to drop a bomb on me?

"It was shitty."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Sheila's voice trailed off solemnly. Will could detect traces of guilt, and he half expected her to..."We can talk about this later if you'd like."

There it was. Even at her worst, there was usually a sweetness to Sheila. At least he knew she still cared about him to some extent.

"No. It's fine. Same as all the other days really," he lied, trying to alleviate some of her stress and get her to say whatever it was she needed to say to him.

"Are you sure it's all right?" Now she was just stalling.

"It's fine. Just say what you need to say." He gestured in a circular motion.

"I... We can't be together anymore."

There it was. The icing on his shit cake. The brown swirly, smelly icing.

"I might lose my job," he blurted out, hoping it would turn things around.

Sheila was silent for a moment, digesting what he had just said.

"I'm sorry." She didn't sound happy about the implication that he might be coming back. Will wasn't sure if it was because she was feeling sorry for him, but that's what he chose to believe.

"It's fine. So I may be coming home soon." He took a deep breath, resting his elbow on the windowsill and staring at Radical Interactive. It felt like everything was falling apart around him. Maybe if he gave up his job, he could save this one good thing in his life.

"I'm sure your parents will be happy if you do."
That was not the reaction he had expected at all. His parents? What about her? It was a question that begged asking.

"And what about you?" he put his thoughts into words.

"Will, I..." The pit in his stomach deepened as he began to realize that there was more to this than meets the eye. "I met someone else."

"What?" His mouth dropped open, all the moisture leaving it. He imagined he looked like a fish.

"I met someone else," she repeated more solidly.

The pit filled with angry vipers wanting to strike with their poisonous venom. It was like someone kept tossing snakes into his stomach, filling it by the second until he would have no choice but to let some loose. Sheila had always been good to him, and she didn't deserve that. So he did the one thing he knew to do to keep from yelling at her in frustration. He hung up on her.

Will's world spun on its axis. He felt dizzy from fatigue and stress. Thank God he had a self-driving car or he probably would have just slept off his depression in the parking lot.

He stared at his wrist comp, waiting for Sheila to call him back, to tell him that she had made a mistake and that she wanted to try to work things out with him. They'd been together for six years already. How could she just move on like that? She knew he'd come back for her eventually. Didn't she? He had half-expected her to try to dump him, but not like this. Not to be completely replaced.

After five minutes passed and there was no sign that she was going to try to call back, Will slammed both fists against the steering wheel. "Fuck."

The pressure had been building up inside of him. He had wanted to be patient, but he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" He beat into the steering wheel again and again, not caring if he broke it. This was just too much.

Will blew out an exasperated breath and rested his head on his balled fists for a few minutes before pushing the button in the steering column to power on his car and then tapping the home button on the console. Thankfully, the car would take care of the rest. All he wanted was to get home and immerse himself in Masterwind—to pretend this shitty day never happened and that his life didn't actually exist. But first, he had to contend with the stupidly long line of cars filtering out of the parking lot.

The drive home was riddled with thoughts and regrets and what ifs. Will knew deep down in his heart that staying in California and trying to turn his lame-ass job at Radical Interactive into a career was the right thing to do. But damn, did he ever want to fly home to Ohio and try to talk some sense into Sheila. For as bored as he'd gotten with the relationship, he still wanted to be in it. Knowing he had someone there for him through thick and thin had meant more to him than he had realized. Sure, he still had his parents and his friends back home and his online friends, but it just wasn't the same. Sheila was special. She had always been special. But the realist in him knew that it was better to just let her go. Their lives were headed in different directions. They'd been heading that way from the start. She had known from the beginning that he'd have to move out of state to get a decent job once he got his degree. The relationship had always been doomed. By the time Will pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, he knew he just had to accept it. That didn't make it hurt any less, though.

Will dragged himself out of his car and took long slow steps towards the elevator. It felt like his pockets were filled with rocks. That his heart was a boulder. That every part of him just wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor and not get up again. Would playing Masterwind even make him feel better after having such a shitty day? It wasn't just one thing eating at him. His concentration was piss poor, he desperately needed sleep, and all he could think about was the good times he'd had with Sheila and that there'd never be any more.

He braced himself against the wall of the elevator as it ascended, chiming at every floor it passed. There was no elevator music, and the elevator itself smelled like watermelon, though Will wasn't sure why. Usually, it smelled old and musty, or occasionally like dog piss when an unresponsible pet owner would allow their dog to urinate wherever it pleased. Will always checked the floor before stepping into the elevator. It had been clear shortly after moving into the complex that one of his neighbors had a dog with a weak bladder.

It's kind of sad when the only good thing that happened to me today was that the elevator doesn't smell like piss, Will thought disparagingly.

The elevator shook slightly as it came to a stop on the fourth floor and the bell chimed one last time as the doors slid open. He walked out into the hallway, keys in hand, ready to hole himself in for a long night of gaming. As he slid his key into the lock, the door of the apartment next to his clicked open, and Will cringed from the sound.

For the briefest of moments, he regretted his reaction. Moira Fields, the widow next door, was a kindly old lady, but she wouldn't hesitate to ask him for a favor. It was a 50/50 chance that she had food for him or wanted something. Will desperately hoped it was the first of the two. He had little interest in performing menial tasks with the mood he was in.

"Oh good, you're home." Mrs. Fields poked her head out her door to make sure it was him before her body followed. She was wearing an oversized floral nightgown that buttoned all the way up to her neck. Her short gray hair was up in pink curlers, and she had blue slippers on her feet. Will immediately noticed that there was no tray of cookies or a casserole dish in her hand, which could only mean one thing.

Shit.

"How are you today, Mrs. Fields?" Will scrubbed the back of his neck with his hand, his voice strained. He didn't bother hiding his discomfort. Maybe if he made it obvious that he wasn't in the mood to help her, she'd let him go.

No such luck.

"One of the lights went out in my kitchen." She pointed back inside her apartment. "I have a bulb already. Could you come screw it in for me?"

How many old ladies does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Will thought bitterly, then immediately regretted it. Mrs. Fields had always been kind to him. When he had first moved into the complex, she had taken him under her wing, bringing him food every now and then. She was like a mother away from home. He just didn't feel like dealing with her right now.

"You know the maintenance guys are supposed to supply you with those. There's no need for you to spend your money on them." He knew she was on disability and probably didn't have the money to spare. Most people in the complex were living from paycheck to paycheck. It wasn't in the ghetto, but it wasn't one of the nicer apartment complexes either.

"You know how long they take to do anything around here." Mrs. Fields screwed her face in displeasure.

She wasn't wrong. After placing a service call to maintenance, it typically took a few days for them to show up. Still, if her apartment was anything like his (which it was), there were multiple lights in the kitchen. Replacing the lightbulb wasn't exactly urgent business.

The compulsion to tell her he was busy was great, but he knew he'd hurt her feelings if he said no, so he acquiesced with an inward sigh, following her into her unit to find the offending outage. The scent of baby powder, cat piss, and some kind of food filled his nostrils to create a putrid bouquet of fragrances that should never mix. With his back to Mrs. Fields, he wrinkled his nose, taking in her hodgepodge decorating job. The walls of her apartment were adorned with a mix of completed cross stitching projects, photos of her family, and various paintings of children, cats, and landscapes. She had a lot of knick-knacks lying about but wasn't quite a hoarder.

He turned his attention to the kitchen as they entered it, his mind going back to the day's misery. Maybe if he did a good deed, he'd feel better. He was willing to try anything. Besides, Mrs. Fields was likely to cook for him as a reward for helping her, and Will could definitely use the comfort of a home-cooked meal right now.

As if reading Will's mind, Mrs. Fields said, "I was just getting ready to take a meatloaf out of the oven. Maybe you'd like to stay for dinner afterward?"

For as much as Will wanted to go home and plug himself into Masterwind, the idea of familiar human company outranked his desire to delve into a fantasy world. So did the rumbling in his stomach. All he'd had today so far was a quick cup of coffee this morning and a bag of chips from the vending machine at work. He absolutely refused to spend money on the outrageously priced cafeteria food, and he'd woken up too late to pack himself a lunch.

"Dinner would be great, ma'am." He looked up at the burnt out bulb that sat in the middle of an S fixture of other bulbs hanging over the kitchen.

She definitely could have waited for the maintenance guys to come fix this. Oh well. I'm already here. Might as well get it done and collect my reward.

"Meow." Mrs. Fields' cat, Mittens, circled Will's feet. He reached down to rub behind the cat's ears only to get a surprise bite.

"Ow." He withdrew his hand, checking his finger for puncture wounds.

"Mittens! What's wrong with you?" Mrs. Fields chastised the cat before turning her attention to Will with an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. He's getting cranky in his old age."

Will refrained from punting the cat across the room like a football, though he really wanted to. One good kick would probably kill the poor creature. In cat years, he was likely older than Mrs. Fields, who was in her 70s. His grey fur was patchy, and there was a crook in his tail where Mrs. Fields had accidentally broken it many years ago by shutting it in a door.

The cat gave its owner a quizzical look but didn't bother moving away from Will's legs until she handed him an old metal stepladder. It creaked on its rusted hinges as he pried it into an open position. When he set it down on the tile floor, it didn't seem to be well-balanced. Will caught himself wondering if it was safe before Mrs. Fields snagged his attention by handing him the replacement light bulb.

"Be careful," she warned, as if he needed such a warning.

Will took the bulb and climbed the two steps until he could reach the light fixture. The stepladder teetered beneath his feet, and he found himself wanting to grab for the handle. Once on the top step, he reached up to unscrew the dead bulb.

"I'll take it," Mrs. Fields offered, extending her hand to him.

Will shifted his weight, and an ear-piercing scream rose up from the floor. It wasn't a human scream, but an animal's. Will looked down just in time to see the cat's foot stuck under the stepladder. Panicked, he leaned back in the hopes that the stepladder would shift off of Mitten's trapped appendage, but he put too much weight into it and ended up losing his balance.

The light bulb flew from his hand, sailing over the kitchen bar and landing somewhere in the living room with a crack and shatter. Will's feet slipped out from under him as the stepladder began to topple over, and Mrs. Fields moved out of the way just in time to miss Will crashing into her. He gripped for the counter to gain his footing but missed, his head coming down on the corner of it with a sickening thud that sent his entire world into darkness.

CHAPTER TWO

EARTH – August 20th, 2057

A nurse monitored the beeping machines hooked up to Will and reported to a man wearing a black suit standing by the side of his bed. "Patient stable. All vitals are good."

The man was bald with a smooth face, tall at 6'2 and with impeccable posture. His brown eyes betrayed false sympathy as he stared down at Will's body as if he was an object and not a person.

Will's parents sat a few feet away clutching each other's hands as they watched their sleeping son from a distance. Not sleeping. In a coma. It didn't seem real to them, but it was. The brain trauma from the impact with the corner of Mrs. Fields' kitchen counter had been severe. Will was stable for now, but there was no guarantee he'd ever wake up.

"Is this really safe?" Will's mother asked. She was on the edge of her seat, apprehension in her mind as to whether or not they should allow Radical Interactive to carry on with this experiment when their son was in such a fragile state. The decision was out of her hands, though. Will had signed the paperwork. His unconscious body was now the property of Radical Interactive until the time he woke up. If he ever woke up.

That's why he was now lying in a large white room with the best medical care that money could buy. None of this would have been affordable on his parents' salaries. In fact, they would have had to pull the plug on him within a week's time because of the exorbitant hospital fees.

This was both a blessing and a curse. Their son got to remain alive, yet he was also being used as a guinea pig for Radical Interactive's software; software that they said may be able to fix what was broken inside of him.

Michael Coleman, the man in black, held a box in his hand. He flipped it open, looking at the small white disc inside. The nurse by his side left the room to retrieve the injector gun needed to install it.

"Mrs. Galvan, there are no guarantees that William will wake up if we do this, but I promise that this is the best chance your son has." He gazed down into the box.

"What is it?" She leaned forward curiously, brushing a phantom curl away from her face. Her blonde hair was pinned back. Will had always thought her to be beautiful, but today she looked older than usual. The white floral dress she had on was something she would have typically worn to church.

Will's father was stoic, taking in everything around them but not saying much. He had always been a man of few words, and the helplessness of the situation made him want to say even less. He knew that watching was all that they could do. Watching and hoping that one day their son would return to them.

Mr. Coleman pulled the disc from the box. It was mostly white with light-emitting diodes on the surface that told which parts of the brain the device was accessing when it was active. Right now, they were all dark. There was a long needlelike protrusion coming from one flat end. That's what the injector gun was for.

"It's a world," Mr. Coleman explained simply. "Not like the one we live in. This world is special. It's designed with the most state of the art artificial intelligence. This device will plug into William's cerebral cortex and fire off electrical signals to access all the different parts of his brain, keeping it active and hopefully repairing the damage in the process. We've worked with a team of neuroscientists to develop this tech specifically for people in your son's condition." The tech had always fascinated him—how much time and money went into creating such a small thing.

"How successful has this procedure been in the past?" Mr. Galvan asked skeptically.

"When will he wake up?" Mrs. Galvan's blue eyes flashed with hope. It was obvious that she was already sold on the promise of the device.

"That's entirely up to William." Mr. Coleman shut the now empty box and stuck it back in his pocket, twisting to take the injector gun from the nurse. She gave a soft smile as she handed it over to him. "The software can only do so much. William has to take certain actions inside the world to stimulate the electrical pulses needed to fix his brain. It can't be forced." He pressed a button to open the gun, sliding the disc inside like a bullet with the needle facing the barrel.

"But don't worry. He won't be alone. There are guides inside the program and also several other people from across the world connected virtually to help each other out," he informed them as he approached the head of the bed.

Mrs. Galvan clutched her husband's hand more tightly as she watched the man in black lift the gun to her son's temple. Once he pulled the trigger, there would be no going back. The device would either work or it wouldn't. All of their hopes rested on that one small white disc and whatever magical medical technology was inside of it.

"Here we go," Mr. Coleman said with an inhale of breath before pressing the gun to Will's temple. The implant installed with the sound of a click. When Mr. Coleman pulled the barrel away, the lights on the device flashed at him, signaling that it was now active.

"Welcome to The Realm, William Galvan."

CHAPTER THREE

THE REALM – Day 1

How much did I have to drink last night?

It felt like an icepick had been shoved into Will's temple, sending a resounding throbbing through his skull. For a moment, everything hurt. Then like a wave, the pain receded back to where it had started from and disappeared.

That was weird.

He struggled to open his eyes. There was a heaviness to his lids akin to days of lost sleep. Part of him just wanted to sink back down into his bed and slumber, but he was quickly becoming aware that there was nothing to sink back down into. His back itched and ached. There was something hard and, for lack of a better word...pokey beneath him.

Inhaling deeply, there was a musty scent to his surroundings, something that would normally rile his allergies. Some type of cut foliage. Grass or...

His hands groped at his sides, feeling light prickling beneath his fingertips. He curled his fist, his fingers sinking past brittle stalks. It wasn't until he was finally able to force his eyes open that he realized he was lying on a bed of straw.

Holy shit! Startled, Will sat up. Where in the hell did I fall asleep last night? What happened? The last thing I remember ...

That was strange. He couldn't remember anything at all.

In the dim pallor of light, Will surveyed his surroundings. It took his eyes a moment to calibrate, scanning over the floor where the straw grew sparser and turned into dirt. Large wooden beams were supporting a gambrel roof. To his left, he could see frames of wooden stalls and hear the animals moving around within. A loft hung overhead, heavy with hay.

Other scents assaulted his senses, the stink of manure and animal fur. It didn't take him long to realize he was in a barn. But how did he get here? He didn't remember drunkenly stumbling in and passing out in the straw. There was no hot farmer's daughter by his side to indicate he'd been lured in. Hell, he didn't even know anyone who owned a farm.

"What the fuck?" Will clutched onto his head as another streak of pain assaulted him. It was a sharp pain, the type that typically kicked him into hypochondriac mode and made him think he was having an aneurysm. But just like that, it was gone again.

As if the stress of his confusion wasn't enough, the sound of the unwieldy barn door sliding open to his right about made Will's heart jump out of his throat. Light streamed in, blinding him and casting a warm glow across his body. His arm automatically raised to shield his eyes from the offending beams, though he squinted to see who was approaching.

"You're awake," a burly voice said before the silhouette of a large man appeared. At first, he was just a black outline, but as Will's eyes adjusted to the blinding light, he noticed that the man was wearing something reminiscent of a simple costume at a Renaissance festival. A tan tunic covered his body with darker colored breeches beneath. His shoes were worn and looked nothing like what Will had ever seen in a store. He was older, with dark stubble on his chin and jaw interrupted by a deep scar on the right side of his face. Kindly brown eyes peered down at Will beneath dark tousled hair. The man was thick with muscle but didn't appear threatening.

"I'm awake." Will pressed his back against the barn wall.

"How much do you remember?" The man stopped in front of him, looking imposing despite his friendly disposition.

Pain coursed through Will's temple again, causing him to draw his fingers up to it. Remember. What had he been doing before this? Last night. What crazy drunk escapade had brought him here? For as much as he tried to concentrate, nothing would come back to him. It was as if his life before this moment didn't even exist.

Will opened his mouth to speak. It felt like he hadn't drunk water in days. "I'm..." he began, but nothing else would follow. Words were lost to him. The massive amount of confusion was filling a pool of stress inside of him that was about to spill over into a full blown panic attack.

"It's okay, son." The man held out his palm in a calming gesture. "It's okay if you don't remember. I'll explain what I can."

Will blew out a shaky breath. "Thank you." It was strange to be lost to even himself.

"You're on Crescent Island. My sons and I found you lying unconscious in the forest while we were out hunting. They helped me bring you back here.

"Sorry that we couldn't offer you accommodations inside the house, but I needed to make sure you were not hostile. I'm sure you understand. There are unfortunately a lot of bad people in The Realm. You can never be too careful about who you decide to trust."

"The Realm," Will parroted. Where had he heard that before? There was something...wrong about it.

Static buzzed in his head, the memory of blocky images, though he didn't know where they had come from. There was nothing like that here. Everything was as real as he was. At least, it seemed that way. He could smell and see and touch and taste.

"Yes. That is the world we live in." The man lifted his arms as if encompassing everything around them.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a bit confused." Pressing his eyes closed, Will tried once more to remember what had happened, but everything was jumbled inside his head.

"Ah well. No worries." The man waved Will's apology away. "I suppose you must have been through something awful to have lost all of your memories." He paused for a moment. "We should probably check to see if you've recovered from your injuries. Can you do a basic stat check for me?"

"A stat check?" Will instantly began looking himself over.

Huh?

He was wearing a tunic and breeches, too. This definitely didn't seem normal. He couldn't ever remember owning anything like this. He did, however, remember jeans and t-shirts. Was this guy just fucking with him? Now suspicious, he eyed the man warily. "Where are my clothes?"

"Your clothes?" He quirked his head back in confusion. "That's what you were wearing when we found you."

"These aren't mine." Will tugged at his tunic.

"Then someone else must have put you in them. It wasn't us." The man shook his head, looking a bit concerned.

Will stared at him for a moment longer. Even though the man was a stranger, Will didn't get the feeling that he was lying.

It was strange that he would have just been lying in the forest for no reason. Again, he thought it must be alcohol-related. But if so, what bar had he come from? And why had he been aimlessly wandering through the woods? Had someone been chasing him? Will desperately wished he could remember.

"I think I'm fine," he said finally.

"So your health and stamina are back to 100%?"

"I think so," Will replied slowly. Why was this guy looking at him like he didn't believe him?

"You didn't do a stat check, did you?" The man's face settled into a sarcastic expression. It was clear he wasn't buying that Will had actually checked his stats. Hadn't he seen Will looking himself over? Will hadn't thought he'd been subtle about it.

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"You don't remember how to do a stat check, do you?" The man crossed his arms over his chest.

An exasperated sigh slipped between Will's lips. "What's a stat check?"

"Man, you really did hit your head hard." The guy gave him a sympathetic look. "Concentrate on bringing up your stats. You'll see a screen with all of your vital information."

"What?" That didn't sound normal at all.

"Just do it." The man gestured impatiently.

Will looked at him like he was crazy for a moment before deciding to give it a try. He didn't have to concentrate for long before his vision was filled with a translucent screen displaying a wealth of information.

Name: Unknown

Race: Human

Level: 1, 0%

Health: 100 / 100

Mana: 100 / 100

Stamina: 100 / 100

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

Skills: None

Languages: Common Tongue

Holy shit with a WTF on top! This was just like a video game.

Will's jaw hung unhinged as he tried to process what he was seeing and what was going on. Things were coming back to him slowly but with no real clarity.

This could not be real!

Blinking the screen out of his vision, Will's hands went to his head to try to pull off the white headset that would undoubtedly make all of this go away. He had to be at his job at Radical Interactive beta testing their new version of The Realm. That's where he'd heard the name before. He was inside of a game. But if this was a game, then why was everything so real?

Advancements in virtual reality had grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, but not to this level. Not to the level that you could taste the bile in your mouth or feel the straw beneath your fingertips as if using your real hand or smell animal manure in the air. This was beyond even dreamlike realism. If not for the screen popping up in his vision, he likely never would have known that he was inside of a game.

Will's fingers slipped into his hair and passed right over his skull. The headset was not coming off. Was his real body even able to react to his in-game movements? Desperately, he tried to concentrate on a logoff function, but nothing appeared in his vision. He thought about finding a tutorial or a help function, but that brought nothing as well.

"What's going on?" Panic had Will's heart racing like a sprinter. His eyes were everywhere at once trying to search for weaknesses in the programming that would confirm that this was just a game. Clearly what had happened was that he had started beta testing The Realm, and the world was so immersive that he had somehow forgotten it wasn't real. Forgotten all of the rules of the game because his brain was having a hard time processing that it was, in fact, just a game.

"Is it your health? Has it not fully recovered yet? I brought this healing potion, just in case." His voice full of concern, the man reached into a small pouch at his hip and extracted a corked vial with red liquid inside.

"My health is fine," Will barked, focusing on more pressing matters. "How do I get out of the game?"

"Out of the game?" The man quirked his head back in confusion, his hand easing the potion back into the pouch.

"Yes. This." Will gestured to everything around them. "I know what this. I know what you are. I need to take the damn headset off. What screen do I pull up to call a supervisor to come help me? This shit is broken and I'm stuck." His words bubbled out unabashedly with the heat of his rising blood pressure. Maybe he would get fired for cursing. At this point, Will wasn't sure he cared. No one had prepared him for this. At least, he hadn't remembered any special training for the re-release of Radical Interactive's VRMMORPG.

"Hmm." The man scratched his jaw. "Maybe putting you in the barn wasn't such a bad idea after all. I'm not sure you're quite all here."

Biting back the urge to curse again, Will said as calmly as possible, "I'm perfectly fine. I just need you to help me figure out how to contact a supervisor."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. The only one in charge here is me."

Will massaged his temples, trying to calm himself down. There was no way that his boss would allow him to stay inside the game past his shift. Someone would come to save him eventually. Maybe it was just better to play along for now.

"So we're inside The Realm on Crescent Island," he rehashed what the man had already told him, trying to see if he could recall anything else. It was strange how long it had taken him to even figure out he was in a game. Had the hardware malfunctioned?

"That is correct," the man replied.

Will stared blankly at the open barn door for a moment, wondering what awaited him outside. The man was mostly blocking his view, but Will could see what appeared to be another building several yards away. A sparse bit of grass sprawled between the two structures, with hens roaming freely, scratching and pecking at the dirt.

Excitement was slowly taking over Will. He still couldn't quite wrap his head around how everything looked and felt so real. It was like he had woken up in a different world. If everything out there was as immersive as everything inside of the barn, he could easily see that Radical Interactive had a new hit on their hands. This level of programming would absolutely blow the gaming world away.

The man coughed to get Will's attention. Will's mouth snapped shut like a venus fly trap. He hadn't even realized he'd been gawking rudely, just staring off into space as if the man had ceased to exist. "If you've recovered," he began, "there's work to be done. But before I set you to repaying your debt to me, we should probably make formal introductions...if you can even remember your name. My name is Mahnan, but everyone calls me Manny. What are you called?"

The second that Manny finished speaking, a translucent screen popped into Will's field of vision. The word 'Name' was at the top with a blinking cursor beneath.

This must be where I select my character name.

When he was gaming in his off time, Will always went by the name Synful, or Syn for short. It wasn't exactly work appropriate, though. At Radical Interactive, he'd never had to choose a handle before. He'd always just been William Galvan. Pre-programmed into the system when he used his login credentials, it had popped up automatically on every beta he'd ever worked on.

It would be easy enough to just use his real name. But that seemed lame. This wasn't like any beta he'd ever done for Radical Interactive before. And while he didn't remember the rules of this particular beta, Will could only assume that if his handle hadn't already been pre-programmed, then part of his testing duties were to select a name of his choosing.

Will took a few moments to think it over while Manny stared at him expectantly, if not a bit impatiently. Maybe he wasn't an NPC (non-player character) after all. NPCs usually had limitless tolerance for players bumbling while they tried to figure things out.

Will's eyes flicked back to the open barn door. In the backdrop, he could see the blue sky stretching on for miles, limitless like all of the possibilities of this new world.

A small smile crept across Will's face as he said, "My name is Azure." The letters were typed out as he spoke, and a box appeared asking him to confirm. Will agreed, and his response was recorded. The screen disappeared.

"Well, Azure, when you feel up to it, I have a task for you to complete. Dark sprites have been tainting our crops as of late, and I need them dealt with. It shouldn't be too difficult of a task for one such as yourself." He looked Azure up and down, assessing him. It was evident that he thought Azure to be weak, and rightly so. At level one, there probably wasn't much he could accomplish without getting himself killed.

"How am I to go about dealing with them?" Azure pulled himself up from the straw. Pieces of it clung to his peasant attire. Absentmindedly, he brushed them away.

"My son Uden will equip you with a weapon for the job and teach you how to use it. You can find him in the shed next to our house." Manny nodded in the direction of the shed.

Just then, a notice popped up.

Quest: Meet with Uden

You owe Manny a favor for saving your life. He is sending you to his son Uden to learn how to dispatch of the dark sprites plaguing his crops.

Difficulty: Very Easy

Success: Speak to Uden

Reward: Starter Bow, Bronze Arrows with Quiver

And it begins, Azure thought with a zing of energy. His first quest.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE REALM – Day 1

Providing no further instructions, Manny left Azure alone with his wonder. Everything felt so surreal to him, and he took a couple more minutes surveying his surroundings before forcing himself to his feet. He opened and closed his hands, digging his cropped nails into his palms—a sensation he'd typically taken for granted. It was like every nerve and cell holding him together was real, not just a series of 1s and 0s generated by the headset.

"Holy shiiiiiiiit," he said with a long drawl, hopping from one foot to the other. "You guys have really done it this time." He gazed up at the tawny roof, filling his nostrils with the scents of the barn. If he weren't careful, he'd forget he was in a game. And for some reason, that didn't bother him one bit. His greatest fear at the moment was being pulled out of it. Of the experience being ruined by his job.

Azure could still remember his first beta testing project at Radical Interactive. It was for a program they had developed to help dental assistants practice cleaning teeth. The first time he'd entered the virtual reality dental office, it had seemed absolutely magical. But after having to repeat the experience of cleaning an AI patient's teeth over and over again for two weeks straight, the luster had worn off quickly, and he had begun to hate it. There was no reason why the same thing wouldn't happen here. At any moment, his boss could wrench him away from the game only to force him to repeat the same scenario repetitively until Radical Interactive felt it was perfect.

Azure had seen no flaws in his interaction with Manny. Perhaps there could have been a better tutorial. He would definitely make a comment about his confusion when he was brought into the game. But if Manny was an NPC, he passed Azure's Turing test. I mean, he still wasn't 100% sure that Manny was an NPC. Though he'd have to have been to be able to give Azure a quest, wouldn't he?

Please don't pull me out of the game. Please allow me to see more.

One thing was certain; he would definitely be picking up his own personal copy of The Realm as soon as it hit the retail shelves.

Maybe that's premature thinking, Azure told himself, trying to calm down a bit. He'd only experienced such a small part of the game. Hell, he hadn't even ventured outside yet. For all he knew, he might not even be able to walk through the barn door. There was only one way to find out.

Azure made his way to the door, sliding it open and peering outside. The sun warmed his face, the door giving birth to a view that made him feel transported back in time. Manny's house was a humble structure, reminiscent of the peasant dwellings that Azure had seen in many games before. To the left of it was a small wooden shed. Trees rose up to the right of the property, providing a forested backdrop. They circled around and could be seen beyond the shed as well. A field of wheat lay over the land like a blanket to the left, which Azure could only assume was Manny's crop. It extended beyond his field of vision, so he couldn't tell how far it went or if there were other things planted. The rendering of everything around him was every bit as impressive as the inside of the barn. Crisp summer air blew across his face, bringing with it a pollution-free scent, something that Azure wasn't used to from having lived in the city for most of his life. It was both refreshing and exhilarating, and for several moments he merely stood there basking in the purity of it all.

Manny had disappeared off somewhere. It still intrigued Azure how unsettled the guy had seemed by his behavior. That was something else that made him believe that Manny might actually be a person instead of an NPC, though he had disappeared awfully quickly. Almost as if magicked away. Could he have really walked so fast that he would have been gone by the time Azure reached the barn door? This was his beta tester brain thinking. No matter how much he wanted to enjoy everything around him, he was still very much in work mode.

“Well, I suppose I should go find this Uden guy,” Azure said to a hen that had made its way toward him, its head bobbing as it clucked, pecking at the dirt every few feet. The hen ignored him, going about its business doing what hens do as if Azure was only an inconvenient obstacle in its way.

He took a deep breath, gazing across at the shed. It looked aged compared to the other buildings around it, the boards making up its siding taking on a gray hue.

Crossing the few yards it took to reach the door to the shed, Azure marveled at every footfall, watching wisps of dirt kick up around his shoes. How long would it take him to get used to this—these little things that normally seemed like nothing to him at all?

He opened the door to find a man sitting on a wooden stool at the back of the shed. Various tools were hanging from hooks on the walls to either side of him. Barrels were stacked up behind him, probably holding grain and other perishables. The look he gave Azure was more bored and annoyed than anything else.

“It's about time you showed up. I was going to leave if you dawdled around much longer,” the man said in a smooth baritone, making no attempt to stand.

“Are you Uden?” Azure asked, taken aback by the rudeness he was receiving.

“Who else would I be?” Uden held his hands out to his sides as if to call Azure an idiot.

Azure instantly disliked him, not just because of his unkind welcome. There was something about Uden that immediately rubbed him the wrong way. He had almost an otherworldly look to him. Where his father had been tan, Uden's skin was alabaster. His shoulder length black hair was slicked back away from his face revealing big green eyes and sharp features. Azure could only assume that Uden's mother was some raven-haired pale beauty, because he had none of his father in him. The two men couldn't look any less related.

Azure thumbed back towards the barn. “Your father said—”

“I know what my father said,” Uden cut him off, standing abruptly. “My father said to teach the brutish idiot how to kill sprites.”

Brutish? Never in his real life had Azure been called brutish. He was tall and lanky with a medium build. Not exactly an intimidating guy. Now he wondered what he looked like in the game.

Ignoring Uden's jab, he walked over to the one small window casting light into the shed to try to gaze at his reflection. The person who stared back at him was a stranger. His mop of dark hair had been replaced by a cropped military style cut, longer up top but short on the sides. His features were angular and...for lack of a better word, more manly. His dark eyes were intense and inquisitive.

I'm a lady killer, he thought gleefully, giving his new visage a sly smirk before looking down at his body. He hadn't noticed it initially, but he was definitely a lot more muscular than in real life. He could see how Uden would perceive him as brutish. Suddenly, he didn't hate the word so much, resisting the urge to flex his biceps in a totally douchey way. He could only imagine how Uden would look at him if he did.

Ah, fuck it. Let's test it out.

Azure brought his arm up and flexed, admiring the thick curve of his bicep.

“Are you kidding me?” Uden rolled his eyes. “What are you, a fucking princess?”

Whoa! There's no way this guy was an NPC. All of the NPCs in the VRMMORPG's that Azure had played before were GA (general audience) friendly. He highly doubted that Radical Interactive would try to break the mold by creating a mouthy NPC. But then how was this the guy who was supposed to help him with his quest? Was he being tricked? Manny had told him that Uden would be waiting in the shed, and this guy claimed to be Uden.

“Excuse me?” he asked, surprised by Uden's reaction.

“Did you come here to help or to stare at your reflection in the window all day?” The annoyance couldn't be any more apparent in the man's voice if he tried.

“To help, of course.” Azure turned away from the window.

Uden snorted, raking him up and down with a contemptuous gaze. “I'm not sure how much help you'll actually be, but I suppose you have to pay off your debt somehow. Honestly, this would go a lot faster if I did it myself, but I can't exactly disobey Father, so I suppose I should teach you what needs to be done.” He walked over and picked up a bow and quiver of arrows leaning against the wall before returning and practically shoving them into Azure's hands. “I'm going to take a shot in the dark that you don't remember how to use these...if you ever knew in the first place.”

A notification popped up in Azure's field of vision.

Congratulations! Quest: Meet with Uden has been completed.

You have met with Uden, and though he thinks you're a complete moron, he has agreed to help train you because Father knows best. You have earned 15XP. You have also received the following items:

Starter Bow

Attack: 8

Range: 10

Durability: 8/8

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 1.4 kg

Bronze Arrows with Quiver

Quantity: 15/15

Durability: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.7 kg

Azure's mouth fell open as he reread the notification. Someone in the story development department sure had a sense of humor. Father knows best? It seemed like Radical Interactive was letting their hair down and stepping away from their stuffy business applications and writing. Azure was highly amused.

He was less amused by the scowl that greeted him when he pushed the notification away and saw Uden staring at him impatiently. He quickly made a mental note to tell his boss that this Uden guy was not the best welcome wagon for the game. Not that he thought she would care. The game had blatantly told him that Uden thought he was a moron. That couldn't have been coincidental.

“Come on, Noob. I'll show you the ropes.” Uden motioned towards the door before stepping past him and glancing back over his shoulder. “Once you're done primping in the mirror, you can meet me behind the shed for some training.”

Another notice popped up.

Quest: Train in Archery with Uden

Uden may not like you, but he's still going to train you to use the bow. Meet him behind the shed to take your first archery lesson. But don't expect him to go easy on you.

Difficulty: Very Easy

Success: Master the Basics of the Starter Bow

Reward: Archery Skill

Not giving the window a second thought, Azure followed Uden outside. Behind the shed was what appeared to be a small training ground that backed up to the forest. The grass had been weathered away from foot traffic, and there were several small round targets set back against the trees. Azure shifted the quiver of arrows over his shoulder as Uden came to a stop several yards in front of the closest target.

Spinning on his heels abruptly, he asked, “Have you ever shot a bow before, or should I assume that this is all new to you?”

Azure had taken Sheila on a date to an archery range years ago, but he didn't remember much of what he had learned. They had talked about going back but never did. He had suspected that she wasn't really interested in it and had only gone to humor him.

He could pull from his vast experience of playing other games, but he didn't want Uden to have an excuse to ridicule him if he did something wrong. For all he knew, there could be some gimmick to shooting a bow in the game.

“Give me a refresher,” he replied.

To Azure's surprise, the fundamentals were the same as in real life. Everything continued to be crazy realistic, from the care he had to take to nock an arrow, to the pull on his muscles when he drew the bow back. His aim was just as crappy as it had been in real life, too. He missed the target completely on his first shot, his arrow sinking into a tree trunk on the right with a loud thwap! Within a matter of seconds, the arrow disintegrated into dust.

“What just happened?” Azure asked, having sworn he hadn't been seeing things.

“Its durability ran out,” Uden explained simply.

“What does that mean?”

“It means it can no longer be used. All weapons and armor have a durability score,” he informed Azure. “If the durability wears out before you can repair the item, it will return to the land. These arrows have a durability of 1, so they only have a one time use. Better quality arrows can be used multiple times.”

“Oh,” Azure replied with a nod of understanding. It was the first magical element he'd seen to the game. While he was sad for the loss of the arrow, he could also appreciate that finite nature of items. It would make things more challenging, force him to strategize in battle and make sure that his equipment was in good condition.

"So does that mean that I can only use the bow 7 more times before it disappears?"

"No." Uden shook his head. "The durability of arrows is unique in comparison to other weapons. That bow has a durability of 8, so it will last for about 80 shots before it will need to be repaired or replaced. You can fix worn equipment. Arrows are irreparable and will simply splinter whenever they have reached their durability limit."

Taking more care in aiming this time, Azure nocked and loosed again. From what he could tell, he only had fifteen chances to get this right.

His second attempt wasn't much better than the first. His arrow clipped the edge of the target, cartwheeling into the dirt before splintering into dust.

“You've obviously never done this before,” Uden commented dryly, which irritated Azure and only spurned him to try harder.

Despite his morose disposition, Uden was a good teacher, giving Azure tips to improve his aim with every shot. Don't keep a death grip on the bow. One finger above, two fingers below on the arrow. Elbow up. Draw back to the corner of your mouth.

It took a few more arrows before Azure got the hang of aiming. By the time he had emptied his quiver, he was pleased with his progress, having hit two bulls-eyes. He turned back to Uden, who was now sporting a small smirk.

“Not bad, Noobie. Not bad,” he praised Azure, the first sign of warmth that Azure had received from the man. Maybe he wasn't such an asshole after all.

Congratulations! Quest: Train in Archery with Uden has been completed.

Uden no longer thinks you're a complete fucktard. You have earned his respect and 15XP.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Archery Level 1. You can now use a bow and arrow to defeat enemies. Aim strong and true.

“Woot!” Azure cried out, elated at his quick mastery...urm, I mean learning...of how to shoot the bow. He felt on top of the world and more than ready to go kill things.

As if reading his mind, Uden said, “I bet you're ready to go kill things now.”

Azure's mouth fell agape for a moment, wondering if that was just a coincidence or if the game could read into his very thoughts. If it was the latter of the two, Uden showed no signs of being aware. He peered up at the sun, which was sinking behind the horizon, casting an orange glow across the land.

“It's almost time,” he said, turning his gaze toward the field of wheat. “The dark sprites should be coming out soon. We need to prepare. Now that I've shown you how to use the bow, will you help us or run off on your debt?”

A notice popped up.

Quest: Defeat the Dark Sprites

Now that you have received training in archery, it's time to repay your debt to Manny by helping Uden defeat the dark sprites.

Difficulty: Easy

Success: Kill 5 Dark Sprites and Report Back to Manny.

Failure: Die

Reward: Continued room and board at Manny's.

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

Azure immediately noticed that the quest screen had changed. Now there was a condition for failure. Die.

Die? Really? That seemed a bit extreme for a quest that was considered Easy. Azure couldn't help but wonder what circumstances would lead to his death. Was he about to go up against a truly powerful foe? At only Level 1, he highly doubted it. Maybe the game assumed that he would do something incredibly stupid and get himself killed...like attack Uden. The thought was tempting, but considering how much sensation Azure felt in the game as it was, he was a bit afraid of the consequences of rash actions.

“I owe your father a great debt,” he thought out loud. “I will help you rid your farm of the dark sprites.”

“Good.” Uden nodded in appreciation.

Azure followed him back to the shed. The sun had receded so much that he could barely see inside, though Uden seemed to know his way around the building well. He walked to where the barrels were stacked, pulling the lid off of one and gathering more arrows into his hand. Upon arriving at Uden's side, Azure could see that the barrel was full of bronze arrows. He watched curiously as Uden laid several of them on the ground parallel to each other. Crouching over them, he waved his hands and whispered an incantation in a language that Azure had never heard before, some smooth flowing speech that reminded him of honey dripping down the side of warm freshly baked bread. Azure held his breath as he noticed a soft glow coming from Uden's fingertips. It wove around his hands like a living fog, breathing eerie illumination into the room.

“Whoa,” Azure mouthed in wonder as he watched the weaselly man in front of him work his magic.

Uden continued to chant the words, his voice rising as he held his hands over the arrowheads. The light from his fingers flowed down like a waterfall into the bronze, circling and swirling around and through it. White fire danced on the sharp tips before soothing into a soft glow.

“Give me your quiver.” Uden reached back but didn't turn to look at Azure.

“What was that?” he asked, handing the quiver over.

“A spell,” Uden replied simply.

It took everything in Azure not to roll his eyes. Annoyance showed through in his voice, though. “I know that. What kind of spell?”

“I imbued them with minor light magic. Regular bronze arrows would work just fine on normal sprites, but not on dark sprites.”

“What's the difference?” He felt like an idiot for asking so many questions, but he truly knew nothing about this world.

“The difference is as it sounds.” Uden placed the imbued arrows in Azure's quiver. “Sprites are normal, made of nature. Dark sprites have been cursed or magicked.”

“Cursed or magicked?” Azure quirked an eyebrow, following but...not really.

“Either cursed by the gods or magicked by a demon, necromancer, or other dark magic user.” He stood and handed the quiver back to Azure.

A notification popped up.

You have received the following item:

Bronze Arrows of Minor Light Magic

Quantity: 10/10

Durability: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.7 kg

Bonus: +4 Damage Against Dark Magic

Azure stared into the quiver at the soft light emitting from the arrowheads. “Can you teach me how to perform magic?”

“No.” Uden shook his head.

“Then how do you learn?”

“You need two things to be able to learn magic: scrolls and the right level. Scrolls cost money, which I'm guessing you lack. Also, you're too low level to learn any magic yet. Give it time, friend.” Uden clapped him on the shoulder, his voice sympathetic. “You woke up this morning as useless as an infant. You have a long way to go in this world.”

Azure couldn't tell if Uden was trying to be comforting or insulting, but he decided to ignore the possible insult in light of his need to finish the quest and gain a few levels. He knew from playing other games that learning magic would be super important to him in the future. Leveling up as quickly as possible would be a smart move.

“Shall we?” Uden gestured to the door.

“At what level can I learn magic?” Azure asked as he followed Uden out of the shed.

“It depends on what you want to learn,” Uden spoke as he headed for the field. “There are some basic spells that you can learn at lower levels. Of course, the more advanced the spell, the higher level you'll need to be.”

That was rudimentary video game knowledge, and it completely glossed over his original question. Instead, Azure decided to go a different route. “So where would one purchase scrolls? Is there a mage's guild around here or something?”

“Not on this island,” Uden chuckled lightly. “Dare I say that we live a rather isolated life. It's rare that anything exciting passes through here. In fact, this plague on our land is the most exciting thing that's happened in a long time.” He sounded oddly happy about their predicament.

“Plague on your land?” Azure parroted.

“Yes. Much misfortune has befallen our paltry little island as of late. We have angered the great god Finborh, and he's been making life a living hell for us ever since. Once plentiful resources have dwindled. The waters of our rivers and ponds have grown polluted. Crops wither and die. No matter how many sacrifices we make to Finborh, bad stuff keeps happening.”

“You don't seem very upset by that,” Azure mentioned hesitantly as they passed the wheat field and headed towards what appeared to be a small vegetable garden on the outskirts of the property.

“Why would I be? I hate this place,” Uden replied disdainfully.

“Why?” Azure's head jutted back. The land around them was beautiful, a utopia of fresh air and simplicity. He couldn't imagine anyone hating it here.

“I'm a slave to this wretched farm,” Uden told him, stopping at the edge of the garden. Providing protection from livestock and larger creatures, there was a small wooden fence surrounding the acre of land sectioned off for vegetables and herbs. It would not be difficult for smaller critters to slip through, though. Definitely not enough to stop the dark sprites, if they looked anything like Azure imagined them to be.

“All I've ever wanted was to leave this place and expand my knowledge of magic.” Uden stared out into the distance longingly. “But my father thinks that sons are made for slave labor, so he keeps my brother and me prisoners here to work the land.”

Azure's gaze swept across the vast field of wheat, the tall stems swaying lazily in the summer breeze, giving the illusion of the colors changing from gold to brown then back again. Yes, it was beautiful, but Azure also understood that it was a lot of work maintaining something like this. Too much for just one man to handle. He suddenly felt sympathetic to Uden's plight and could see why he was so damned angsty. He wouldn't ever be happy either if he felt trapped, his life passing him by while he worked for someone else's dream.

“Why doesn't he just hire someone to replace you?” Azure asked.

“Despite what you see,” Uden outstretched his arms to encompass the bounty before them, “we live day by day. The plague does what it can to destroy our crops. This sprawling field before you likely won't make it to harvest. Some shit always goes down,” he commented bitterly. “Anyway,” he returned his attention to the vegetable garden, “the dark sprites should be coming out any time now. We should probably get into position.”

He led Azure to a small cluster of trees a few yards away, motioning for him to hide behind them. They pressed their backs against the trunks, the bark scratching lightly against their skin.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Stealth Level 1. You can now move silently about your enemies without them noticing. Attacks while in stealth mode will deal 1% more damage.

Only 1% more damage? Lame. Oh well. Any bonus is better than none, I suppose.

Azure shrugged off the notification, knowing that a greater level in stealth would bring a greater increase in the damage bonus. He'd just have to wait for the skill to grow more powerful like everything else. For now, he needed to focus on the hunt.

“We'll have to work together to get them all. There are usually no more than a dozen,” Uden told him. “Do you best to avoid their magic. They can cast a handful of nasty little spells, and being magicked makes them aggressive.”

Uden Namud has joined your party.

Azure immediately noticed that he could now see Uden's name in the bottom right-hand side of his vision along with red, blue, and yellow bars, which he could only assume gave him an indication of Uden's health, mana, and stamina. All were full except for the blue bar, which had a small fraction missing, Azure assumed because of the mana that Uden had expended to imbue his arrows. He focused on Uden's name for a moment, and a translucent screen popped up.

Name: Uden Namud

Race: Half-Human, Half-Imp

Level: 3

Health: 120

Mana: 130

Stamina: 120

“I can see your stats now,” Azure commented.

The screen seemed to show all of the pertinent information, though none of Uden's more personal details were visible. Azure was admittedly a bit disappointed as he was curious as to what types of skills Uden had. But he could understand how some players might want to keep that information private from their party members.

“And I yours,” Uden replied with a bit of annoyance. “You're more of a noob than I gave you credit for. How have you even survived this long?”

Azure wondered if it was even worth bothering to explain his situation to Uden. Before he had a chance to decide, his attention was wrenched away by something coming out of the forest. There was a light across the garden from them, but it was unlike anything Azure had ever seen. If darkness could emit a light, then this is what it would look like. Balls of smoke with a meaty nucleus that radiated a soft glow. They bobbed up and down in the air unsteadily, approaching at a leisurely pace. Slipping effortlessly between the rail spacing, it wasn't until they were much closer that Azure could make out the shapes of humanoid figures in the center of the fog that they emitted. They were still larger than he had imagined they'd be, about a foot tall each. But the most disturbing thing about the creatures were their glowing yellow eyes. Though they hadn't detected him, he could almost feel the gaze of the sprites piercing everything around them.

“There are quite a few of them,” he whispered while counting. Eight in total when they stopped flowing out of the forest and settled over the garden.

“But no match for us,” Uden said with a sly smirk. Azure got the feeling that he enjoyed killing things. “Can you see their colors?” he asked.

“They're...black,” Azure replied.

He could almost feel Uden rolling his eyes. “That's not what I meant. What I meant was their color in relation to your level.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Azure said dryly, trying to push back his frustration.

“You've never Analyzed an enemy before?” Uden seemed surprised.

“I've never fought an enemy before,” Azure clarified.

Uden let out a deep sigh before recomposing himself. “All right. So target one of the dark sprites and concentrate on analyzing it.”

Azure zeroed in on a dark sprite hovering over a large gourd. He squinted as he thought about analyzing the small creature. A second later, a purple bar appeared below the dark sprite. Azure had expected to see the creature's stats pop up, much like they had with Uden when they'd become party members. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd done something wrong. Not wanting to face Uden's ridicule, he concentrated harder, but no further information appeared.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Analyze Level 1. You will now be able to see how dangerous a foe is in relation to your own level. Use this skill frequently to avoid getting yourself killed.

Sweet! Another skill.

“It's purple,” Azure said, forgetting his previous disappointment.

“That means you're evenly matched. It has just as much of a chance of killing you as you do of killing it,” Uden informed him. “It is blue for me, which means I'm a higher level and can kill it easily. Every foe you'll encounter will have a colored bar beneath it to tell you how strong it is. Green means that it's a slightly higher level than you. With careful planning, you should be able to kill it. Yellow means that it's a more challenging foe. Still killable, but you'll need to be extremely careful, and the odds aren't in your favor. It's better to approach yellows with an extra party member. An orange foe, you won't be able to take down on your own, and I wouldn't recommend going up against one without at least two other party members. Red foes you will want to steer clear of at all costs if you're alone. Those are the ones that are likely to kill you in a single hit. They're not impossible to take down in a party, but you'd need a lot of members to balance out the enemy's higher level, and you'd all need quite a bit of skill. For now, if you encounter a red enemy, just run.”

The tutorial was much appreciated. While it took away a bit of the realism, Azure was glad that there was a way to tell whether a battle was worth fighting or better to walk away from.

“I was hoping I'd be able to see their stats like I can see yours,” he mentioned.

“As you level up the Analyze skill, more information about the enemy will become available to you. It takes time, though. Use the skill as much as possible to level it quickly.”

Azure took the time to analyze all of the dark sprites. Every single one of them had the purple bar beneath. He was suddenly glad that Uden would be fighting by his side. Had he been made to take on this challenge alone, the odds of him surviving should the dark sprites decide to mob him were low.

“Done,” he told Uden when he had finished.

“Good. Now we wait.” Uden watched the sprites as they bobbed above the vegetables.

Returning his attention to the first one he had Analyzed, Azure noticed it settling over the gourd, hovering only a few inches above it. As it did, the flesh of the gourd began to turn gray and wither away. In fact, much of the garden was being destroyed by the other dark sprites as they flitted from vegetable to vegetable.

“What are we waiting for?” Azure asked, feeling anxiety from seeing Manny's crops die right before his very eyes.

“Just a while longer.” Uden held up his palm to calm Azure.

“If we don't go now, there won't be anything left.” Azure furrowed his brow in frustration.

Without another word, Uden slipped from behind the tree and took off at a sprint towards the dark sprites, daggers in hand.

A bit startled, Azure launched out after him. All of the dark sprites froze in mid-air, their beady yellow eyes turning in the direction of their attackers. Azure's heartbeat quickened as he watched Uden jump the fence and stop a few yards short of the dark sprites to throw his first blade. It hit the mark with dead accuracy, dropping a dark sprite to the ground.

Azure felt unsteady as he nocked and loosed an arrow. It flew over the target's head, landing in the dirt and splintering into dust. The dark sprite's tiny face contorted in anger, and he charged at Azure. No longer were the sprites fluttering around lazily. They gained speed with their intent to attack, making a beeline for the two heroes.

His second shot hit the mark, the arrowhead slicing completely through the flying creature, sending blood and a glimmer of white light spewing through the other side. Extinguished with its life force, the dark cloud that had been surrounding the sprite disappeared. Its limp body fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Defeated Level 1 Dark Sprite. 9XP rewarded.

The notice flashed across the bottom of Azure's vision. It stayed only long enough for him to read it before disappearing. A momentary distraction.

By the time his attention refocused on the battle, another dark sprite was almost upon him. He took a few steps back as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. The dark sprite paused a few feet away, its hands glowing as it began to cast a spell. Azure took aim and fired. At such close proximity, there was no way to miss. The sprite let out a pained groan before dropping to the floor.

Before the notice at the bottom of his vision even had time to disappear, another dark sprite was gearing up for an attack. Fearlessly, it flew like a bullet straight for Azure's face. Azure raised his arms to defend himself against the attack, backstepping as quickly as possible. Not watching where he was going, his foot landed in something mushy. Lifting it caused the rotten gourd to cling to his shoe, and he ended up losing his balance and falling.

The dark sprite took advantage. A spray of gray viscous substance flew from its fingertips, hitting Azure right in the face. The scents of rotten citrus and salt filled his nose, and his eyes immediately began to burn.

Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage. You are now blind. You will be unable to see for the next 10 seconds.

You've got to be kidding me.

Instinctively, Azure tried to wipe away the glop from his face, but it only seemed to smear.

A sharp pain below his right collarbone, much like the sting of a wasp, was followed by another notice.

Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage.

“Oh, come on!” he growled, pinching his tunic to draw it up to his eyes and help wipe the substance off.

There was another sting to his forearm.

Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 3 damage.

Booming laughter came from somewhere to his right, and Azure immediately recognized the person it belonged to.

“You look so pathetic right now,” Uden mocked him.

Thankfully, Azure's vision was starting to return, but it was muddy. The tiny black figure danced in front of him, a slightly darker blur than the fog around it. Light weaved in front of it, which meant it was gearing up for another spell. Azure leaned to the side, dodging just in time.

“Are you really going to let that dark sprite beat you?” Uden was wearing an ear to ear grin as he watched Azure struggle, obviously amused. There were no more dark sprites to be seen around them, which must mean he had vanquished the rest. Still, it didn't seem like he was about to offer Azure any aid.

The dark sprite pulled a tiny dagger from its belt and dove for Azure. He tried to swat it, but the blade still pierced his skin before the sprite darted away and out of reach.

Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage.

Am I really going to get my ass kicked by this thing, Azure wondered as he reached out to find his bow where he had dropped it during the fall. The dark sprite was too close to fire, though. It flitted back and forth in front of him, annoying and distracting him between attacks. The best he could do was flail at it in frustration, kicking his foot to try to dislodge the gourd so that he could stand and put space between them.

The dark sprite wasn't about to make that easy for him. With more impressive strategical skills than its predecessors, it went for his hand that was holding the bow. A good stab was enough to make him drop it again.

“Fuck's sake, are you really just going to stand there?” Azure yelled at Uden.

The little beastie had finally stopped assaulting him long enough to start casting another spell. Azure kicked his foot a few more times, and the remains of the rotten gourd sloughed off of his shoe. He was just about to scramble to his feet when another shot of goo came sailing at his face, hitting its mark.

Level 1 Dark Sprite delivers 5 damage. You are now blind. You will be unable to see for the next 10 seconds.

“Fuuuuuuuuuck!” Azure shouted.

“You are truly hopeless,” Uden said with a sigh, tutting at him.

Azure clawed at the substance, his frustration mounting. He couldn't believe he had let the dark sprite hit him twice. Was he really so weak that he couldn't fend off one tiny sprite at close range? Apparently so.

His health bar was in the yellow, and he felt weak as an after-effect. This was a good lesson in keeping his enemy at a distance when he was using a ranged weapon. Maybe the bow wasn't really his cup of tea in this game.

Figuring that Uden was a big enough jackass to just watch him die, Azure scrambled to get the goo off of his face. No matter how much he wiped though, it seemed to take its sweet time about coming off. Azure supposed that the spell would be useless if it didn't have a time limit. Part of him wondered what would happen if he just sat there and did nothing. That wasn't an option though. Not with the little bastard insistent on stabbing him to death.

Azure cursed as he felt another sting to his bicep. His health bar fell even lower. Yup, he was about to be killed by a dark sprite. Wasn't this quest supposed to be Easy? He distinctly remembered the notification saying so.

Another sting struck his chest before his vision began to return. Azure was starting to feel like a human pin cushion. Pain throbbed from every wound inflicted. It was far more intense than anything he'd felt in a game before. Like the injuries were real and not just something that the headset had tricked his brain into believing.

His arms were so shaky from his loss of health that he could barely support his own weight. Refusing to give up, he reached for his bow again. The dark sprite was at a safe distance, weaving its hands in the air to conjure another spell. Azure had to decide which was more important, trying to take a quick shot or dodging the spell. If he got hit again, he was done for. He gripped his bow, realizing seconds too late that he had made the wrong choice. Dodging would have definitely been more important.

Just as the sprite pointed its tiny fingers at him to cast the spell, a dagger went sailing through the air, striking it in the side. The dark sprite had been so busy focusing its attention on Azure that it hadn't even seen the attack coming.

Azure turned his head to see Uden smiling smugly. “I couldn't quite decide if I should let you die or not,” he said as he went to retrieve his dagger, “but I don't feel like listening to a lecture from my father.”

The corpse of the dark sprite lay dismembered at Azure's feet. Only a string of bloody entrails connected the two halves. It was a gruesome sight to behold, like something out of a horror movie. Azure could smell a faint hint of copper in the air mixed with the rot of the gourds. Tiny bodies littered the garden like a small massacre.

Uden returned and picked up the torso of the dark sprite that had given Azure such a hard time and promptly ripped off its wings before tossing its corpse thoughtlessly back to the ground. The way he did this without so much as a hint of remorse made Azure think he'd done it hundreds of times before. He showed the bodies no respect, taking the wings from every sprite he'd killed.

“Why are you taking their wings?” Azure asked, pulling himself up from the ground. His limbs felt wobbly, and he had a bit of a headache. Being injured to this degree definitely sucked.

“They fetch coin at the market. You should loot your two as well.” He nodded to one of the sprites that Azure had killed.

“What about the bodies?” He stumbled over and knelt to scoop up the body, showing far more care in the act than Uden had. For a few moments, he simply stared at the small thing. It was cold in his hand, the crimson blood leaking onto his fingertips. Nothing made the game feel more real than this.

The glowing yellow eyes were closed. The sprite appeared to be nothing more than a small man with dark gray skin. If it truly was magicked or cursed as Uden had said, then this was once a good creature. Azure felt a twinge of guilt from having taken its life.

“They came from the land and to the land they will return,” Uden replied as he finished collecting the wings from his kills.

“Is there nothing we could have done for them?” Azure asked, feeling uneasy about pulling off the dark sprite's wings, even though it was dead.

“Maybe.” Uden shrugged nonchalantly. “But that wasn't our job, was it?”

The guy was heartless. The fact that he'd considered just letting Azure die told him that Uden couldn't be trusted.

Despite not wanting to defile the dead, the thought of earning some coin was a great motivator. No doubt, Azure would need to buy a lot of things throughout his time in The Realm. Armor was at the top of his list. Getting almost taken out by a dark sprite on his first quest was embarrassing.

Azure pinched the wings of the sprite and lifted it before gripping the body gently with his other hand. A quick tug produced a ripping sound, the feel of which reminded him of tearing the wings off of a butterfly when he was a child. He had been too young then to feel guilty for his curiosity.

You have received the following item:

Dark Sprite Wing

Quantity: 2/2

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0 kg

Uses: Loot. Sell for coin.

As he placed the wings in the satchel that he had woken up with, an inventory screen popped up. There were currently twelve slots available. Thankfully, the sprite wings stacked.

Wanting to uphold some sort of morals, he gently set the body back on the ground before moving on to the next. The dead deserved to be treated with respect. Perhaps that feeling would wear off as he progressed through the game, but for now, he was going with what felt right.

Once they had finished looting the bodies, Uden walked around collecting them. This seemed contradictory to what he had just said about them returning to the land.

“What are you doing?' Azure asked, watching him.

Uden paused for a moment, looking at him incredulously. “Well, we wouldn't want to scare the others off, now would we?”

“The others...” That was right. Azure's quest had been to kill five dark sprites, and he'd only managed to down two. He had been curious if they would respawn like in other games he'd played.

“Now what did you learn this time, Noob?” Uden walked past him out of the garden to chuck the maimed and dismembered bodies into the bushes.

Oh, so Uden had been trying to teach him a lesson by almost letting him die. This should be rich.

“Don't trust you to save me,” he grumbled.

“Besides that.” Uden waved the comment away before gesturing for Azure to join him near the trees.

“Don't trust you at all.” He narrowed his eyes at the half-imp's backside.

“A good lesson, but not one that will save you in the next wave.” Uden seemed unaffected by the remark.

This caused Azure to stop and think. Perhaps Uden was really trying to be helpful. For as much of a dick as he was, he wasn't all bad. He'd given good lessons during their archery practice together. Maybe Azure could take away something from this after all.

“I learned that dodging is just as, if not more, important than attacking,” he guessed.

“A good observation, but not quite what I was going for.” Uden dug into his pocket and pulled out a small red vial before handing it over to Azure. “Drink this. It will heal some of your wounds.”

Azure eyed the vial skeptically as he took it. A notification helped to set his mind at ease.

You have received the following item:

Potion of Minor Healing

Quantity: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0 kg

Uses: Heals 30 HP

Without further hesitation, he uncorked the vial and drank the contents down. As soon as the liquid hit his stomach, Azure immediately started to feel better. Watching his health bar fill back up to green gave him a sense of relief.

“What you should have learned,” Uden said as he took the empty vial from Azure and placed it back in his pocket, “is that when you're working with a ranged weapon, it's important to maintain a safe distance from your foe. And to be aware of your surroundings.” His gaze dropped to Azure's foot which was a dark brown in comparison to the other due to the wet compost still clinging to it from the rotten gourd.

“Ah yes. Fair point.” Azure nodded.

Uden leaned against the tree, retaking his hidden position. “We still have a few minutes before the next round of dark sprites show up. Hopefully, you'll feel better prepared this time around. Experience is the best teacher, after all.”

Azure did feel better prepared. There were seven sprites in the next wave, and he took all of Uden's advice to heart, maintaining a much safer distance as he went on the offense. He kept aware of his surroundings as he backed away from the approaching sprites, refusing to make the same mistake twice. Any time one was too close and began weaving its magic, he gave pause to dodge before getting hit with the viscous blinding goop. His shots rang through the night air sure and true, landing blow after blow and netting him three kills without any injuries.

Congratulations! The skill: Analyze has reached Level 2. This skill allows you to see how dangerous a foe is in relation to your own level. Use this skill frequently to avoid getting yourself killed.

Azure was excited about having leveled the skill up until he realized that there were no special perks awarded.

“I don't get any bonuses for leveling Analyze?” he asked as he looted the bodies of the fallen dark sprites.

“Not until level 14. It doesn't work like other skills,” Uden told him.

“Lame!” he replied dryly.

“Well,” Uden dusted his hands off before stretching and yawning, “it's getting late. We should probably head back now. I'm sure you're itching to report in and gain some of that sweet, sweet XP that you're owed.”

Azure chuckled. It was times like this when he truly couldn't tell whether Uden was an NPC or not, but the more time Azure spent with him, the more he was leaning towards Uden being an actual person.

Ah, fuck it. Let's stop guessing.

“Hey Uden, I've got a question for you,” Azure said as they began walking back toward the farmhouse.

“You're just full of those,” he replied with only the slightest bit of annoyance.

“This experience has been pretty amazing so far.” Azure looked at everything around him. The sky was the color of a deep bruise. Nighttime insects had already created a soft non-stop buzzing, and an owl hooted somewhere in the distance. It reminded him of a warm summer night in the country—something he'd seen on television but had never been able to experience in real life. Places like this were almost obsolete thanks to the overwhelming human population having to pave over most of the earth to create enough housing and jobs for everyone. “I'm enjoying the wonder and mystery of everything thoroughly, but I have to ask...are you an NPC?”

A smirk curled the corner of Uden's thin lips. “You'll likely never know.”

It was, Azure thought, a very human response, yet vague enough that it could have been programmed in. Perhaps he'd test the question on others to look for continuity. Of course, he could always ask his boss once he was pulled from the game. Speaking of which, it seemed like he had been in for an awfully long time. Hours. He could feel real life urges creeping in. Hunger churned in his belly. His throat was dry with thirst, and despite his dehydration, his bladder was definitely full.

“I need to take a piss,” he mumbled to himself.

“Don't let me stop you. The world is one big outhouse.” Uden held his arms up.

That didn't make Azure want to relieve himself in-game any more. Never before had he played a VRMMORPG where going to the bathroom was actually a thing. Typically, feeling the urge was a signal to your brain that it was time to take a break. Azure gave pause, once again focusing on a sign out function. No options were displayed to him.

Uden stopped, giving him a strange look. “What's wrong?”

Assuming that Uden was, in fact, an actual person, Azure said, “I can't sign out of the game.”

“Of course you can't sign out.”

“Why not?”

“Haven't you figured it out yet?” His expression took on a hint of mischief. “This isn't a game. It's your life now.”

CHAPTER FIVE

THE REALM – Day 1

Azure was stunned into silence. Nothing made sense anymore, and Uden didn't wait for him to ask for an explanation. He simply continued on to the farmhouse, leaving Azure behind dumbfounded.

Panic began to seep in. What was going on? What did Uden mean by this isn't a game? Of course, it was a game. Azure was sitting at his desk at Radical Interactive with a headset on. He had to be. Any moment now, his boss would come to pull him out. But it had been so long already. Surely, he had worked through his break. Unless....time in the game passed faster than in real life. This was common of all VRMMORPGs. Perhaps he couldn't perceive it because the programming was so good. After all he'd seen so far, it wasn't farfetched to believe that Radical Interactive was capable of developing that kind of technology.

Still, that didn't negate the fact that he had to piss like a racehorse and the damn game wouldn't let him out.

“Log off,” he said aloud, hoping that giving voice to his thoughts would work as some kind of override. Nothing happened. “Help function,” he tried. Still nothing. “Administration.” His frustration grew with each attempt. There had to be some way to get out of the game. What Uden had said couldn't possibly be true.

He watched as Uden disappeared inside of the farmhouse, not even bothering to look back at him.

Azure closed his eyes and concentrated on just about everything he could think of that would bring up a logoff prompt, but nothing worked. From what he could tell, it was broken. Well, that was one function that had utterly failed this beta.

“Shit.” He looked around for a place to relieve himself, wondering if he'd piss his pants in real life if he gave it a try. It definitely wasn't worth finding out. Holding it sucked, but hopefully someone would pull him out of the game before his bladder exploded like an overfilled water balloon.

With nothing else to do, Azure continued on to the farmhouse. He paused at the door, wondering if he should knock, but then ultimately decided to just walk in. Smoke wafted out from the hearth, carrying with it the faint scent of cooking meat and vegetables. The flames from the fire and a few tallow candles were the only things illuminating the small space.

Azure found Uden and Manny sitting around a wooden table with a woman and a man, presumably Uden's mother and brother. The woman had a willowy look to her. She was slender with pale features, her eyes so blue that they were almost gray. Her long flaxen hair was held back away from her face. This woman was most certainly not Uden's real mother.

Lonnell seemed to mostly take after his father. He had the same broad body and square jaw. The same dark hair and a five o'clock shadow. Azure imagined that he was probably the mirror image of Manny in his younger days. The only difference in their overall appearance was that Lonnell had his mother's eerily blue eyes instead of his father's brown ones.

“It took you long enough.” Uden twisted in his seat to face Azure. “I was just telling them about how you were talking to yourself.” He glanced over at his father. “Really, I don't think he's quite well yet.” There was the hint of a smile tugging at his thin lips.

Asshole.

“I'm fine,” Azure grudgingly insisted as he closed the door behind himself.

Manny stood to make introductions. “Azure, this is my lovely wife, Meva, and my son, Lonnell.”

Azure was still wondering how Uden played into the family dynamic. Step-son maybe? Meva definitely wasn't an imp.

“It's a pleasure.” He nodded politely to them both.

Taking his seat, Manny asked. “So was it done?”

“It was done. We killed the little bastards but not before they destroyed a sizable amount of the garden,” Uden replied regrettably, though Azure knew the truth. They could have attacked earlier. There was no good reason why Uden had allowed the dark sprites to cause so much destruction. Something was definitely amiss, but he didn't think it wise to bring this up right now. Starting a family brawl probably wasn't the best way to secure room and board.

The frown on Manny's face caused Azure's gut to bubble with guilt for not acting sooner. “Come have a seat and fill your belly. I'm sure you're famished.” He gestured to the bench he was sitting on, and Lonnell moved over to make room for him.

A message notification popped up in Azure's field of vision.

Congratulations! Quest: Defeat the Dark Sprites has been completed.

You have fulfilled your debt to Manny by getting rid of the dark sprites. You are now a welcome guest in his home and have secured your bed of straw in the barn for as long as you want it. You have also earned 20XP.

"Hopefully that's the last we'll see of the dark sprites for a while," Lonnell said while his mother left the table to pour Azure a horn of water and start dishing out portions of the stew that was bubbling over the fire.

"Hopefully," Manny agreed.

"The forest seems to have a limitless supply." Uden's eyes widened for effect and his voice showed exhaustion from having to deal with them.

"They have to be coming from somewhere. Have you traced them to their source?" Azure asked.

"I'm not sure that would be the best idea." Uden turned his horn lazily in his hands. "The sprite settlement here has a little under two hundred sprites. We don't know how far the corruption has spread. All of the sprites could be infected. Walking into a settlement of sprites is already risky considering that they're incredibly wary of humans. Walking into a settlement of dark sprites is a death sentence." He blew out a deep breath. "No one has visited Baremire in months. And even if we were to go now, and the majority of the sprites weren't corrupted, I don't think the Tree Queen would take too kindly to the fact that we just killed a bunch of her people, magicked or not."

"Why didn't you go to her first and talk about the corruption?" Azure couldn't understand the shoot first ask questions later mentality.

Shaking his head, Manny said, "Too risky. Besides, what were we supposed to do, allow them to destroy all of our crops? They attacked first."

He did have a point. Still, Azure was a bit uneasy about the whole situation. It felt like a war was brewing between the sprites and the humans, and no one even seemed to be sure why.

He thought for a moment before speaking, directing his attention to Uden. "You mentioned that the reason all of this misfortune has befallen your farm lately is because you angered the god Finborh. If he was angry at you, then why take it out on the sprites?"

"That's what I've been wondering," Lonnell chimed in before thanking his mother with a courteous nod for the stew she sat in front of him.

"It's not just us that have experienced misfortune. It's the entire island," Manny informed him.

"What exactly happened that he became angry?" Azure asked.

"No one really knows," Lonnell replied.

"Or at least, no one will speak up about it," Uden added dryly.

"Is there any way to find out?" Azure questioned.

"We sent an envoy to meet with Finborh a few weeks ago, but he never returned." The graveness in Manny's voice was a good indication of what he thought had happened to that envoy.

"Then send someone else?" Azure fully expected to see a quest screen pop up in his field of vision. He was waiting for it. The opportunity to meet a God in the game was exciting.

"I volunteered to go." Uden raised a hand.

"You know I need you here." Manny frowned. "It's too long of a journey for you to be away. It's taking everything all of us have just to get by in these troubling times."

Silent tension filled the room. A quick glance between Manny and Uden gave Azure the impression that they had argued about this before. More than likely, Manny was afraid that Uden wouldn't return...and not because he might die. With Uden's obvious desire to leave the island, it wasn't farfetched to believe he may abandon the quest and use it as an excuse to escape.

"We should leave this place," Uden said stiffly.

"We're not leaving." Manny's eyes bore into him as if to say that the conversation was over.

"What we need to do is find out the true cause of all of this. I am with our new friend." Lonnell bobbed his head in Azure's direction. "Risky or not, we should go speak with the sprites."

"Too dangerous," Manny insisted.

"At the very least, we should investigate how far the darkness has spread." Lonnell tried to reason with his father. "If they haven't all been infected, we should talk to the Tree Queen. The sprites may know something about this curse that we do not. If we sit here and do nothing, whether you like it or not, we will be forced to leave.

"It's less than a two day's journey to Baremire by foot. I know it would be hard on you and mother, but I think you can spare a few days without us for the possibility of finding a solution to this."

A notice popped up in Azure's field of vision.

Quest: Investigate Baremire

Lonnell seems to think that the answer to why Finborh has cursed the island may lie at Baremire. He wants to make the journey to see how far the corruption has spread and, if possible, speak to the Tree Queen.

Difficulty: Easy

Success: Reach Baremire

Failure: Die

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

There was no question in Azure's mind about his answer. He was ready to leave the farm and explore more of what The Realm had to offer.

“I think he's right,” he told Manny. “This curse isn't going to go away on its own. If you sit idly by and do nothing, it will chase you away from your land. I do not mind accompanying your son on this mission. It's the least I can do to repay you for everything you've done for me.”

The lines in Manny's face deepened as he thought for a moment before turning his attention to Uden. “You will go as well?”

“They wouldn't survive without me.” He gave Manny a look as if to say it was obvious, though, to Azure's surprise, he really didn't seem excited about going. Not knowing Lonnell's skills, Azure wasn't sure if that was a correct assumption or not, but he would have liked to think that he and Lonnell would be able to do just fine on their own. The idea of spending any more time with the angsty half-imp wasn't exactly appealing. There would likely be a lot of ballbusting on their continued journey together.

“I guess I can't convince you otherwise.” Manny huffed before picking up his spoon.

“It's settled then.” Lonnell clapped his palms on top of the wooden table. “We leave tomorrow.”

“The day after tomorrow,” Uden corrected him before throwing a glance in Azure's direction. “We need to go to the market tomorrow and trade in our loot for supplies.”

“Your loot?” Lonnell furrowed his brows.

“Don't worry about it.” Waving the question away, Uden turned his attention to his food.

Once again, silent tension simmered. An uneasiness roiled in Azure's stomach as he thought about the dark sprite wings he had collected. Something told him that selling them might be wrong. He had nothing, though, so what other choice did he have?

They ate their meal quietly, for the most part, making small talk here and there. Azure was surprised as the various flavors from the stew flooded his senses when he took his first bite. It was as if the food was real. He pressed his teeth into the tender meat and sloshed the salty broth around in his mouth. The consistency, the taste...everything was spot on.

A disturbing thought hit him then.

The more time he spent in the game, the more he forgot that it was a game.

Reality was slowly beginning to slip away...which was great for the marketability of the game, but less great for a now terrified beta tester. It was a reminder that he needed to get out. Maybe he was just being a pussy, but the immersion of this world was becoming too much for him.

Even worse, he still had to piss, and it seemed like consuming the water and stew had only made that urge more prevalent. Pain assaulted his bladder. Every minor shift of his body made him more aware of his need for release. If he waited much longer, his bladder might rupture. With the game not letting him out, Azure was running out of options.

Not wanting to be rude, he finished his meal before excusing himself. The discomfort was too much to bear. Thankfully, Manny offered him a lantern before he left. The sun had faded over the horizon, and the sky was cloudy, shielding the moon from casting its illuminating beams on the land.

Azure walked hastily out of the house, teetering between mental and physical anguish, feeling the scales tipping towards no longer giving a shit if he pissed himself at work. This was going to be embarrassing as hell, but he had reached his limit. Hopefully, they wouldn't fire him over it. After all, it's not like it was his fault he was stuck in the game. No voice or mental commands were working to get him out. He was trapped, and there was no other choice.

Finding a nearby tree to relieve himself on, Azure sighed as his bladder began to empty. Peeing had never felt so good, he thought as he listened to the splattering on the tree trunk. Even the sensation of urinating was just as real as it would have been outside of the game.

Insects chirped in the surrounding forest and the night air cooled Azure's skin. Uden's words replayed in his mind. What if this really wasn't a game?

One thing was for certain, if he had just peed all over himself in real life, someone would definitely be pulling him out of the game once they smelled it. Perhaps that's how he should gauge if this was all real or not.

With a contented sigh, he headed back towards the barn. The lantern in his hand cast a soft glow before him, just enough to see a few feet ahead. A shadow moving next to the barn door made Azure stop dead in his tracks and clutch his chest. Uden appeared half a second later, causing him to let out the breath that had stilled in his lungs.

“Do you always sneak up on people like this?” He held his lantern up, hoping to momentarily blind Uden. The flame cast a yellow tint on his face, making him seem even less human.

“It's not my fault you're not very perceptive. That will get you killed someday,” Uden warned, stepping out of the light.

“Did you just come here to scare the shit out of me or do you have something to say?”

“I'm beginning to think you don't like me,” the half-imp quipped. “After all I've done for you, I was hoping we'd become friends.”

Azure could feel Uden circling him but could barely see him. It was like a snake wrapping him in its coils.

The half-imp's voice came from behind him, forcing Azure to turn. Could Uden see in the dark? He certainly didn't need the light. In fact, he almost seemed bothered by it. “I just wanted to thank you for using discretion in the things you said about me tonight.”

That's vague.

Azure was sure it had to do with Uden allowing the dark sprites to destroy a portion of the garden and collecting their wings. There were many things he could have said that would have likely sparked an argument. That was precisely why he hadn't said anything.

He couldn't help but wonder if Uden was trying to prove a point. No doubt, he could have easily sneaked up and slit Azure's throat. And he probably had the skill to do it without making a sound. There was definitely more to him than meets the eye. Some mystery that Azure wasn't sure he wanted to unravel.

“I have no interest in family squabbles,” was the best he could come up with. “I see things from both sides. I'm not going to choose one or the other.” It wasn't quite a lie. Uden had his reasons for allowing the dark sprites to wreak their havoc. And Azure hadn't even decided yet if he was going to keep his dark sprite wings or sell them. In truth, the thought of continuing to proceed through the game penniless wasn't very appealing. He wanted healing potions and spells and armor, and that all cost money. Giving up the first loot he'd earned left a bad taste in his mouth. He would deal with the angel and devil on his shoulders later.

“I'm not sure if you noticed, but my brother is the bleeding heart type. When he finds out we took the dark sprites' wings, he will inevitably expect us to offer them up to the Tree Queen as a way of apology for our heinous act of murder.” Bitterness rolled from Uden's tongue.

“Will offering the wings to her make a difference?” Pangs of conscience assaulted Azure as greedy thoughts of selling his share of the loot germinated within him. So annoying to feel this shady, but dammit, he'd earned those wings fair and square.

“If she's not infected, probably.” Uden shrugged. “I don't care either way. My brother is the bleeding heart type. I am not.” As if it wasn't clear. “A man needs things in this life, and those things can't be acquired without money. Sprite wings aren't widely traded around these parts, so they'll fetch a good price at the market. I don't care what you do with yours, but I'm definitely selling mine.”

“I won't judge you for it either way.” Azure decided. He could certainly understand. Until he saw what wares were available at the market, he couldn't be sure what he would do with his stash of dark sprite wings. If a spell or something else useful caught his eye, he wouldn't put it past himself to not take the moral high ground. Growing strong quickly was important to him, especially after nearly having his ass handed to him by the dark sprites.

“I'm glad to hear it.” The corners of Uden's lips quirked into a smile. “Hopefully, this adventure together won't be too tedious, but whatever the case, I'm kind of looking forward to it.”

Just then, a notification popped up at the bottom of Azure's field of vision.

Your sketchy camaraderie has helped gain Uden's trust. His worry that you'll snitch on him for his shifty deeds has currently been abated.

Your relationship with Uden has reached Level 2. Your relationship has been updated from Annoyance to Tolerable. Uden will now think twice before stabbing you in the back while you sleep. Congratulations!

Wait. There's a relationship system in this game? But more importantly...that asshole was actually thinking about killing me in my sleep!

Azure scowled at Uden's backside as he walked away, slinking into the darkness like a black cat blending in with its surroundings. He knew he should be happy that the half-imp trusted him more, but that trust definitely didn't extend both ways.

Also, he wasn't exactly stoked that the game deemed him as 'sketchy.' That could not look good to his superiors. Hopefully, they knew it was just an in-game thing and not a reflection on his actual person.

Speaking of which, it had been at least a good five minutes since he'd taken that piss, and he was still inside of the game. Maybe he hadn't relieved himself in real life after all. Perhaps the game's technology was so advanced that it could simulate the need to eliminate without it affecting the outside body. In that case, how would he know when he needed to use the restroom in real life? The thought was worrisome, especially when tied to the fact that he was still stuck inside of the game. Whatever the case, sooner or later nature would cause him to have an accident. Of that, Azure had no doubt. For as embarrassing as it was, he'd just have to wait it out until his real body had reached its limit and someone was forced to help him out of the game.

Though he didn't see the door to the house open, Azure could no longer sense Uden's presence. A chill rolled down his spine as he thought about the incredible level of stealth the half-imp had. Dangerous, that one was. Definitely not an enemy that Azure wanted to make any time soon.

Azure continued on to the barn, still not pleased that he hadn't earned a bed. As soon as he opened the barn door, the familiar scents of straw and animal manure flooded his senses. They made the air feel somehow heavier than it did outside. It was still strange to him how real everything in the game was—how he experienced everything as if it was just as genuine as the outside world. The surrealism of it all was slowly starting to wear off, though. If Azure played the game long enough, all of this would eventually become normal to him, and that made him a bit sad.

Trying not to linger on those thoughts for too long, Azure took off his quiver of arrows and settled against the wall where he had first woken up. This was the longest beta he'd ever done for Radical Interactive as far as time went. Usually, he'd only be testing a function or two of their software, going over the same short segment of a program over and over again. Even with a time-accelerating function, he must have been in the game for at least a good thirty minutes. But if it were only that long, then it wouldn't make sense for him to have to use the bathroom yet.

It was difficult to wrap his head around the thought that the time he'd spent in-game had passed so quickly. There were so many conversations, and the quest to kill the dark sprites had definitely taken over an hour.

The Realm was unlike anything he had ever seen in his lifetime, and he had always tried to stay up on the latest innovations in the gaming world. This was leagues above everything else. The gaming of the future. Pride surged in Azure's chest to know that he was a part of it.

With a smirk and contented huff, he refocused his attention. Exhaustion had seeped into every cell of his body. His shoulder ached from pulling back the bow so many times. If the game stayed accurate to realism, he'd be sore tomorrow.

Azure lounged back on the straw, resting his head on his crossed arms like a makeshift pillow. It was uncomfortable to say the least, the hard surface beneath him and the straw poking through his clothing. The chirping of insects and an owl hooting in a nearby tree could be heard outside, working as a noisy lullaby.

His eyelids grew heavy, and his mind swam with the adventures that tomorrow would bring. If he was allowed to even play through into tomorrow. It wasn't likely, given the nature of his job. For now, he wanted to savor these last few moments of consciousness inside of the game. Perhaps sleeping was the logoff function. It was the only thing he had yet to try, and he was crazy tired.

CHAPTER SIX

THE REALM – Day 2

Something hard pressed into Azure's side. He felt his body roll slightly before falling back into place. The next nudge wasn't so gentle, and it was followed by a familiar voice, “Get up, you lazy fuck.”

Was that one of his co-workers? The cool air around him made Azure shiver. Radical Interactive was definitely an ice box. He reached to tug on the collar of his hoodie and snuggle into it and immediately felt something prickly sticking to his arms. Clarity came back to him with a tormenting slowness. The air was heavy again, filling his nostrils with the scents of the barn.

Azure forced an eye open, half expecting to see the speckling of black on his white desk, his head resting on it while he napped during one of his breaks from work. He gazed up at a towering form standing over him, arms crossed and an irritated look on the man's face. It only took a second for Azure to realize it was Uden.

“Am I dreaming?” he asked. How was it possible to wake up still in the game? Had he even slept at all, or had he just closed his eyes for a moment and his brain had advanced the time into a new day? The light streaming through the open barn door told him that night was over. He didn't remember dreaming, and once more, this felt too real to be a fantasy of his imagination.

The half-imp rolled his eyes. “You are a moron. I wonder how long it's going to take for you to get it through your thick skull that this is all real.” He crouched down and gave Azure a hard tap on the forehead that made him flinch. Now, he was definitely awake.

“Have you always been an asshole?” Azure rubbed where Uden had poked him, sitting up and edging away.

This made Uden grin. “I've been called many things.” He stood. “Get up. We need to go to Cragbell to prepare for tomorrow. It's a few hours away, and Lonnell wants to return before nightfall. I would normally prefer to stay at the inn, but Lonnell is a cheapskate like our father.” His lips twisted with distaste.

Considering that he always spoke critically of him, it seemed that Uden wasn't very fond of his brother. Or perhaps he was just overly negative about everything.

After a hearty breakfast of eggs and ham and a quick restocking of Azure's arrows from the barrel in the shed, the three men set off towards Cragbell together. It reminded Azure of the hiking trips he had taken with his parents as a kid, except this time there was a destination, not just some paved loop sketched out on a map. The forest was dense with tropical foliage, but there was already a well-worn path large enough for a horse and cart between Manny's farm and the destination. Lonnell told him that they traveled it frequently to stock up on supplies and sell their harvest.

A rabbit skittering off the path had Azure drawing his bow. He took a second to Analyze it, not that it was really necessary to see that he was overpowered against it. The thought of killing and earning more experience gave him a rush, but Lonnell placed a hand on his shoulder, dissuading him before he had a chance to nock an arrow. “We can hunt on the way back if you like. For now, let's focus on the task at hand.”

Trying not to frown, Azure placed the arrow back in its quiver, wondering if Lonnell was always going to be this much of a buzzkill. He certainly wouldn't have minded carrying the rabbit around all day. Maybe he could have even sold it at the market.

“You should have let him kill it. He needs the practice.” Uden gestured absentmindedly at his brother as he took the lead.

He wasn't wrong. Azure was still a noob by all accounts. Any extra bit of experience that he could earn would benefit the entire party in their upcoming quest. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had he shot the rabbit anyway. It was too late for that now, though. The rabbit had disappeared into the forest, escaping to live another day.

A few miles into their journey, the path converged with a much larger dirt road. After they rounded a corner about an hour's walk later, Cragbell peeked into view, reminding Azure of something he'd seen in western movies where the main road was lined with stores and stalls as if the village had been built around it. Some of the stalls were manned, some empty. Most of the vendors looked bored, only perking up when their eyes landed on the newcomers, though they seemed to avert them just as quickly when recognition hit, their quick smiles turning to scowls. Azure's excitement at the thought of shopping turned to unease as he realized that something wasn't right.

Uden spun on his heels, walking backward a few steps with his arms outstretched. “Unimpressed?”

“I hadn't known what to expect,” came the honest response. This wasn't too far off the mark, though. How much could one expect from a small island village?

“Let's sell our shit and get back to the farm.” He turned back around, proceeding towards a cart where a burly man had set up shop—the only vendor who actually still seemed happy to see them.

As Uden forged ahead, Azure picked up his pace to follow, but a hand on his shoulder pulled him back. Lonnell's grip was firm, his expression that of concern. “Those dark sprite wings would come in handy when speaking to the Tree Queen.”

Azure had expected this thanks to Uden's warning.

“Why don't you tell him that?” He thumbed back to Uden, who was already pulling his share of the dark sprite wings from a small bag at his waist.

Lonnell huffed in irritation. “My brother listens to no one. I don't think he cares about breaking the curse. It's not worth the fight.”

“We need supplies to go on this quest. We can't go unprepared.”

“Nature will provide a lot of what we need. I will take care of the healing. Uden is a skilled fighter. You're basically just going for back-up. There's nothing that you need here right now,” Lonnell insisted. “Certainly nothing worth jeopardizing the quest over.”

Lame! Oh man, this guy is good at laying on the guilt. There's a fault in his logic, though.

“What good will it be if I keep mine but he sells his? Won't the Tree Queen want all of the wings?”

Lonnell lowered his voice so that Uden couldn't hear him. “He's a half-imp. It's in his blood to lack morals. They will not expect him to do the right thing. In fact, I would have preferred we left him behind, but if the sprites are infected, we'll need him.

“Everything is a gamble in this. But the odds of her speaking to us will be more on our side if we have something to offer to show our sincerity. Should the sprites all be infected, you could always sell the wings when you return here after our quest.”

It was a catch-22 situation. If all of the dark sprites were infected, then Azure would regret not selling his share of the wings to buy better armor. But if they weren't, selling the wings would put them at a disadvantage. He needed to choose carefully.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh and roll of his head, deciding that keeping the wings was probably the smarter choice. As Lonnell had said, if the sprites were all infected, he could always sell them later. Still, it was going to be hard watching Uden shop while he stood by the wayside seeing all the things he would undoubtedly want but not be able to afford.

They continued on to the cart where Uden was examining a small blade, turning it over against his palm to admire the sheen of the metal. His dark sprite wings were sitting on the counter with eight small silver coins next to them. Azure could only assume that was his payment for the wings. He wondered how much he would have gotten for his own share.

“What do you think?” Uden showed the blade to Lonnell.

“A fine blade.” His brother nodded.

“I'll take it.” He slid four of the silver coins over to the vendor.

The man had a satisfied grin on his grisly face as he collected the payment then handed Uden five copper coins in change. He was in his mid-years, tall and stout, with a wide nose, thick jaw, and smallish brown eyes, one of which had a scar over it. More than likely, he had been a thug or warrior in his past life, Azure surmised.

Hanging from the roof of the stall were various dried herbs. Potions and small blades were laid out on the counter. It was a small selection, but it still made Azure itch to buy something. While he was appreciative of the bow on his back, he could definitely use a dagger as well.

“This is Ruthren. He's a traveling merchant that brings wares back from the mainland,” Uden introduced the man.

“Azure.” Azure extending his arm, his hand landing in a grip that was strong enough to nearly crush his fingers.

“A newcomer,” Ruthren said with a smile that showed the gap where one of his teeth was missing. “Here for a visit or moving in?”

“Just visiting, I think.” Azure wanted to go to the mainland, but he knew he had to finish his business here first.

“No one has more unique and interesting items than this man,” Uden praised the merchant.

“And no one is a better customer than you.” Ruthren threw a compliment back.

“I'm sure I'm one of the few people who are actually interested in the bizarre here.” Uden grinned, the way of which gave Azure the idea that not everything Ruthren sold was on the up and up.

“I prefer the word unique.”

“That, too.” Uden nodded, placing the dagger in his belt.

“Speaking of unique,” Lonnell chimed in, “you wouldn't happen to have any books on speaking Sprite, would you?”

“I do.” Ruthren's smile brightened as he reached behind his stall and pulled out a thick tome. The title read Speaking Sprite for Idiots.

“Excellent. I'll take it.” Lonnell grabbed the pouch at his side to start digging through it for the payment.

“That will be one silver and two coppers,” Ruthren told him.

After handing the merchant the required coin, the book exchanged hands. Lonnell placed it in his bag. Though it barely fit, as soon as it was in the bag, it seemed to melt into nothing.

“Is that a Bag of Holding?” Azure asked, familiar with it from other games.

“Yes.”

“I want one,” he said almost reflexively.

“You should sell your dark sprite wings then.” Uden clapped him on the shoulder before stepping away from the stall.

Casting a glance at Lonnell, Azure couldn't help but feel sullen. While he didn't have hardly any items to carry at the moment, he knew he would need one of those bags eventually. They were a staple of just about every game he'd ever played. Increasing the number of items you could carry without increasing their weight was always important.

Smelling another sale coming on, Ruthren leaned over his stall, focusing his attention on Azure. “Would you care to look at anything?”

“No, I suppose I wouldn't,” Azure replied with a long sigh, glaring at Lonnell while he spoke.

“I believe our business is concluded here,” Lonnell told Ruthren, completely ignoring Azure's foul mood.

“Shall we head back?” Uden stretched as he waited for the two men to catch up with him.

Casting a glance at one of the empty stalls, Lonnell's face seemed to sag. “I was hoping to see Bronna today.”

“Bronna,” Uden parroted as if the name tasted like sulfur.

“Who's Bronna?” Azure asked.

“The woman I'm going to marry,” Lonnell replied with unwavering confidence.

“She's an annoying bitch.” Bitterness rolled from Uden's tongue.

The mood instantly soured. There was a stiffness in the air that was palpable.

“Don't talk about Bronna like that.” Lonnell narrowed his eyes at his brother.

“I only speak the truth,” Uden replied nonchalantly.

“Why do you think she's a bitch?” Azure could only guess that Uden had no good reason. It seemed like Ruthren was the only person he'd met that Uden didn't despise.

Gesturing to Lonnell, Uden said, “Tell him, brother.”

Lonnell's whole body went rigid, and guilt was plain on his face. Perhaps Uden had a good reason after all. “I told her that Uden is a half-imp. It was supposed to be confidential information.” He sighed. “To make a long story short, she told her father, and the information spread. Now the village is blaming Uden for the curse even though he's lived here for most of his life.”

Still not entirely understanding the situation, Azure asked, “Why would they think that you caused the curse?”

“Imps are notoriously known for causing mischief,” Uden continued the explanation. “Once they hit adulthood, creating chaos seems to be their main drive.”

“But Uden hasn't been an adolescent for a long time, so it makes no sense that this misfortune would be because of him. To my knowledge,” Lonnell gave Uden a pointed look, “he doesn't have the magical capabilities to infect the sprites with darkness.”

“Imps have an affinity for dark magic, so it's easy enough to blame me,” Uden told Azure. “Plus, I have never been quiet about my desire to leave the island and study magic. And I wasn't always the best...neighbor. It makes me an easy target for their anger.”

“But you didn't have anything to do with this.” Azure was uncertain if it was a question or a statement. Remembering how Uden had allowed a portion of his father's garden to be destroyed, he couldn't help but see where the villagers' suspicions were coming from.

“No,” Uden replied. “I've done many a shitty thing in my day, but this wasn't one of them.”

“Many a shitty thing,” Lonnell agreed with distaste.

“Bronna is probably in the tavern,” Uden said, changing the subject and nodding towards the tavern.

“We should go in for a minute then.”

“I think I'll just stay out here.” Uden kicked lightly at the dirt.

“Nonsense. Where I am welcome, so is my brother. We shall all go together.”

“It is not a good idea, brother.” The look Uden gave Lonnell showed pure discomfort at the idea.

Lonnell walked over and placed a hand on Uden's shoulder. “They need to understand that you didn't do this. If you keep avoiding them, it will only make them feel that their suspicions have merit.”

“I don't care what they think of me,” Uden began to argue before Lonnell cut him off.

“Then come. There's nothing to fear as long as we're together.”

“I do not fear them either,” he mumbled, but Lonnell was already walking away, and it was obvious he wasn't taking no for an answer. “Shall we then?” Uden gestured for Azure to go before him.

Azure had a feeling that this wasn't going to be pleasant, though there was also a bit of excitement attached to it. Perhaps he'd receive saving Uden from a bar fight as an interrupting quest. It would be highly amusing to hold that over the half-imp's head later.

They walked in a line towards the tavern. As soon as Lonnell opened the door, the sounds of chattering voices rushed out to greet them, boisterous with the flourish of alcohol. Long wooden tables sat in rows, littered with bar patrons. The merrymaking ceased as soon as everyone saw who had entered. Heads turned. Even the bartender paused midway through wiping down the cup in his hand before averting his gaze and whispering to the man sitting in front of him.

Much like it had been outside, there was only one welcoming face. This one, however, didn't belong to a grizzled vendor but instead to a petite young woman who was standing at the back of the room with two tankards in her hands. Muddy blonde curls were held atop her head in a messy updo, a few loose strands cascading to kiss her shoulders. She was so squat that Azure found himself questioning if she was human. The crown of her head barely reached his chest, her body round with seemingly exaggerated proportions. Wide hips led up to a pinched waist and an ample bosom that was practically falling out of the plain brown dress she was wearing. Her smile went on for miles as she gazed across the tavern at the three of them, but Azure knew that it was mostly meant for Lonnell.

Within seconds, she was setting down the tankards and rushing towards them. The dozen or so eyes that had been staring at them turned back to their business, though the joy that had previously occupied the tavern seemed to fade with their presence, loud voices turning to whispers as they undoubtedly talked shit about Uden.

“Well there ye are. I n't think eyed see ya round these parts fer a while,” the woman said to them in an accent somewhere between Irish and something crude. Considering how heavy it was, Azure could only assume she wasn't from 'these parts.'

Lonnell placed his hands on her shoulders, obviously elated to see her. Love showed in his eyes. It reminded Azure of how he used to look at Sheila before everything went to hell. “We came into Cragsbell to get supplies for a quest we're going on.”

“A quest?” She seemed alarmed by the news.

“Yes. The three of us are going to visit Baremire to see if we can speak to the Tree Queen and find the source of the curse.”

Bronna gasped. “But that's so dangurous.”

“It's necessary.” He rubbed her shoulders before turning to his companions. “Please excuse my rudeness. This is Azure. Azure, this is Bronna.”

“Pleased to meetcha.” She pulled out of Lonnell's grasp and extended a limp hand to him. Azure wasn't sure if he was supposed to kiss it or shake it, but he decided to shake it.

“The pleasure is all mine.” He offered her a soft smile.

“I'm going to the bar to get a drink,” Uden said in irritation, obviously not wanting to show any kindness towards the small woman. “Let's leave these lovebirds alone.” He nodded towards the bar, urging Azure to come along.

Doubting that he'd glean anything useful from the conversation between the odd couple, Azure decided to follow Uden. They pulled up two bar stools, but the bartender paid them no mind despite only having two other customers seated before him. It quickly became apparent that he was more likely to give them trouble than a stiff drink.

“Wow. They really do hate you around here,” Azure noted.

“It's bullshit.” Uden slammed his fist on the table, trying to get the bartender's attention. “Paying customers down here!”

The bartender's neck snapped in their direction. “You're not welcome here!”

Uden rolled his eyes, resting his arm on the bar top. “Oh, come on, Leland.”

The bartender pointed a thin boney finger at him. “Don't you 'Come on, Leland' me, boy. I know what you are. Hiding amongst us all this time just waiting to strike.”

Holy shit! That escalated quickly.

Though annoyance flashed in his eyes, Uden maintained a calm composure. “If I had any plans of striking, don't you think I would have done it years ago?”

“Every nasty little thing you've done in the past has just led up to your grand plan,” the bartender accused. Azure wondered if the man knew what he was up against. Had he seen Uden in action, he might not be so quick to point a finger.

The bartender Analyzed as an even match for Azure, which meant he probably wasn't a fighter. That could have been gleaned just from looking at him. The man wasn't threatening at all with his beanpole physique, cul-de-sac of wispy dark hair, and handlebar mustache that was waxed at the tips. Even if he could fight, he'd likely be no match for the half-imp.

“Are you really going to hold all of that against me?” Uden waved the past away.

“What exactly did you do to him?” Azure leaned over to whisper.

“Well,” his eyes rolled up, and an air of amusement took over his expression, “I may have sneaked into his storeroom one time and emptied his vodka bottles, replacing it all with water. I also may have torn down all of the decorations and hammered the doors to all of the shops shut in the middle of the night before Celebration of Bounties Day last year. And then there was that time that I led the cows into Leland's barley field and let them eat all of his crops.”

Leland slapped his palms on the bar in exasperation. “You did that?!”

With a guiltless smirk, Uden shrugged. “Oops. I guess you didn't know about that one.”

Oh, God. No wonder everyone thought he was the cause of the curse. Uden was nothing but trouble. Now, Azure wasn't even sure. Maybe this quest they were going on was just going to loop back to him being the source in the end.

Pointing at the door, Leland practically shouted, “Get out!”

“Suit yourself.” Uden pushed himself off of the bar stool, pleased that he had riled up the bartender.

Unfortunately, Leland wasn't the only one he'd manage to antagonize. Almost as soon as he began moving toward the door, some of the bar patrons stood to go block them from leaving. Seeing this, Lonnell abandoned his conversation with Bronna to come to the rescue.

“You will undo this curse on our land, or we'll undo you!” one of the men threatened.

They were all older, taller, broader. Most likely other farmers from around the area. Azure suddenly realized that the idea of getting into a bar fight with the men wasn't so exciting after all. With the numbers on the side of the villagers, the outcome didn't look good for them.

“I didn't curse this wretched land,” Uden insisted, his nostrils flaring. “You people seem to forget that this place is my home just as much as it's yours.”

“That's bullshit,” another of the men said. “We know you're not really Mahnan's son. Some demon dropped you off to plague our land. A clever plan. I'm just surprised none of us saw it until now.”

“Watch your tongue unless you want to lose it.” Uden drew his shiny new dagger.

Should I reach for my bow? I'm not sure how much good I'll be in a close quarters fight like this.

Now more than ever, he wished he had sold his dark sprite wings and used the money to buy a blade. Uden couldn't possibly take on all of these guys on his own, but it looked like he was ready to try. How many would he be able to kill before they took him down?

Acting as a human shield, Lonnell put himself between the men and his brother, holding his arms out. “That's enough! My brother had nothing to do with the curse. In fact, we were just on our way to find the source. All of us,” he emphasized.

“That's more than can be said for any of you.” Uden pushed past him, and to Azure's surprise, all of the men, as he headed for the door. Though before he walked out, he made sure to toss back, “I should just let this place burn.”

Wow. For being a small guy, Uden's got some huge balls.

Azure was admittedly impressed by how brazen the half-imp was in such an unfavorable situation. How he'd managed to escape without at least getting his ass kicked was a miracle.

Lonnell seemed to deflate as soon as his brother was gone. “I apologize for him. He hasn't taken kindly to being falsely accused.”

“Is he being falsely accused?” One of the men gave him an earnest look. Their faces showed a variety of emotions. Guilt. Anger. The ones behind the man grumbled to each other, debating on whether or not to go after Uden, talking about how he had to be the source of the curse because nothing else made sense.

“He is,” Lonnell insisted with all the confidence of a loyal brother. “The imp blood running through his veins has caused him to do a lot of childish things, but he would never purposely try to run us all from our homes. You must remember that we are just as affected by this as all of you. Uden has to deal with the effects of the curse just as much as any of us. He and our new friend here spent all of yesterday afternoon trying to stop the dark sprites from destroying our garden.

"We will figure out what's causing this and we will stop it. I will not rest until my brother's name is cleared.” He began to brush past the angry crowd.

“And if it's not?” the man asked, stopping Lonnell in his tracks. “If it turns out that your brother is the source of all of this?”

A heavy breath passed Lonnell's lips before he said, “Then he will be brought to justice.”

“We will kill him,” another man said unabashedly. “It's the justice he deserves for all of the destruction he's caused. The only good imp is a dead imp.”

Tension flowed through every cell in Azure's body. Those were definitely fighting words, threatening to kill someone's brother. He wholly expected Lonnell to have a retort, but he merely paused for a moment before pressing on, leaving the men behind and forcing Azure to follow.

The air was lighter outside of the tavern, but not by much. It took a moment for them to locate Uden standing back over at Ruthren's stall chatting with him. His visage suggested that he was unaffected by what had taken place inside the tavern, but Azure knew it must be weighing on him.

“You just couldn't hold your tongue, could you?” Lonnell chastised his brother as they approached.

“Hey. All I wanted was a drink.” Uden held his hands up. “But this is really all on you, brother,” he said bitterly. “I had told you I didn't want to go in there. You were the one who had insisted everything would be all right.” Uden huffed. “Like they would magically accept me just because you were there. Things don't work that way. You're so naive sometimes.”

“It would have been fine if you hadn't antagonized them,” Lonnell insisted.

Bobbing his head, Uden said, “Ah yes. Forgive me. I forgot that I'm just supposed to stand there and take it when they wrongly accuse me of things.”

“You two squabble like children.” Ruthren rolled his eyes at the pair. “The best thing for Uden to do is leave the island. They won't accuse him if he's not here.”

Uden gestured to Ruthren as if he was the only one making sense. “Perhaps you should tell that to my moron of a father. Obviously, he cares more about his stupid fucking farm than my well-being.”

“Language!” Lonnell spat at him like a nun yelling at a schoolboy.

Nodding toward Azure, Uden said, “He doesn't care.”

“Perhaps not, but I do.”

Shaking his head, Ruthren chuckled. “Two siblings couldn't be more different.”

“Then it's true what they said?” Azure piped in. “You two aren't actually related?”

“Not by blood, but we're still brothers,” Lonnell told him. “We were raised together.”

“Not to them.” Uden cast a disdainful glance in the direction of the tavern. “I was outcast from the community the moment Bronna opened her big fat mouth.”

Turning to him, Lonnell said, “I've apologized for that a million times, but I can't take back the past. Now, all that we can do is prove your innocence.”

Uden sighed, seeming to run out of things to argue about. “Let's finish purchasing what we need and head back. It's a long walk, and I'd like to sharpen my blades before our journey tomorrow.”

The three men went on to visit the various other stalls and merchants, collecting what they needed, though Azure mostly stood in the back watching as the men made purchases. It was interesting yet boring at the same time. Most of what they acquired were mundane items, like herbs that would be more difficult to find out in the field. Nothing that made Azure itch to sell his dark sprite wings, which he was grateful for.

What he did garner from the experience was knowledge of how the money system worked. Ten coppers were worth one silver, and ten silvers one gold coin. It seemed reasonably standard and basic. And based on the pricing scheme, one copper seemed worth about what one U.S. dollar would be.

Once they finished shopping, they headed back toward the farm. This time, Lonnell urged him on when they saw a rabbit hop into the clearing. Azure used his Analyze skill, then sent an arrow sailing straight into the rabbit's side. It let out a high-pitched cry before falling over, its leg twitching once before death settled in.

Critical hit! Defeated Level 1 Rabbit. 5XP rewarded.

An unexpected chiming sound immediately following the kill made Azure jump.

Congratulations! You are now Level 2! Your base stats have been boosted. You have earned 3 points to assign to your characteristics. Please note that adding points to some charactersists(Vitality, Intelligence, and Strength) will further boost your base stats. You may also advance any 1 skill of your choosing by 1 level.

While Azure was elated that he had finally leveled up, it felt a bit lame to have done it on a rabbit.

Concentrating on his stats, the familiar translucent screen popped up into Azure's field of vision.

Name: Azure

Race: Human

Level: 2, 0% of the way to next level

Health: 110 / 110

Mana: 110 / 110

Stamina: 110 / 110

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Dexterity: 10

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

Skills: Archery Lvl 1; 70% of the way to next level

Stealth Lvl 1; 10% of the way to the next level

Analyze Lvl 2; 40% of the way to next level

Languages: Common Tongue

Since it seemed like an easier choice, Azure first decided to focus on which skill to level. It was obvious that he used Archery and Analyze the most frequently, but he had seen from Uden's sneaking around that Stealth was also important. If he could attack his foes unaware, it would be a powerful skill. Not wanting to second guess himself, Azure made the conscious decision to level his Stealth skill and was rewarded with a notification.

Congratulations! The skill: Stealth has reached Level 2. This skill allows you to move silently about your enemies without them noticing. Attacks while in stealth mode will now deal 2% more damage.

Sweet! Another perk.

That helped to validate Azure's decision. He remembered Uden telling him that Analyze wouldn't earn a perk until it reached level 14. It felt like it would take forever to get there, but Azure knew he used that skill most of all. Spending his special leveling up skill upgrading ability on it probably wasn't necessary.

A more difficult choice was deciding where to allocate the three points he had earned. While he had played many games before, and most of the stats were rudimentary, he still wanted a better idea of what each one would increase before allocating his points. Concentrating on the stats individually brought up a new screen defining each one.

Vitality – Your life force. Allocating a point to this stat will increase your Health by 10 points. Affects your resistance to poison and elements. Also affects the rate of natural Health regeneration without the aid of potions.

Intelligence – How smart you are. Allocating a point to this stat will increase your Mana by 10 points. Affects your resistance to spells and magical items. Also affects the rate of natural Mana regeneration without the aid of potions.

Strength – What you're made of. Allocating a point to this stat will increase your Stamina by 10 points. Affects the amount of damage done when wielding all manner of weapons and the amount of weight you are able to carry. Also affects the rate of natural Stamina regeneration without the aid of potions.

Agility – Your ability to move quickly and easily. Affects your movement speed while both stealthed and unstealthed, your speed with weapons, and your ability to dodge attacks.

Dexterity – Hand-eye coordination. Improves your accuracy with weapons.

Charisma – How cunning you are. Affects your ability to strike up conversations with difficult or secretive people. Also increases your powers of manipulation. Depending on your level, will open up quests that would otherwise be unavailable.

Luck – Are you feeling lucky? Helps to favorably turn the tides for you in sticky situations. Depending on your level, will lead to improved loot drop rates and item quality.

That cleared things up quite a bit. Considering that Azure didn't currently have any spells, increasing his Intelligence didn't seem particularly important at the moment. One thing that Azure knew for certain was that he wanted to increase his health, so he decided to stick a point in Vitality. Agility and Dexterity would improve his archery skill, so he decided to allocate his other two points there.

Satisfied with his selections, Azure closed his stats, continuing on with a smile on his face.

Almost as if it were a bonus, he was able to kill one more rabbit before they made it back to the farm. Azure handed the two dead rabbits over to Meva upon their return, and she promised to give him the pelts once she had skinned and tanned them so that he'd have something to sell at the market next time they went.

They supped on rabbit stew that night. It filled Azure with pride to contribute to the family that had taken him in. Surprisingly, no words were spoken at dinner about what had happened in the tavern.

Once the meal was over, Lonnell followed Azure outside, asking him to wait while he dug into his Bag of Holding. Extracting the book he had purchased earlier, he promptly offered it to Azure. “Here. Uden and I both already know how to speak Sprite. You'll need this if we're able to get an audience with the Tree Queen.”

Taking the book, Azure gave him a look of appreciation. “Thank you. I will make good use of this.”

A notification popped up.

You have received the following item:

Book: Speaking Sprite for Idiots

Quantity: 1

Durability: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 1.1 kg

Uses: Language Skills

The thought of having homework wasn't exactly appealing, but Azure knew it was a necessary evil. Learning languages was a part of almost every virtual reality MMORPG he'd played in the past. Why should this one be any different?

“I also want to thank you for not judging my brother as harshly as the others.” Lonnell stared past him into the distance. “It's true that he's a half-imp, but I like to believe that he's mostly human.”

“I saw that he was a half-imp when we partied to fight the dark sprites. I didn't think much of it then,” Azure confessed. “How did he come to be a part of your family?”

“As the story goes, my father found him in swaddling clothes near the river when he was hunting shortly after I'd been born. We can only assume that he had a human mother who came to the island to abandon him. Half-breeds aren't widely accepted, no matter the crossing of races. They fit in neither world. Dark half-breeds, even less.

“Anyone else would have killed the baby as a kindness. But that's not who my father is. He brought the child home, gave him a name, and hid him away.

“One of the reasons why Uden is so ill-mannered is because he wasn't exposed to other people through most of his childhood. The plan had originally been to ship him off to the mainland when he was old enough to fend for himself because he'd have a better chance of being accepted there. But by the time Uden hit puberty, you couldn't really tell that he wasn't human. I mean, he looks just like us, doesn't he?”

“For the most part,” Azure agreed.

“It didn't make sense to send him away when he was capable of blending in here. Our father introduced him to the community under the guise of being offspring from an affair when he was off fighting the Battle of the Red Mountain for four years. Though it hurt my mother to do so, she went along with it. She's equally kindhearted and had no intentions of casting Uden out once my father had brought him home. Most would have seen a monster. She saw a defenseless baby. But she wasn't stupid. She knew the islanders would condemn him to death if they found out his secret." Holding his arms out to his sides, Lonnell said, “And here we are now, twenty-three years later.”

“At what age do imps typically start becoming evil?” It seemed like relevant information in judging whether or not Uden was the source of the curse.

“I wouldn't say that they truly become evil. Most are just mischievous. It really depends on how much demon is in them. Imps are born when a demon infects a sprite with darkness and forces them to copulate, which means that all imps are part demon.” He glanced to the side as if it helped to lengthen his explanation, “which means that Uden is part demon. But considering that it appears that Uden is mostly human, even if his imp parent was mostly demon, the darkness should have been bred out of him by his humanity. But to answer your question more directly, imps begin displaying ill-favored activity in their teen years, and it peaks when they hit adulthood. More than likely, if this were all Uden's doing, he would have started it years ago.”

“You don't sound convinced that it's not.”

Lonnell sighed. “No one knows my brother better than I do. The imp in him does cause him to do bad things sometimes, but I can't force myself to believe he'd go to such lengths to drive everyone out of the village. What would his motive be?”

“He said he wanted to leave the island,” Azure pointed out.

“Yes. But why drive out everyone on the island just to accomplish that?”

“To cover up that it's him,” came the obvious answer. “It would be too suspicious if the curse only affected your family.”

Lonnell thought on that for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I can't force myself to believe that. Uden can be bad at times, but he's not evil. He wouldn't destroy an entire way of life just to get his way.”

“Aren't bad and evil the same thing?” Azure couldn't help but wonder if Lonnell's relationship with Uden was skewing his reality. So far, everything pointed to Uden being the culprit behind the curse.

“Let's speak of this no more,” Lonnell said with an air of exhaustion. “A long road lies ahead of us tomorrow. We should both get some rest.”

“Indeed.” He nodded in agreement.

Turning to walk away, Lonnell paused for a moment, casting a glance over his shoulder. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For doing the right thing in regards to the sprite wings. Half-imps aren't the only ones who can be good or evil.”

A notification popped up at the bottom of Azure's field of vision.

You haven't known each other for long, but Lonnell has a trusting nature. The fact that you did the right thing by not selling your dark sprite wings despite being penniless and in need of supplies shows a lot about your character.

Your relationship with Lonnell has reached Level 2. Your relationship has been updated from Stranger to Trusted. Lonnell will not think twice before offering you aid in battle. Congratulations!

Azure stood there for a few seconds pondering the mechanics of the relationship system as he watched Lonnell walk away. The thought was soon forgotten as he turned his attention to the book in his hand, continuing on to the barn. It was early enough to get a bit of reading in. For as insulting as the title was, picking up new languages had never been his forte, so Azure hoped that the book was, in fact, for idiots.

In high school, he had taken Spanish for three years and had never learned to speak the language fluently, though he could understand a lot of what he read and heard. Briefly, he had also studied Japanese using online learning software. If he was being honest, he had learned more from watching anime than he had from the software. Sub all the way!

Ready to tackle attempting to learn Sprite, Azure settled down on his bed of straw, pulling the lantern close to cast a glow over the book's cover. There was nothing ornate about it. Black text on a tawny background displayed the title in what appeared to be Old English. Azure flipped the cover open to reveal a handwritten introduction, the first half in English, the second half in a strange mix of symbols.

As his eyes scrolled over the heavy cursive, he could feel something shift within him. The black ink began to change, the letters moving and rearranging themselves. Squiggles straightened into type, and the previously foreign text rewrote itself into English. Whispers invaded Azure's ears, first in a strange language, making no sense to him at all. They overlapped, repeating until he suddenly understood with perfect clarity what they were saying.

The book crumbled in his hands, and a notification popped up.

Congratulations! You can now understand and speak the language: Sprite. The item: Book: Speaking Sprite for Idiots has been destroyed.

Oh, thank God! He really hadn't wanted to stay up all night to go over the thick tome. This was one thing that he was glad Radical Interactive had kept true to gaming. No one wanted to spend hours trying to learn a new language. Which reminded him...

Two full days had passed, and he was still in the game. What was scarier was that Azure was beginning to question this being his new reality less and less. He had lived a life before this, hadn't he? Or had it all just been a dream

The desperation to return to the life he'd known before was almost gone. In fact, he kind of dreaded it. In what he had once considered the real world, he had lived a mundane existence. Wake up, eat, go to work, come home, try to escape reality by gaming, sleep, and then start it all over the next day. There had been nothing special about him or his life. Sure, he was still just a noob in The Realm, but the potential for advancing and growing strong was so much more exciting than the path he'd created for himself in the real world. As he began to drift off to sleep, Azure thought that it might not be so bad if he was stuck in this beta forever.

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE REALM – Day 3

A rooster crowed in the distance.

Cock...

The immature thought passed through Azure's mind before he realized how bloody cold he was. He rolled, pieces of straw sticking to him. There was no hoodie to cuddle into. Somehow, he remembered that.

Opening his eyes, Azure came face to face with the barn wall. Why was it so damn cold? And would he ever get used to this?

He rose and headed to the house where everyone was already up and moving about. Uden made a snide remark about not having to wake him with his boot, and they enjoyed a meager breakfast together before briefly parting ways to make ready for the journey ahead...not that Azure had any additional preparing to do but to restock the two arrows he had lost yesterday during his hunt. Even when he hit his mark, they still disappeared after they had done their damage.

Manny and Meva stood together as they wished the boys farewell. It reminded Azure of something out of a movie. Meva clasped onto her husband's arm, a subtle look of concern on her face. They all knew it was a dangerous quest. If the sprites were all infected, one wrong move could have them overwhelmed.

Traveling through the dense forest in single file, Lonnell took the lead, cutting through any obstructing brush with a small machete that he had pulled from his Bag of Holding. Damn, Azure really needed to get one of those. He wondered what else Lonnell had inside of it but figured he'd probably find out eventually without having to ask.

The machete wasn't his weapon, though. Strapped to Lonnell's back was a simple staff made of wood. It reminded Azure of a bo staff. Maybe it was. He wouldn't know until he actually got a chance to see Lonnell use it.

Every once in a while, Lonnell would give pause to pick berries from a bush or forage through the dirt for some plant or root. It wasn't long before Azure began following suit, figuring that the items must be used to make potions. The first time he plucked a berry, a notification window popped up.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Foraging Level 1. Plants can be used for a variety of purposes from healing wounds to crafting poisons. Harvest everything you can to broaden your knowledge on herbalism and the effects of various flora.

You have harvested:

Juniper Berries

Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +15 MP if eaten

Azure continued harvesting items, hoping to level up his new skill quickly. Despite the plethora of flora around them, there didn't appear to be much that was actually forageable. At least, not in the sense that it was useful. He experimented by pulling up a few blades of grass by the roots, but no item notification came up.

I guess foraging is exclusive to specific items, he thought, noticing that everything that did give him a notification had some type of helpful effect. Realizing how much this stuff could come in handy, Azure wished he had known about foraging long ago.

You have harvested:

Garlic

Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +15 HP if eaten

You have harvested:

Red Mushroom

Uses: Alchemy component, Restores +10 HP if eaten

Thankfully, the alchemy components stacked if they were the same type. Four out of the twelve slots in Azure's pouch were already filled. He wondered how long it would be before he ran out of room. Again, he caught himself eying Lonnell's Bag of Holding, yearning for one of his own.

The Foraging skill did prove to level quickly, reaching level 2 within less than an hour and giving Azure the following notification:

Congratulations! The skill: Foraging has reached Level 2. Plants collected through foraging have a variety of uses. You can sell them, consume them, or use them to create potions through alchemy.

Wildlife was surprisingly sparse. A rabbit crossed their path early in their journey, and Azure didn't waste the opportunity to take it down, wanting to gain as much experience as he could. A brief argument ensued afterward over whether or not he should be hunting at all hours. Of course, leveling up was important, but Lonnell refused to permit the waste of meat, saying that they didn't have time to stop to gut and cook every rabbit. He insisted that hunting should be left for the afternoon. Also, he pointed out that Azure needed to conserve his arrows in case of any real danger. The likeliness of them passing a traveling merchant wasn't very good where they were headed. Generally, humans steered clear of the sprite settlement.

While he was a bit annoyed by the lecture, Azure understood where Lonnell was coming from. Rabbits only gave him 5XP each, and he had a finite supply of arrows. Having to carefully ration his ammo was one aspect of the game that he didn't like. Nineteen arrows didn't seem like a lot to work with, now that he thought about it.

Agreeing to Lonnell's terms of only hunting in the afternoon, it pained Azure every time he saw a rabbit hop by and thought about the loss of experience. As if to reward him for his patience, when the sun began to set they came upon a boar rooting in the dirt. It snuffled, causing Lonnell to come to a dead stop, throwing his arm out to the side to make his followers give pause as well. Silently, he pointed to the boar through the trees

“This isn't like the rabbits,” Uden whispered to Azure from the rear. “You'll have to be stealthy if you want to take it down.”

Nodding in acknowledgment, Azure activated his Stealth skill before carefully drawing his bow and nocking an arrow. Using Analyze, he could see that the boar was a slightly higher level than him. Excitement rolled through Azure's veins at the thought that this was the most powerful creature he'd faced yet. There should definitely be a good experience payoff if he could manage to make the shot.

Holding his breath, Azure pulled back his bowstring. As if perceiving its impending doom, the boar raised its head. It barely had a chance to look in his direction before he let the arrow sail.

Thwack! It hit the boar right in the side. The animal let out a blood-curdling scream and scurried away a few feet before tripping and falling over in the dirt. A soft grunt left its snout, and its tongue lolled out as it took its last breath, its eyes glassing over in death.

Azure's heart was racing so fiercely that he was worried it would beat out of his chest. Frozen in place with fear that the animal would stand back up and take off running into the woods, forcing them to spend time tracking it, he didn't move until he saw Uden walk past him to examine the corpse.

Defeated Level 3 Boar. 18XP rewarded.

Congratulations! The skill: Archery has reached Level 2. This skill allows you to use a bow and arrow to defeat enemies. Aim strong and true.

No perk yet? That was a bit disappointing. Still, Azure was pleased with the 18XP he'd just earned.

“Well done,” Uden said with a lilt of being impressed. “I was certain you were going to fuck that up.”

“Such confidence you have in me,” Azure replied drolly, his eyes rolling as his feet unglued themselves from the forest floor.

“We shall eat heartily tonight.” Lonnell smiled as he pulled out his hunting knife to begin gutting the boar.

By the time they had skinned and quartered the animal, night had fallen. They decided to make camp in a nearby clearing. After building a fire, Lonnell urged Azure to help with the cooking. Oddly, though he had barbequed many times before, his first bit of meat came out burnt to a crisp. It was as if as soon as he put it on the fire, the flames licked up at the flesh, mercilessly attacking it until it was as black as charcoal.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Cooking Level 1. You have to eat to survive. You now have an 8% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item.

“What in the hell?” Azure pulled the spit from the fire. He poked the meat, and a bit of ash fell from it.

You have cooked:

Burnt Boar

Uses: None. You wouldn't feed this to a troll you were trying to kill. Because the troll would know you were trying to kill it and would likely kill you instead.

The remainder of the boar fluttered away in a wisp of black smoke and was gone. Azure scowled at the now empty spit while he listened to Uden roar with laughter. Apparently, it was so funny that he needed to clutch onto his stomach.

“Your face.” The half-imp pointed at him before wiping a tear away with the back of his hand.

“Cooking isn't this damn hard!” Azure spun on his heels, his hands all angry gestures. “You put the meat on the fire. It cooks. It's not fucking rocket science. This is bullshit.”

“Calm down and try again,” Lonnell urged him patiently. “We have plenty of meat to work with.”

“Don't let him ruin it all, brother.” Uden chuckled. “I would like to eat at some point tonight.”

“You didn't hunt any of it,” Azure pointed out.

Finally settling from his fit of laughter, Uden reminded him, “I'm not the one who needs to level up.”

Fair point, though level three is nothing impressive. Since Uden hadn't been hunting, Azure was quickly gaining on him. Soon, they'd be equally matched.

It took Azure eight more tries before he was successfully able to cook the boar. Each failure made his frustration mount, but Lonnell gave him support, while in juxtaposition, Uden continued to mock him.

“Don't feel bad. He hasn't leveled his cooking skill much either.” Lonnell cast his gaze toward his brother.

“Why should I cook when I have others to do it for me?” Lounging back with his head resting on a log, Uden looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

“Ignore him and just keep practicing. The more you cook, the faster you'll level the skill, the less you'll burn things, the less frustration you'll have to deal with later. Also, you'll be able to make tastier things,” Lonnell told him.

Though he was tired from walking all day and overheated from standing over the fire cooking, Azure tenaciously pressed on, burning one spit of meat after another until he saw the notification pop up.

Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 2. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 16% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.

By this time, Lonnell had settled by the fire to extract the alchemy components he had gathered to start mashing them with a mortar and pestle. Azure repositioned himself so that he could watch. It seemed like magic the way the various ingredients began to liquify under the weight of the stone. By the time Lonnell poured the mixture into a vial, it was clear with a strong red tint. There was no waste left behind—nothing to be strained.

“Will you teach me how to do that?” Azure asked curiously.

“Once you finish cooking up the rest of the meat.” Lonnell's eyes fell to the chunks of raw flesh still waiting to be cooked.

With a sigh, Azure continued slaving over the fire. Though there was an increase in his rate of success, by the time he put the last bit of meat on the spit, he wasn't sure he would ever want to cook again.

Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 3. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 24% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.

Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 4. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 32% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.

This was definitely not the skill that Azure pictured himself leveling so quickly first. He understood how it would be useful when he was out on his own, but for now, there seemed like better things he could be doing with his time.

They supped on the salvageable pieces of meat with plenty leftover to stack in their pouches. Lonnell explained that it wouldn't go bad as long as it was stored away, which was met with much relief. The only disappointing thing was that each different cut of meat took up a different slot. Dividing the meat amongst them, Lonnell took on most of the odd bits that had a low stack number so that they wouldn't go to waste, saying that they wouldn't need to hunt again for the rest of their journey. Azure was grateful that he didn't have to fill up his entire inventory with meat. As it was, he only had six inventory slots left.

After all of the hard work that Azure had put in, the boar tasted divine, even though it wasn't seasoned in the slightest. He was fascinated to see that the different cuts restored a different amount of health and stamina based on the quality. He decided that having someone in his party with an advanced cooking skill was probably almost as important as having a healer, though he admittedly didn't want to take on that role. Cooking had been tedious and boring, and despite earning perks with every level increase, it didn't excite him in the least.

Azure glanced over at Uden. He had finished eating and was now busy sharpening his daggers. Lonnell was pulling out his mortar and pestle again. He nodded to Azure to join him.

Beginning Azure's lesson in Alchemy, Lonnell said, “There unfortunately isn't a wide array of alchemy components available in this area, so what I can teach you is limited. But I suppose it doesn't matter. There are many concoctions that you can't learn until you've leveled up your Alchemy skill.

“For now, you can create the Potion of Minor Healing, Potion of Minor Mana Restoration, and Potion of Minor Stamina. The Alchemy skill isn't like the cooking skill. You will always have success as long as you craft within your level. Trying to craft a potion above your level will result in a failure. Mixing random ingredients in an attempt to create a new kind of potion will also result in a failure.

“Alchemists have spent lifetimes creating the potions we have today. Believe me when I say that they've combined every ingredient known. The recipes we currently have are the only ones that will work.”

Lonnell picked up the mortar and placed it in his lap. Then he reached into his Bag of Holding and pulled out a bulb of garlic, a red mushroom, and a small empty vial. He set the vial on the ground beside him and placed the other items in the mortar. Picking up his pestle, he began mashing them together.

“It looks like simple work, and to a large degree it is,” he said as the components began to break down beneath the weight of his hand. “When liquified, the ingredients know what to do. They were made to combine. You can feel their energy begin to flow together. But a piece of you goes into every potion you make. Your skill and the amount of care you put into your alchemy will determine the quality of the outcome. If you put in enough concentration and connect with the ingredients well enough, you'll sometimes receive a quality boost to your potions. For that reason, it's important to take your time crafting them and preferably do it in a quiet place where you can really concentrate.”

As before, the mixture began to liquify. Now close to the action, Azure could see that Lonnell wasn't just combining the ingredients absentmindedly. His eyes were fixed on the contents of the mortar, his brow slightly furrowed. The sediment in the bottom of the bowl began to dissipate, and there was a soft red glow on the surface of the liquid within.

“It is done.” Uncorking the vial, Lonnell filled it with the red liquid. He held it up to the fire, examining it before handing it over to Azure.

Potion of Minor Healing

Quantity: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Good

Weight: 0 kg

Uses: Heals 35 HP.

“There's a quality system for Alchemy. The average Potion of Minor Healing restores 30 HP. You'll notice that this one restores 35 HP. That's because the quality of this potion is Good. Had I concentrated harder, I might have been able to achieve a High quality potion. High quality Potions of Minor Healing restore 40 HP. As you can see, there's a better payoff in putting your heart into your Alchemy.

“Would you like to try it now?” Lonnell offered over his mortar. “I believe you have most of the required components to craft this potion. It calls for Garlic and Red Mushroom. The only thing you're missing is a vial. You can pick them up cheap at most markets. For now, I'll provide you with one.” Reaching into his Bag of Holding, Lonnell pulled out another small empty vial.

Azure took it from him along with the mortar and pestle. “Thanks.”

You have received the following item:

Empty Vial

Quantity: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0 kg

Uses: Alchemy Component

Taking the required ingredients from his pouch, Azure placed them in the mortar. The pestle felt cold in his hand despite Lonnell having just used it. Looking down at the ingredients, they seemed strange. Last he remembered, garlic and mushrooms did not liquify in real life, not that he'd ever tried juicing them. Sheila was the one who was into that healthy bullshit. Why was he even thinking about her right now?

Shaking his memories away, Azure put his weight into crushing the vegetables. As expected, the garlic gave resistance, but the mushroom squished almost immediately. A deep red liquid oozed from it. Oddly, the smell reminded him of cherries, though it was quickly overtaken by the pungent odor of the garlic. Azure wrinkled his nose, trying not to turn away as he mashed until his wrist began to grow tired. This definitely wasn't as easy as Lonnell had made it look.

Though it took longer than expected, Azure did begin to feel a reaction happening in the mortar. The garlic finally started to break down into a liquid, almost as if it were melting beneath his palm...wanting to join the red mushroom. The two liquids swirled together, the clear and red performing a smooth dance in the mortar before they began to combine. Azure was in awe of the process taking place before him. He concentrated hard on what he was seeing, trying to will part of himself into the mixture. There was no soft red glow when the sediment faded away, though. In fact, the final concoction looked a bit muddy.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Alchemy Level 1. There are many uses for potions. Hone this skill to heal yourself in battle and thwart your enemies!

“Did I do it right?” he asked, remembering Lonnell telling him that there was no way to fail. Maybe he had just invented one. If that were the case, Azure definitely didn't want Uden to see. He had endured enough ridicule for one night.

“Let's see.” Lonnell took the vial back from Azure and uncorked it, holding it so that he could pour the mixture in.

Potion of Minor Healing

Quantity: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Poor

Weight: 0 kg

Uses: Heals 25 HP.

A sigh escaped Azure's lips as he read the item quality. Poor. Of course, it was.

Seeing the disappointment on his face, Lonnell gave Azure a pat on the back. “Don't be disheartened. It takes a little while to master Alchemy. I promise that you will do better when you are alone. Almost everyone achieves a poor result the first time around.” Perhaps that's why Uden wasn't laughing at him this time. “But I can tell you what it is that you did wrong. You have to infuse yourself into your Alchemy throughout the entire process, from start to finish. Anything less will net you a poor result. Keep that in mind next time you give it a try.”

Azure wanted to keep trying, but it didn't look like Lonnell was going to offer him another vial, and he didn't want to be rude and ask. He wished his companion was just as adamant about him learning Alchemy as he had been about Azure learning Cooking, but beggars can't be choosers. There would be many other opportunities for him to hone the skill. Of that, Azure was certain.

“It's getting late,” Lonnell announced, indicating that their lessons were over for the night. “We should both get some rest. We have a challenging day ahead of us tomorrow.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE REALM – Day 4

The morning brought its own set of surprises. Before continuing on their journey, Uden took Azure aside and offered him the blade that he had been wielding before purchasing the new dagger at the market the other day. It was an unexpected gift—especially coming from the half-imp—and one that Azure was grateful for. Now he felt less vulnerable against close range attacks.

You have received the following item:

Starter Dagger

Attack: +1-4

Type: One-Handed Weapon

Durability: 15/20

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.4 kg

A brief foraging expedition led to finding some eggs to have with their leftover pork for breakfast. Discovering that the eggs were both a cooking and an alchemy component, Azure made sure to stow one away for later use.

After breakfast, they continued on towards Baremire. As with the day before, Lonnell took his time harvesting what nature had to offer, and like a mimic, Azure followed suit, stowing away what he could fit in his pouch until his inventory slots were all full.

Just after midday, Azure began to notice a change in the forest around them. They had done their best to follow game trails up to that point, only veering off the beaten path when necessary. Lonnell's machete was getting a lot more use, and as Azure looked at the ground, he saw fresh animal tracks, yet the path they wandered down was almost entirely grown over.

As if reading his mind, Lonnell said, “We're getting close. We should probably take a break to come up with a plan of action.”

“The forest coverage is a good sign,” Uden noted. “This enchantment would not keep if the Tree Queen was infected.”

“Indeed.” Lonnell nodded.

“Enchantment?” Azure asked.

“Yes. A spell that protects the wildlife and keeps out intruders. Humans are obviously not welcome here or a path would have opened to us by now.” Lonnell gazed towards the curtain wall of trees and brush that lay before them. It was so dense that light couldn't even be seen on the other side.

“What are the odds that they'll attack us on sight?”

“Sprites shy away from fighting if they can avoid it. However, they won't hesitate to kill us if they see us as a threat,” Lonnell informed him. “We should proceed with caution from this point forward. More than likely, we'll be apprehended by guards before we can reach Baremire. We should handle this as diplomatically as possible, which means that you should let me do the talking. Do not speak of dispatching of the dark sprites. They will not take kindly to our killing their kin, magicked or not.”

“That is for certain,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind them. “Move a muscle and we will dispatch of you.”

Instinctively, the three adventurers turned toward the sound. It wasn't until that moment that Azure realized they were surrounded by the same dense foliage that laid before them. The forest had caged them in. While he wasn't typically claustrophobic, the area felt tight, as if the forest was closing in on them more with every passing second. One glance at the floor gave proof to that hypothesis. The trunks of the trees were growing wider. Branches sprung forth from them, filling in the space with thick leaves and greenery.

As if being birthed from the forest itself, two small green forms suddenly appeared, fluttering in the air before them. They were reminiscent of the dark sprites, except they were missing the vile fog and the glowing eyes. More human than mindless monsters, the sprites brandished tiny spears at the three men. Their ambush had obviously been choreographed and perfectly executed. None of the men had even sensed the presence of the sprites until it was too late.

Lonnell held up a hand in surrender. “We have come in peace to see the Tree Queen. We wish to speak to her about the darkness plaguing our island.”

The sprites eyed Lonnell warily and then whispered to each other before turning their attention to him again. “You have confessed to killing our kind. For that, we will take you to be judged. Whatever fate the Tree Queen says shall befall you will be done.”

Azure wasn't sure if he should be happy that they were going to see the Tree Queen or not. After all, he had partaken in the slaying of the dark sprites. Lonnell was the only one without blood on his hands.

His expression remaining stoic, Uden leaned in to speak to Lonnell. “Excellent, brother. Now they have a good reason to kill us. I hope your silver tongue can talk our way out of this mess.”

“Silence, you!” One of the sprites spat at him, waving its spear threateningly.

“Just in case,” Lonnell muttered, and two notifications popped up in Azure's field of vision.

Lonnell Namud has joined your party.

Uden Namud has joined your party.

One of the sprites took the lead, and the other fell behind them. With a wave of the leading sprite's hand, the branches and vines pulled back, and the trees made a path for them. It was strange to hear the forest creak and groan and rustle. An immense sound in such a small space.

Keeping their marching order, Lonnell went first with Uden taking up the rear. The two men felt like a wall of protection to Azure. Maybe they were. He was definitely a lower level than Uden, and probably lower than Lonnell as well. Speaking of which, now was as good a time as any to check out Lonnell's stats.

Name: Lonnell Namud

Race: Human

Level: 4

Health: 160 / 160

Mana: 130 / 130

Stamina: 150 / 150

Next, Azure Analyzed the sprite guards. Both showed up as orange. Maybe the three of them together could defeat the two guards, but it would be risky. As with many games where the NPCs were over-leveled, Azure assumed that they weren't meant to be fought.

The forest continued to part before them, creating a hallway of greenery that quickly became less and less dense. Soon, it opened into a clearing. Three giant sequoias grew in a perfect circle in the center of the clearing, their trunks about the width of a house and taller than anything Azure had seen in the region. Multiple small doors and carved out windows dotted all the way up the trunks. The closer the men approached, the more it became apparent to Azure that they had finally arrived at Baremire. This was the home of the sprites.

Upon seeing the humans, many of the sprites fled for the doors in the trees. A few were brave enough to stay out and gawk, confident in the guards' abilities to keep the intruders subdued. Azure was lost in the wonder of it all. The grand scale of the trees. The abundance of 12-inch human-like figures with their light green skin and small beady eyes. The children were tiny, hiding behind their mother's legs to peer around them in safety. There was a light green fog to the air that seemed to glitter when the light hit it just right. Azure felt like he was experiencing something magical.

The guards marched them into the center of the circle of trees. There was a landing sticking out of one of the sequoias. It was ornately carved, and the wood was white as if made of ivory. Azure wanted to touch it but knew better. Two sprites stood sentry guarding the opening. This was where the Tree Queen must reside.

The guard who had been behind them flanked their side while the other flew down to speak to one of the sentries. The sentry disappeared only to re-emerge minutes later with a willowy female sprite. She stood tall(in sprite terms) and slender, wearing a long white flowing dress made of layered flower petals, the pollen from them dotting it with a pale yellow. Tiny yellow flowers and vibrant green leaves adorned her head in the shape of a crown. Her flaxen hair was pulled away from her face but cascaded down over her demur shoulders reaching all the way to her waist. The wings on her back had the same translucence as the rest of the spites, except they were shaped like that of a butterfly instead of the oblong wings of the other sprites. She was, Azure thought, absolutely stunning.

Unafraid of the apprehended humans, the female sprite placed one dainty naked foot in front of the other as she walked to the end of the platform. Her eyes moved from one human to the next, taking stock of them. When they settled on Uden, her lips dipped into a frown.

“You would bring this...creature before me,” she said with a slight turn of her head to one of the guards.

“He is half-human,” Lonnell defended Uden, “and assuredly not evil.”

“Assuredly,” she parroted with the tiniest hint of sarcasm before addressing all of them. “My name is Karma Poplarvale. I am the Tree Queen of Baremire. My guard tells me that you stand accused of...dispatching,” she said the word with distaste, “of some of my sprites that had been magicked. What say you to this?”

“It is regrettably true,” Lonnell admitted solemnly. “As you well know, our way of life has been compromised since this curse has befallen our island. Food has become scarce as the animals of the forest have begun to disappear. Goblins have been raiding our stores. Like many others who are trying to get through this, we're desperate to survive, protecting what little we can manage to harvest.

“The dark sprites you speak of were poisoning our crops and gardens. We should have come to you, but there was no time. We could not afford to lose what we had, and as you well understand, there is no reasoning with a magicked sprite. With their numbers so great, capturing them and returning them to you was not an option at the time without risking injury to ourselves. Your people are many and all live in a community together. Ours are spread out, tending to their own farms. At the current state, we can't afford to lose the manpower.

“It is a regrettable thing that we have done, and we took no pleasure in it. We could not have done anything to prevent what happened then, but that is why we're here now. We have come with the hope that you may know of how your people became infected so that we can help you stop whatever is causing it.

“We all need this curse to end before we're driven from this island. From what I have seen, no race has gone unaffected. We have sent an envoy to speak with Finborh and beg for forgiveness for whatever offense we have committed, of that which still remains unknown. That envoy never returned.

“My brother and our companion and I have decided to take it upon ourselves to investigate what may be causing all of this. And I felt that coming here was as good of a place as any to start. Stopping whatever is causing your people to become magicked will benefit us both.”

Karma hummed in thought before speaking. “I, too, have sent an envoy to speak with Finborh, and he did not return either. This is rather worrisome.”

“Do you have any idea who might be magicking your people?” Uden asked.

“For all we know, it could be you, Imp,” she snapped with disdain.

“Would I be here if it were me?” Azure could almost feel Uden fighting back an eye roll. “This stupid curse has made my life a living hell, too. You think I want all of this extra work?” He pointed to himself. “Do you think I actually want to be here?”

“That's enough,” Lonnell chastised his brother, effectively silencing him before casting a side glance at Azure. “We have brought you the wings of the fallen dark sprites as a sign of good faith.”

Taking the cue, Azure dug into his pouch for the dark sprite wings he had collected. Carefully, he placed them on the edge of the platform.

Tears filled Karma's eyes as she looked upon them. “This gesture is appreciated. And you are right, this curse affects us all, not just my people.

“Unfortunately, I fear this curse cannot be lifted until someone speaks to Finborh. It is deep-rooted in the land around us.”

“What do you mean?” Lonnell furrowed his brow.

“It took us a while to figure it out, but the sprites who became infected all drank from the same water source, Fair Rill River that flows to the East. It is as if the island itself wants us gone.”

“That doesn't make sense,” Uden spoke up. “If that were true then all of the water sources would be polluted. Not just one.”

Looking to Uden, Lonnel said, “My brother has a point. The corruption must be coming from somewhere else. Probably something upstream. Have you sent anyone to investigate yet?”

“I did not feel it worth the risk. My sprites have been forbidden from drinking from that river.”

“Let us go investigate. There may be something other than the wrath of a god at work here.”

Karma thought on this for a moment. “Very well. I will accept your aid in this matter. Go to Fair Rill River and return with your findings. I will have my scouts draw you a map of the area, and you will be granted safe passage through Baremire and the surrounding areas while you are set to the task.”

Congratulations! Quest: Investigate Baremire has been completed.

You have successfully managed to reach Baremire and been lucky enough to speak to the Tree Queen without getting murdered. It seems that Lonnell's suspicions were right. There might be more to the curse on Crescent Island than meets the eye. For the moment, you have earned the Tree Queen's trust and 40XP.

As soon as the message faded, a notice popped up.

Quest: Investigate the Polluted Water

The Tree Queen has traced the source of infection to a polluted river. Go to Fair Rill River and see if you can figure out why its water is making the sprites ill.

Difficulty: Medium

Success: Discover the source of the polluted water.

Failure: Die

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

Feeling like acknowledgment was necessary, Azure said, “We will do our best to find the source of this curse.”

With his acceptance, the notice disappeared.

The three adventurers were allowed to wait on the outskirts of the settlement while a map was prepared for them.

Kicking at the dirt as he looked back at the sprite settlement, Uden commented, “That went better than expected.”

“I told you it would be fine,” Lonnell said.

“That's easy for you to say. You're not the one who participated in genocide.” Azure had to side with Uden on this one.

Lowering his voice, Lonnell whispered, “Speak of it no more. Let's not chance stirring the pot while we're in earshot.”

“Indeed,” Azure agreed, and they stood there waiting until one of the sprites fluttered over to deliver the map to them.

Lonnell took the tiny map with a gracious nod and then scanned it over. “It is not far. About a two-hour walk, if I had to guess.” He glanced up in the direction of Fair Rill River.

Forcing a smile at the sprite who was, for some reason, still hanging around, Uden said, “Let us not waste time then.”

CHAPTER NINE

THE REALM – Day 4

The walk to Fair Rill River was uneventful. Not an animal crossed their path. Nor did Lonnell give pause to harvest anything in the surrounding area. It seemed that he was set to the task, determined to help the sprites solve their problem.

Compared to their trek to Baremire, the journey to the river seemed to take no time at all. It wasn't long before they could hear the rushing of water. Making the final turn on the map, they broke through the trees to see the riverbank. The water looked deceptively clean, the scene serene with a small mountain rolling up in the backdrop.

The men stopped at the river's edge, and both Uden and Lonnell crouched down to get a better look at the water.

Azure had no idea what they were checking for, but he kept his gaze upriver, knowing that their journey didn't end here. “It looks unassuming enough.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Uden muttered before scooping up a handful of the water and bringing it to his nose for a sniff.

Lonnell gave him a look of concern. “I'm not so sure you should even be touching that.”

The half-imp opened his fingers, allowing the water to drip through them back down to its source. Then he shook off the remnants with a jerk of his wrist. “Something smells amiss. The water is definitely tainted.”

Now curious, Lonnell threw caution to the wind and dipped his hand into the water as well, though he only wet his fingers enough to smell the liquid. “It smells fine to me.”

Uden stood, his gaze following Azure's upstream. “I have an idea as to what might be causing this.”

Surprised, both Lonnell and Azure turned to him at the same time. “You do?”

“There are few things capable of polluting an entire river, and only one which leaves behind a smell such as this. If I had to guess, there's a silver nether up ahead.”

“A silver nether,” Lonnell parroted before shaking his head. “We don't have those on Crescent Island.”

A sigh of annoyance at his brother's doubt passed Uden's lips. “Well, either it's a silver nether, or Finborh truly has cursed us. I'm hedging my bets on the silver nether though.”

“What's a silver nether?” Azure asked.

“A silver nether,” Uden began to explain, “is a large, gluttonous beast that feeds on the minerals and small organisms that live in and around rivers. They typically dwell at the mouths of caves where the source of water is at its purest. The cool water helps to regulate its body temperature. They're part amphibian, so they have to be around water at all times. They are not typically aggressive, but the issue is that their skin secretes a toxic poison that tends to infect whatever water source they're guarding. Trace amounts don't typically cause adverse effects to larger mammals. Sprites are far more sensitive to it because of their smaller stature. If you'd like to test my theory, you could drink from the river.” A wicked smile crossed his lips.

Azure's expression drooped. It had been quite a while since the half-imp had been an ass to him. He was hoping the trend would continue. Guess not.

“I think I'll pass. Perhaps you should drink from it instead.” He gestured to the water.

“Perhaps I shall since I'm fairly certain of my assessment.” Uden bent to scoop up more water, but Lonnell quickly knocked it from his hand.

“You most certainly will not.” Lonnell gave his brother a warning look. “We can't be sure until we go upstream.”

A trace of aggression took over the half-imp as he straightened himself. “Am I not the one that everyone thinks caused this? Even you have your doubts. If I drink from the river, perhaps it will erase them.”

To be honest, the fact that Uden was willing to drink from the river did erase most of Azure's suspicions. He did not wish to see the brothers fight. “It's not worth the risk. Let's just go upriver and see for ourselves. I don't know anything about this silver nether thing, but I imagine we'll need you at your best to help defeat it.”

“He's right. Don't be an idiot,” Lonnell continued to chastise him.

His mood obviously still sour, Uden pushed past them to follow the river upstream. “Let's get going then.”

They spent the day moving single file along the winding riverbank. It curved towards the hill, the terrain growing progressively rockier until the climb began to become arduous. Though there were no critically steep spots or waterfalls, it was still exhausting walking with no end in sight since the mouth of the river was not depicted on the map that the sprites had given them.

As the sun set over the horizon, the men broke free from the river for a few yards to make camp in a small clearing protected by trees. They supped on leftover boar and then settled in for the night. Azure stared up at the stars. There seemed to be an overabundance of them, like freckles on this girl that he had liked in middle school. Clustered together, they lit up the night, a beautiful sight, something he would never have seen in his own world.

With a frown, Azure began to wonder if he'd ever see that place again. There was no doubt that he had been inside of the game way longer than his human capacity would allow. Perhaps his headset had malfunctioned, sending an electronic pulse to his brain so intense that it had him trapped. He'd seen a few animes where that had happened. It was as good of an explanation as any as to why he was still here.
Or maybe he was dead. Perhaps Uden had been right, and this wasn't a game at all. Maybe this was his afterlife, being reincarnated in an alternate universe. That didn't make much sense though. If he had been reincarnated, he would have started as an infant, not woken up in Manny's barn. Or perhaps he just had amnesia and didn't remember what had happened to him prior to the barn. The plot thickens, he thought with a sarcastic smile. Whatever the case may be, one thing was for certain. This was his reality now.

CHAPTER TEN

THE REALM – Day 5

There was a sound. Guttural, like someone choking on phlegm. A cold that never seemed to cease. The pitch was up and down, so throaty that it was almost strangling.

Azure's brain couldn't place it, and for a moment, he thought he was dreaming. His eyes fluttered open, and he groaned awake.

The weight of a hand clasped over his mouth caused him to fly into full alertness. He was being attacked! Panic coursed through his veins, springing his muscles to life. He pushed at his aggressor, only to be forcefully slammed down. Long black hair and pale skin loomed above, the face turned away from him.

That bastard finally showed his true colors. He made his move, and now I'm dead.

The thought passed only a second before Uden turned and mouthed for him to shush. A silent word fell from his lips, and it took Azure a moment to process it before he finally understood what was going on and stopped struggling.

“Goblins,” he had said.

A quick turn of Azure's head showed Lonnell standing with his back pressed against a tree looking out towards the river. Uden removed his hand from Azure's mouth, whispering to him, “Do not make a sound, and be ready to fight.”

Breaking away from him, Uden joined his brother's side. It still amazed Azure how silently the half-imp moved, but there was no time to be impressed. Activating his Stealth skill, he only hoped that he could be as quiet as Uden.

Thankfully, the trees provided good cover. Azure could hear the goblins, but he couldn't see them until he too was standing against a tree, glancing around its trunk. They were drinking from the river, apparently as oblivious to the danger as the sprites had been. Naked except for a few random scraps of armor, they stood about 4 feet tall. One was wearing a bronze helmet with a rent in the side of it, a cutlass strapped to his back. The other only a pair of leather bracers. A spear rested on the ground beside it. Their skin was the color of ripened limes, their eyes beady, and their ears sticking up at a point a few inches above their squat heads. Short jagged fangs showed as they opened their mouths, making the crude sounds that Azure now associated with Goblin-tongue, a language he didn't understand. All he knew was that they were a threat. Both showed as yellow when he Analyzed them.

Lonnell and Uden exchanged glances, whispering to one another. It felt like they were waiting for something, either listening to the conversation or holding out for the best opportunity to strike. Excitement caused Azure's heartbeat to quicken as he saw the two brothers draw their weapons.

Uden moved with the stealth of a cat over to where Azure was standing to lay out the plan. “Shoot the one with the sword,” he whispered. “We will take the other one.”

With a nod, Azure quietly nocked an arrow and took aim for the swordsman's head. At the same time that he let loose though, the goblin moved to the side and the arrow whizzed past it, landing on the outer bank of the river and alerting the goblins of their position. Azure cursed under his breath, but there was no time to linger on his failure. In an instant, the melee was on.

The goblin that Azure had shot at drew his sword just in time to cross his blade with Lonnell's staff. Uden had made it to the other goblin just as he was picking up his spear. He lunged at it with the dagger he had bought at the market, but the goblin jumped quickly to the side, avoiding the blow. There was no room between the combatants to take another shot with his bow, so Azure drew his blade as well and rushed towards the spearman. Seeing that Azure was joining the fray, Uden turned his attention to snatching up the spear before the goblin had a chance to get to it. The creature was nothing, if not stupid, clutching onto the bladed end while Uden grabbed the pole and engaged him in an unfair battle of tug of war. With a quick, sharp tug, the half-imp pulled the goblin off balance, causing it to stumble forward. It was the only opportunity that Azure needed to come in from the side and sink his dagger into the creature's neck. Red blood sprayed out from the arterial wound, covering Azure's face. The smell of iron filled the air, and he blinked rapidly to clear the crimson haze from his vision, putting his weight into driving his dagger down to the hilt. The goblin dropped the spear, making a weak attempt to claw at its aggressor before a pitiful gurgling sound escaped its throat, blood dripping down the side of its mouth as it gasped its last breath and then slumped to its knees.

Congratulations! New skill learned: One-Handed Weapons Level 1. You can now use all manner of one-handed weapons to defeat enemies. What you do with your other hand is up to you.

Defeated Level 5 Goblin. 40XP rewarded.

Knowing that Lonnell needed help defeating the other goblin, Azure quickly pushed the notifications away. Uden had already redirected his attention, circling behind the goblin to try to find a good place for entry. With Azure joining in, they created a small circle around it. The pitiful creature hissed at them like a cornered animal, swinging its sword every which way to keep them back, knowing that there was no escape from the death that awaited it.

As Uden distracted the goblin by lunging in for an attack, Lonnell took the opportunity to slam his staff on the creature's sword hand. It let out a sharp cry before dropping its cutlass. Knowing that it was screwed without it, it bent for the blade. That's when Azure went in for the kill. Using both hands, he drove his dagger into the back of the goblin's neck. The blade connected with bone, and Azure's stomach rolled from the gore of it. Sometimes, he didn't appreciate quite how real everything was.

The goblin's hand gripped the cutlass, and he weakly flailed it out towards Azure's legs, though there was barely enough force behind it to do more than a shallow cut. The goblin fell forward, and Uden quickly finished it off by slitting its throat. Crimson blood seeped out from the wound, covering the grass and creating a small pool.

Defeated Level 6 Goblin. 48XP rewarded.

The three adventures simply stood there catching their breath for a few moments as they watched the goblin bleed out. Then Uden got to work stripping the bodies of their armor, handing both of the items over to Azure along with the cutlass. Lonnell slipped the spear away into his Bag of Holding, making Azure once again eye the bag jealously. Was there anything that wouldn't reduce if he tried to stick it in there? A sex joke crossed his mind, but it was gone just as quickly when a notification popped up.

You have received the following items:

Bronze Spangenhelm

Defense: +3

Type: Heavy Armor

Durability: 2/25

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.9 kg

Leather Bracer

Defense: +1

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 28/30

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.3 kg

Soldier's Cutlass

Attack: +1-14

Type: One-Handed Weapon

Durability: 14/15

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 2.0 kg

Azure held up the spangenhelm, looking at the rent on the side. He doubted a goblin was strong enough to cause it, but did not doubt, however, that whatever had caused it was the reason why it was no longer in the original owner's possession. Slipping it on, he frowned at the weight. The rent in it left jagged bits of bronze poking inward to scratch at his scalp. Azure quickly decided that it just wasn't for him.

Removing the spangenhelm, he asked Lonnell, “Can you store this away to be sold later?”

Lonnell nodded, taking it from him and doing the magic with his Bag of Holding that Azure found so fascinating.

“I have got to get me one of those,” he muttered, deciding that it was the first thing he would buy once he had some coin.

The leather bracer was more to his liking. He strapped it to his left arm, where he already had some pretty impressive bow string burn going on from a few hasty shots. This should definitely help him avoid injury in the future.

“What are we to do now, brother?” Uden gave Lonnell a serious look.

Drawing his hand up to his forehead in obvious concern, Lonnell said, “Give me a minute to think. This certainly complicates things.”

“Did I miss something?” Azure scanned their surroundings, wondering if there were more goblins nearby.

Uden turned to him. “Ah yes, you can't speak Goblin-tongue yet. The goblins are planning a raid on Cragbell. They sometimes will also raid the farms around the village if they happen to pass by them first.” Redirecting his attention to Lonnell, he said, “I think we should abandon this quest for now and return home. The goblins are moving in a larger group, which means we should be able to make it back before they can reach the farm.”

Lonnell shook his head. “We will lose faith with the sprites if we abandon this quest.”

Anger flared in Uden's eyes. “The sprites will understand. Who are we if we abandon our own people?”

Maybe he does care about them after all, Azure thought. The people that hated and ridiculed him. It was strange to see this side of Uden. His passion for protecting his home.

“Can we take the goblins if we catch up to them?” Azure asked.

“No. There would be more than we could handle,” Lonnell replied.

“It's at least two days back to Cragbell. We could mount a nighttime assault. If we Stealth well enough, we should be able to sneak in unnoticed,” Uden suggested.

“No,” Lonnell said firmly. “This isn't just going to be a group of scouts. They'll have powerful warriors with them. Even the three of us together wouldn't stand a chance.”

“That's why we attack at night, brother.” Uden seemed adamant about carrying out his plan.

Pointing from himself to Azure, Lonnell said, “We are not as stealthy as you, nor do we have the night vision. The odds of success are too slim. It's better to warn our people rather than to try to face this threat on our own.”

“I could kill at least a half a dozen goblins on my own before the others woke up,” Uden grumbled, though he didn't seem to want to argue further.

“We could go back to Baremire and report our findings, then go back to the village,” Azure proposed.

“Findings with no facts behind them wouldn't be well received, I fear.” Lonnell frowned.

“The goblins did not fall ill. That further gives credit to my claim,” Uden pointed out.

“It does,” Lonnell acknowledged, “but that still doesn't prove it without a doubt.”

“I don't know what other proof you want.” The half-imp shook his head in frustration.

“We both know that silver nether aren't native to Crescent Island. Without following the river to the source and seeing for ourselves, I would not dare make such a claim based on speculation alone.”

“How powerful is the silver nether?” Azure asked.

“It depends.” Uden gazed upstream. “The fact that the water is polluted enough to affect the sprites means that there is either one big one or multiple small ones. Silver nether are typically solitary, though, so if I had to guess, it would be the first of the two.

“When they grow to be large, their mobility is limited, but they can spit a nasty acid that dissolves almost everything it touches. Their skin is tough to break through. Coupled with their spitting ability, it makes them a challenging kill.”

“I'm beginning to think that splitting up is the only option.” Lonnell turned to his brother. “You're the fastest and stealthiest of us. You should go back to Cragbell and warn everyone.”

Uden cast a skeptical glance in Azure's direction. “Are you sure that you two can handle the silver nether on your own?”

“If that is what it is, then I think we'll be fine. We'll approach with caution and formulate a plan beforehand,” Lonnell assured him.

“If it is multiple smaller ones, it will be more of a challenge. The small ones have good dodge. They can also jump long distances. One spray of their acid to your face and you're done for,” he warned. “I am also better equipped to fight them than the two of you.”

“It is a conundrum,” Lonnell agreed. “But right now we need your speed more than we need your fighting ability.”

“What do you think we should do?” Uden asked Azure.

“Would the people of Cragbell even believe you if you were the one who went back to warn them?” Both of the brothers seemed to have forgotten that Uden wasn't exactly trusted by the people of Cragbell.

“Do you think I'm an idiot?” The half-imp's head jutted back in offense. “I would tell our father first who would then relay the message as if it had come from Lonnell. They would take his word.”

Azure weighed his options. While he did not understand the urgency to complete the quest for the Tree Queen, he could only assume that it might end up getting canceled and possibly have negative repercussions if they all returned to Cragbell together instead of finishing it. Fighting a goblin hoard did sound a lot more exciting than some small fry monsters upriver, but Azure knew that thinking tactically in this situation was for the best. There were multiple able-bodied people in Cragbell who could defend the village. Azure had seen that when they'd walked into the bar and he'd nearly gotten his ass kicked by some of them because of Uden.

“Sending you back seems like the best idea then,” Azure said. Surely, he and Lonnell could handle whatever lay upriver on their own.

“It is decided then.” Lonnell nodded in approval of their plan.

“I suppose it is,” Uden replied, sounding disappointed. “We shall meet back up at home whenever our quests are complete. Safe travels to you both.” He reached out his arm, clutching Lonnell's wrist-to-wrist before doing the same with Azure in a sign of respect and camaraderie.

“Safe travels,” they both said to him, watching as he took his leave back towards Cragbell.

“Make haste,” Lonnell called to Uden's backside.

“I always do.” With a casual wave, the half-imp disappeared into the forest.

Lonnell sighed, his eyes glued to the trees for several seconds before he finally turned his attention to Azure. “We should get going as well.”

They continued on upstream much more cautiously since running into the goblins, sticking close to the treeline. After what seemed like an endless uphill trek, a final eastward turn revealed the base of the mountain not far up ahead with a cavernous opening that the river spit out from. Both men stopped in their tracks as they spied a massive mound of flesh blocking it. Water flowed around its rotund body, causing unnatural erosion in the riverbanks. If a shark and a frog had a threesome with an elephant, this would be the offspring, Azure thought. He could see where the name silver nether had come from. While the majority of the creature's body outside of the water was a dull gray, where the river rushed around it, it's skin glistened the color of polished silver. Mostly round with no real defining neck, two widespread eyes sat atop its head, the lids half closed as it lounged lazily in the water. Its mouth was tiny, unlike the rest of it. Squat legs and arms protruded from its fleshy body with webbed appendages at the ends, though with the obesity of the creature, they seemed mostly useless.

Congratulations! Quest: Quest: Investigate the Polluted Water has been completed.

As Uden suspected, the source of the polluted water is a silver nether. Unfortunately, it's a big one. You have earned 45XP.

TRING!

Congratulations! You are now Level 3! Your base stats have been boosted. You have earned 3 points to assign to your characteristics. Please note that adding points to some characteristics(Vitality, Intelligence, and Strength) will further boost your base stats. You may also advance any 1 skill of your choosing by 1 level.

As soon as Azure dismissed the level up notification, another notice appeared.

Quest: Defeat the Silver Nether

This problem isn't going away on its own. Until the silver nether is eliminated, the water of Fair Rill River will continue to make the sprites and animals sick. Vanquish it to return peace to Baremire and earn the Tree Queen's respect.

Difficulty: Hard

Success: Kill the silver nether

Failure: Die

Reward: The Tree Queen's respect, safe passage through Baremire for the foreseeable future, and coins.

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

Money. Finally!

“Let's kill this thing,” he said, making the notice disappear.

Looking at the hedonistic beast, Azure thought that it shouldn't be hard to kill. Uden had warned him that looks could be deceiving, though. They would definitely need to proceed with caution and come up with a well thought out plan.

Lonnell urged him towards a rocky outcrop to escape the silver nether's detection, not like Azure was worried it would get up and attack them. It looked perfectly content where it was, without a care in the world. There was no doubt it would move sluggishly at best, unless it rolled at them. Even then, he doubted it would cover much distance before losing steam.

Azure activated his Stealth skill. Then he Analyzed the silver nether. Orange; hard. Of course. It was massive. Why wouldn't it be difficult to kill. Maybe they should have kept Uden around after all. If he remembered correctly, Uden had said not to go up against an orange foe without at least three party members. But what choice did they have? Azure already knew that Lonnell would not want to travel all the way back to the farm to collect his brother. It had been his decision to split up, so they would just have to make do.

“What does it show up for you when you Analyze it?” Azure asked.

“He's yellow for me.” Lonnell peered around their hiding spot to look at the creature, his expression set in thought.

“What's its attack range?”

“I do not know.” He shook his head. “Unfortunately, this is not a creature I've spent much time studying.”

A soft laugh spilled from Azure's lips. He had obviously chosen the wrong brother for this quest. Uden would really be coming in handy right now. It seemed that while Lonnell's desire to stay on the island had kept him ignorant to things in the rest of The Realm, Uden's need to leave it had broadened his education. Knowledge held power in all worlds.

“I should shoot it with my bow. A ranged attack would probably work best,” Azure suggested.

“Ranged attacks won't kill it. Not one that size, at least.” Lonnell kept his gaze on the silver nether as if he expected it to notice them and suddenly become aggressive. “I doubt even your dagger would pierce its skin.”

Admittedly, the skin above the water looked hard and weathered. But the submerged part was likely much softer.

“What if we attacked the submerged part of its body?”

“Well, for one, there are no vital points down there. And secondly, the skin consistency is the same. You cannot see it from here, but silver nethers are covered in dermal denticles,” he said as if that would mean something to Azure.

"You suddenly know a lot about this thing," he said dryly.

"This is common knowledge," Lonnell informed him.

“So what are dermal denticles exactly?” Azure gestured for him to continue.

“They're basically little teeth. Needless to say, you don't want to brush against an adult silver nether. I was hoping we'd be facing babies, if what Uden had said ended up being true. The small ones are faster, but their skin isn't anywhere near as tough, so they're much easier to kill. Being a mostly sedentary creature, evolution has provided silver nether with a great defense.”

“You're really starting to make this sound hopeless,” Azure pointed out, annoyed that they had probably come all this way just to turn back without a fight. “So what do we do now? Go back to the Tree Queen and tell her what we found?”

“No. This needs to be dealt with. Just give me a moment to think.” Lonnell finally pulled his eyes away from the creature, pressing his back against the cool stone with a sigh.

They didn't have a moment. The sun was receding; it would be dark soon. After searching through his Bag of Holding and taking an assessment of their equipment, Lonnell still came up empty-handed.

“Let's camp for the night,” he suggested. “Perhaps sleep will bring with it some new ideas.”

“Fine,” Azure agreed, though he was still frustrated over the whole situation. Frustrated that there was no easy solution to dealing with the silver nether. Frustrated that Uden had left instead of Lonnell. He was pretty sure that the half-imp would have been able to come up with a plan, and that they'd already have been on their way back to the Tree Queen by now with the silver nether having been dispatched.

They moved downriver a ways before setting up camp in a small grove of trees. Azure was exhausted from the long walk. Hopefully, Uden was having better luck with his task...not that it required much on his part.

Azure thought of asking Lonnell what he thought about his younger brother's ambitions, but it appeared that he was equally exhausted. Just as Azure was about to open his mouth to speak, he heard a soft snore coming from the other side of the campfire.

Hopefully, there are no goblins around here. He's not exactly being quiet. It was the last thing Azure thought before his mind gave way, and he joined Lonnell in sleep.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE REALM – Day 6

By some strange turn of events, Azure woke up first for once. It was a cool, quiet morning, and he was grateful that no danger had befallen them in the middle of the night. His nightmares had been plagued with goblin attacks, so he'd had a fitful sleep, at best. Needless to say, he was utterly exhausted. Just thinking about dealing with the silver nether seemed to make him more tired.

Azure decided to start his day by checking his stats.

Name: Azure

Race: Human

Level: 3, 1% of the way to next level

Health: 130 / 130

Mana: 120 / 120

Stamina: 120 / 120

Vitality: 11

Intelligence: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 11

Dexterity: 11

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

Skills: Archery Lvl 2; 5% of the way to next level

Stealth Lvl 2; 15% of the way to the next level

Analyze Lvl 2; 80% of the way to next level

Cooking Lvl 4; 97% of the way to next level

Alchemy Lvl 1; 0% of the way to next level

Foraging Lvl 2; 60% of the way to next level

One-Handed Weapons Lvl 1; 0% of the way to next level

Languages: Common Tongue, Sprite

It was easy to figure out which skill to level up next. He would need his One-Handed Weapons skill for the upcoming battle. Next, he decided to place a point toward Vitality and one to Strength. The last point was harder to allocate, but he ultimately came to the conclusion that he wanted more speed, so he threw it into Agility. Making himself faster and stronger early on sounded like the best choices for survival.

Pleased with his selections, Azure closed his stats and munched on leftover boar until Lonnell woke up.

“Have you given any more thought to our plan?” he asked once Lonnell had finished his own portion of boar.

“I had thought that we should attack when it's asleep, but I believe that silver nether sleep with their eyes open, so there's no real way of telling when it's sleeping,” he replied with a frown.

“I think I may have come up with something” Azure offered.

“I'm listening.”

“I know that you said we cannot kill it with my bow, but if I were able to shoot out its eyes, then perhaps it would have a more difficult time spraying us with its acid. Then you could come up on one side with your staff and try to bludgeon it while I make the killing strike from the other side with my cutlass.”

Lonnell inhaled deeply through his teeth, causing a hissing sound. “It is risky. There is plenty of room for error with your plan.”

“Do you have anything better?” Azure raised an eyebrow.

Lonnell's shoulders slumped. “No, I do not.”

“Then this is it.”

“I suppose it is.”

Minutes later, Azure was traveling upstream in the protection of the treeline. Approaching the silver nether made his adrenaline pump. It was a truly great beast, reminding him of some giant hedonistic creature he'd seen in an old movie once.

One thing was for certain; it definitely wasn't asleep right now. Its eyes moved every which way, independent of each other. That further led Azure to believe that silver nether were a prey species. This should not be hard if he could just avoid the acid spray.

The closer he got, the more he realized how risky his plan was. It appeared that the silver nether had backed up closer to the mouth of the cave in the middle of the night. Lonnell would have to squeeze around it to reach its side, and he might not have room to swing his staff. Azure briefly wondered if there was any way to coax the creature further out into the open, then ultimately decided it wasn't worth the time or the chance of losing the element of surprise.

The closest tree to the silver nether was some 200 yards away, a longer shot than he'd ever taken before. At such a range, his odds of missing seemed better than his odds of hitting the beast. Maybe it wasn't such a good plan after all.

Meanwhile, Lonnell had traveled downstream to cross the river at a fallen log he'd seen a ways back so that he could come in from the other side. The shots would be fired from the creature's right, so that's where it would be expecting the next attack to come from. Blinded, hopefully it wouldn't even suspect an assailant from the other side of the river.

Azure waited until his friend was in position. Tension made him feel stiff as he drew an arrow and nocked it. Success or failure was on his head for coming up with this plan. And if they both ended up injured or dead, that was on him, too.

Taking a deep breath, Azure drew back the bowstring, aiming at the eye on the left. He loosed the arrow and then cringed as it shot about a foot too high, hitting the stone above the silver nether's head and splintering into pieces. The silver nether grunted, its eyes moving twice as fast as it looked around for its attacker.

“Shit,” Azure muttered, glancing over at Lonnell who was wincing at his miss.

There was no time to waste. Azure nocked another arrow and fired again, this time shooting too far to the right. His accuracy just wasn't good at this distance. He needed to get closer. But that meant exposing himself entirely.

As had happened many times in the past when he was a teenager, adrenaline pushed him to do something stupid. He pulled and nocked another arrow before leaving the safety of the forest to stalk towards the silver nether, bow drawn. The creature's eyes joined together for the first time, focused entirely on him. Its head jutted back, and Azure loosed the arrow. The unsteadiness from holding it for so long made it miss its planned target entirely, but at least it actually struck the silver nether this time. Lodging only about arrowhead deep into the creature's side, the silver nether let out a cry that sounded like someone choking on water and screaming at the same time. Clear liquid spilled over the corners of its mouth, wetting its skin and making it glisten in the sunlight.

I hit it! Azure thought triumphantly. Though the damage was minimal, it gave him the motivation to draw another arrow. Moving forward cautiously, he loosed again, now aiming for the silver nether's rotund stomach. Again, the arrow stuck, and again the creature called out in pain, though this time it sounded more like a low croak.

By the time Azure had drawn a third arrow, the creature had refocused on him. Ignoring its agony, its cheeks began to fill and bulge out. Its eyes narrowed into angry slits as it glared at him.

They both fired at once. This time, Azure aimed for the silver nether's head. Thinking strategically, he figured that if he punctured one of its cheeks, it wouldn't be able to spit the vile acid. Liquid and arrow met in mid-flight, the spit coming out in more of a spray than a stream. The arrow was instantly incinerated. As the acid landed on the grass, it sizzled. Even the rocks and dirt seemed to deteriorate, the ground sinking in where the acid had fallen. Thankfully, it hadn't gone very far—sixty feet from the creature, at best. Unless the silver nether was highly intelligent and hiding its true range, Azure now knew how close he could safely get.

A smell rose from the ground like fresh cut grass and spoiled milk mixed with moldy oranges. It came to Azure on a breeze, making his eyes burn. He winced away, momentarily worried that the acid had been carried on the wind to burn him. But the painful sensation was gone almost as soon as it had come, and he was quickly able to refocus on the battle.

The silver nether's cheeks were full again. It was waiting for Azure's next move, knowing that one shot of its toxic spit could destroy its attacker's arrows. This was going to be a problem. He'd already missed his opportunity to take out its eyes, and it didn't look like there'd be another.

“Well crap,” Azure said with a sigh, glancing over at Lonnell. He had been sneaking closer while Azure and the silver nether were engaged, ready to fulfill his part. It was way too dangerous, though. More of a risk than Azure was willing to take. They needed another plan, so Azure motioned at Lonnell to fall back and meet him at the river crossing. With a nod of acknowledgment, they both disappeared into the forest to make their way back downstream.

While he was upset with himself for missing the silver nether's eyes, being closer to the creature did give him a better lay of the terrain around it, which birthed the idea for a superior plan, one with less risk and chance of failure. By the time Azure reached Lonnell, he had most of the details hashed out.

“Well, that was an epic failure,” Lonnell commented once he had crossed back over to Azure's side. “What's worse is it knows that we're here.”

“That's why we'll have to wait to attack again,” Azure replied, disappointment thick in his voice. It was the biggest disadvantage to their failure. More than likely, the silver nether would be a lot more alert and wary of its surroundings. “On the plus side, I've come up with another plan.”

“Oh?”

“I could climb the side of the mountain and make an overhead assault. If you could distract the silver nether from the front, I should be able to jump down and land a killing blow at the base of its spine.”

“And how do you propose that I distract it from the front?” Lonnell raised an eyebrow in skepticism. “You saw the range it has. Not only that, but it's not a straight shot. The acid sprays out to the sides too, creating a protective arch around the creature.”

“How good are you with a bow?”

To give the silver nether time to calm down and become less paranoid, Azure wanted to wait to mount their attack until the following day. Lonnell, however, said they couldn't spare the time. Unsurprisingly, he was concerned for the welfare of Cragbell and his father's farm in the wake of the goblin raid and wanted to return as quickly as possible.

Submitting to his friend's urgency, Azure began scaling the side of the mountain a good several hundred yards away from the mouth of the cave, far enough away so that the silver nether wouldn't be able to see him. It was an arduous climb.

There was much concern about the dermal denticles that Lonnell had warned him about, but it was too late to reconsider now. He was on course, and Lonnell was preparing to mount his frontal assault as soon as Azure gave him the signal.

Even stealthed, Azure didn't feel very surefooted, though somehow he managed to make it above the mouth of the cave undetected. His thighs ached as he perched above the silver nether, gazing over the four-foot jump he'd have to make to land on it. The momentum should supplement his lack of strength in driving the blade into it.

As if the island was against him, his foot slid slightly from beneath him, causing dirt and debris to tumble down the steep rocky surface. It was reminiscent of the arrow splintering over the silver nether's head earlier. One false move and the beast was alerted to their presence.

An arrow streaked through the air. Azure hadn't even given the signal yet, but apparently, Lonnell had seen him slip from afar and knew that it was time. Just as the silver nether's bulbous eyes began to turn upward towards Azure, they were redirected at the bowman who had sprung from the forest as soon as the shot was fired. The creature gurgled from being struck in the dead center of its stomach.

Knowing that he was about to lose his footing anyway, Azure raised the cutlass above his head and made the jump. The blade landed in the center of the silver nether's head. He wasn't sure if it was the scaly skin or bone, but something made the blade deflect. Azure slid down the creature's back, holding the grip of the cutlass as firmly as he could to drag it down with him. His arms seared, and all he could see was red as his skin was peeled away, dropping his health a good 20% just from the impact. By the time his feet hit the water, he wasn't sure if the blood on the creature's back belonged to him or it.

The inside of the cave was dark. What light that could stream in was mostly blocked by the silver nether's imposing frame. A terror the likes of which Azure had never felt before took over him as he realized that he was practically blind. And though he didn't think it possible, that terror doubled when the silver nether began to turn its head. He was trapped. One spray and he was done for.

“Over here, you oversized toad!” he could hear Lonnell yelling from outside.

There was a sickening popping sound, like that of a water balloon bursting. The eye that had made its way around to land on Azure ruptured as an arrow hit it dead center. The silver nether turned its face to the heavens and roared—a pained cry that made the hair on the back of Azure's neck stand up with momentary pity. He would not let the advantage go to waste, though. Clutching onto his cutlass, he charged forward, slashing at the creature again and again and again.

What is this thing made of? He found himself questioning as his cutlass did little against the beast. It was like hacking away at a tree trunk with a dull blade. The first few cuts barely scratched the surface, but eventually, he began to make leeway. Once the thick skin was abraded enough to be penetrated, Azure clasped the hilt of his cutlass, putting all of his weight behind pushing it into the silver nether's back. With its wall of protective denticles removed, the blade sank into the creature's soft flesh like stabbing into a rare steak. The silver nether flailed its stubby appendages, sending water splashing everywhere. Azure pulled his blade out and drove it in again, hoping to hit some vital organ.

In a desperate attempt to save itself, the silver nether reared its head and sprayed a jet of acid into the sky. Jumping back, Azure was thankful that the mouth of the cave caught most of the damage. The rocks above them began to crumble and fall. A mist of acid blew back onto Azure's face, burning him and causing him to retreat even further into the cave. One wrong footfall on the slippery rocks made him lose his balance, the water dragging him until he collided with the silver nether.

The creature screamed again, which Azure could only assume was due to some damage that Lonnell had dealt to it. He forced himself to his feet, taking up his cutlass and going for the same place he'd struck before, this time driving his blade in at an angle.

“Die, damn you!” he yelled in frustration, wondering which would run out first, his stamina or the creature's will to live. Perhaps they had bitten off more than they could chew. Despite its obvious agony, the silver nether didn't seem like it was going to submit to death anytime soon.

While it had been used as a defense mechanism, one of the outcomes of the silver nether dousing itself with acid was that it had washed off most of the blood on its back, giving Azure a visual of where his blade had sliced during his initial descent. Going for a new approach, Azure pointed his blade upward, pushing his palm into the pommel of his cutlass as he stuck the tip in where the skin had separated at the back of the monster's head. Using his remaining strength, he drove the blade forward. It collided with bone, making the creature shiver before stilling. With a final push, Azure slashed all the way through to the other side. A gurgling sound erupted from the silver nether's throat. Its body shuddered twice before it slumped forward. Azure nearly gagged from the smell of its bowels releasing. Being on the business end of things left his shoes drenched in excrement. His stomach turned, and he stumbled a few feet away to vomit against the cave wall.

Defeated Level 6 Silver Nether. 54XP rewarded.

“Fuck's sake,” Azure said in exhaustion as he cautiously made his way around the silver nether's massive corpse. Nothing felt better than seeing the sun and breathing in untainted air.

Lonnell was smiling at him as he walked up to meet his comrade. Apparently, he had maintained a safe distance through the fight, sticking to the bow as his weapon. A quick glance at the front of the creature showed that his efforts hadn't been wasted. It looked like a pin cushion, the arrows having penetrated quite a bit further into the beast than when Azure had been shooting them. There was one sticking out of its cheek, acid and spit dribbling down the side of its face. That must have been why it had screamed in pain earlier and not tried for a second skyward attack.

“Well done, brother!” Lonnell praised Azure as the two men clasped wrists.

Laughter fell from Azure's lips. The relief of having vanquished the silver nether was too much to contain. Thankfully, Lonnell joined in, making him feel less maniacal.

“Let us rest a moment.” Azure gestured to the riverbank, practically dragging himself over. Now that the fray was finished, his body felt almost completely drained of energy. “I was not sure we were going to be able to accomplish that,” he confessed, falling heavily onto the grass.

“I didn't either,” Lonnell admitted. “When it sprayed up into the sky, I thought you were a goner. Speaking of which, you should probably mend your wounds.” He dug into his Bag of Holding and pulled out a small red vial which he promptly handed over to Azure.

Azure drank the liquid with vigor and felt a tingling in his arms as the flesh and skin cells began to regenerate. Within seconds, it was almost as if he had never been injured at all.

“Thank you,” he said graciously, lying back to stare up at the sky, thankful to have survived the ordeal.

The final reward of the day came in the form of a notification.

Your relationship with Lonnell has reached Level 3. Your relationship has been updated from Trusted to Comrade. The two of you have faced a great threat together. Lonnell now feels that he can count on you in battle. Congratulations!

How many relationship levels were there? Azure wondered. And since they were now comrades, did that also make them friends? While Azure didn't feel particularly close to Lonnell, the notification had been right. They had faced a great threat together, and there was now mutual trust between them. He respected Lonnell and thought him to be a good teacher and have a well-tuned moral compass. He certainly seemed more reliable than Uden.

Azure wondered if the half-imp was busy preparing for battle with the goblins. He also wondered if it was wrong of him to have wished he could see the battle, if not participate in it. He imagined it would be a spectacle to behold, but he was sure he'd hear all about it once they returned to Cragbell.

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE REALM – Day 6

They made little leeway in their progress returning to Baremire, deciding to stop early to camp and regain some of their strength. Azure wasn't sure if it was because the silver nether was dead, but game seemed to be more plentiful now.

The trip back to Baremire was uneventful. Though they were now welcome in the sprite settlement, guards still came out to meet them when they returned, escorting them to the circle of sequoias.

After a short wait, Karma walked onto the platform to greet them. “I see you have returned.” Her expression dipped when she noticed that Uden was missing. “What of your brother? I hope he is all right.”

Azure was admittedly surprised by her concern for the half-imp. While she seemed genuine, he couldn't help but think that she wouldn't be disappointed if they reported him dead.

“Uden is fine. He had other matters to attend to back in Cragbell. We ran into some goblins that were talking about mounting a raid. He went back to warn our people,” Lonnell informed her.

“I see.” She gave a slight nod. “It is admirable that you continued on with your quest in the face of the danger against your land.”

“Keeping good faith with the sprites is important to us.”

“And were you able to find out what was causing the sickness?” Karma turned her gaze to Azure.

Wanting to give credit where credit was due, Azure said, “Upon reaching Fair Rill River, Uden was able to determine that there was a silver nether upstream. We managed to kill the beast, so your people should have no more trouble from it.”

She placed a delicate hand on her chest and sighed in relief, though her face was set in thought. “What was a silver nether doing on Crescent Island?”

“That's what we were wondering as well.” Lonnell looked over at Azure before returning his attention to the Tree Queen. “They are not native to Crescent Island. Someone must have brought it here.”

“I am beginning to think that this curse may not be the work of Finborh. He would not need to use such a creature to taint our water. Something wicked is afoot.”

“I am inclined to agree. Worry not, though. We are determined to get to the bottom of this, but first, we must return to my people and make sure that they are safe.” There was a hint of urgency in his voice.

“Of course.” Karma bowed her head in understanding. “We owe you a great debt for vanquishing this foe. I have prepared a gift for you. It is not much, but it should help you in future endeavors,” she told them before turning to one of her servants.

Congratulations! Quest: Quest: Defeat the Silver Nether has been completed.

It may have been slow and not very bright, but damn was it hard to kill. Your tireless efforts have paid off. The Tree Queen now has great respect for you. You have earned 70XP.

A few minutes later, several sprites came flying from around one of the trees carrying a large cloth at its four corners. They carefully placed it at the feet of the adventurers. Azure's eyes widened at the small mound of coins and gems laid before them.

With a slight smirk from Azure's reaction to the gift, Lonnell said, “It is a generous gift. More than we deserve. We are grateful.”

“Yes. We are grateful,” Azure parroted, practically feeling that Bag of Holding calling his name from somewhere in Cragbell. Ruthren probably had one for sale. Now Azure was more eager than ever to get back to the little village.

“I am glad you are pleased with your reward.” Karma gave them a genuine smile. “I understand that your need to leave is urgent, but you are welcome in Baremire whenever you like. If you have no other business here, then I wish you safe travels.” She began to turn but then stopped. “Also, if you do find out what is causing this plague on our island, know that the sprites will be ready to assist in whatever way we can.”

“Thank you. We will definitely reach out for your aid if it's needed,” Lonnell assured her.

With their business concluded, the two men collected their loot and set back towards Cragbell. The second they stepped foot outside of Baremire, Azure was presented with another notification.

Quest: Return to Cragbell

Uden and Lonnell overheard the goblins talking about mounting a raid on Cragbell. Even though Uden returned early to warn the villagers about the raid, you should probably check to make sure that everything's all right.

Difficulty: Very Easy

Success: Reach Cragbell

Failure: Die

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

He barely needed to acknowledge the notification before it went away. Where else would he head after this other that Cragbell?

The night was spent counting their loot and inquiring about the value of the gems. There were five copper coins, ten silver coins, two gold coins, two small rubies, a medium sized garnet, and a large sapphire. Lonnell explained that the rubies were the most valuable of the gems in the lot, worth about two gold coins each even at their smaller size. The garnet was worth two silvers and the emerald worth three gold coins. Altogether, Azure estimated that they had earned, what would be the equivalent to, about $1,220 from defeating the silver nether. It had definitely been worth their time.

Upon waking the next morning, they feasted on leftover boar and then continued on their way. Lonnell gave pause when they converged upon a large set of footprints, most of which were too small to be human. He knelt and ran his fingers across the dirt.

“Goblins,” he said, as if Azure couldn't guess. “These are fresh.”

Noticing a few larger prints, Azure asked, “Do you think the fray carried all the way out here?”

“No.” Lonnell shook his head. “There is no blood.” He moved over to the larger indentations, examining them. “These belong to a woman. They lead back into the forest.” He glanced in the direction that the footprints were headed.

“Should we follow them?” Azure anticipated the appearance of a new quest screen.

“No.” Lonnell stood, sighing. “I have a bad feeling about this. We should make haste to Cragbell. Something isn't right.”

It wasn't much further into their journey that they saw smoke billowing into the sky up ahead. With it came a sense of dread.

“Hurry,” Lonnell said, quickening his pace.

As they got closer, particles from the fire wafted through the trees towards them, carrying an acrid odor. It was something that Azure had never smelled before, but he had a good idea of what it was. Burning bodies. The stench—a strange combination of charcoal, sulfur, and charred meats—made him wrinkle his nose.

Upon entering the village, they were relieved to see that most of the buildings were undamaged. A few men were busy fixing broken windows and doors. The mercantile seemed to have received the brunt of the damage, the back of the building still smoking from a fire that had caught inside. That was not what they were smelling, though. On the far outskirts of the village, several men were tending to a pyre. Azure could make out small skulls and bones in the flickering flames, though most of the flesh had already been burnt away.

While the majority of the shops were closed, Ruthren's cart was still set up in the same place it had been before. He lazily leaned against it, watching everyone around him labor to fix the village. The other vendors in the area seemed to have taken the day off to clean up and help make repairs. Azure doubted that the traveling merchant was getting any business, though peculiarly, his wares were all on display as if he hadn't been affected by the raid at all.

“Ruthren!” Lonnell called to get his attention as they approached.

The merchant's eyes lit up, and he pushed himself away from his cart. It was the look of a man who thought he was about to make a sale.

“Lonnell. Where's your brother?” He glanced past them as if Uden was about to emerge from the forest.

“He has not been by?”

“Not today. I just got back into Cragsbell early this morning after restocking on the mainland. This carnage had already come to pass.” Ruthren nodded towards the pyre.

That explained why his cart still had all its wares. While Azure knew he should be focused on the conversation, he couldn't help but glance past the two to everything that Ruthren had lined up for sale. He was pretty sure that his Bag of Holding was just within reach. Hopefully, Lonnell wouldn't think it insensitive of him to want to do some shopping.

“Thank you.” Lonnell nodded respectfully. “I should go find my brother.” He turned to walk away, but Azure's feet were planted.

“Shouldn't we sell what we collected on our journey while we're here?” Azure suggested, but the twist in Lonnell's expression immediately made him feel guilty. “No, you're right. We should find Uden first.”

Sighing inwardly, he following Lonnell to the tavern like a dutiful friend. Azure couldn't help but cast a longing glance back at the bag on Ruthren's cart, though, silently promising it that he would return and praying that no one else got to it first. Thankfully, no one else around looked much in the mood for shopping, but you never know.

The tavern door was propped open with a chair. On the inside, the wood was scarred with a short deep cut, likely from an ax head. There was a blood stain beneath it that suggested the weapon hit its mark. Lonnell paused only for a moment to look at it before going inside.

Leland and his patrons were also on cleaning duty. Two men hauled out a broken table, and Lonnell and Azure stepped aside to make way for them. The barkeep was sweeping up broken glass near the bar. Lonnell made haste towards him.

“Leland, have you seen my brother?”

Leland stopped sweeping, leaning on his broomstick briefly to scowl at them. “He's lucky I haven't. Not that I have time to deal with him amongst all of this.” He huffed at all that still needed to be done. There was a pile of broken chairs in one corner of the room. A woman was on her hands and knees scrubbing blood stains from the floor.

“He did not come to warn you about the raid? Nor did my father?”

“Do you think things would be this bad if he had?”

Azure could see the concern on Lonnell's face.

“Something must have happened to him,” Lonnell said absentmindedly before glancing over at Azure. “We should return home.”

“Or you could stay and help,” the barkeep suggested.

Lonnell was already walking towards the door as he said, “I'm sorry, but we don't have time.”

“Lonnell,” Leland called to him with a sense of urgency, making both men stop.

This time, the barkeep looked pained from what he was about to say. “The goblins took Bronna.”

All color drained from Lonnell's face. Azure expected him to be angry—expected him to want to immediately divert and go after her.

“Those must have been the other footprints we saw,” he said, knowing that Lonnell had already figured it out. “At least, we know which direction they're headed in.”

“Thank you,” Lonnell said to the barkeep before continuing out of the tavern.

He stopped once they were standing in the middle of the street to process everything they'd just learned. Uden had been a no-show. As a result, Cragbell had been unprepared for the raid, and Bronna had ended up getting kidnapped. It was a lot for Azure to wrap his head around. Either the half-imp had purposely abandoned his mission, or something had happened to him. That meant Manny's farm had possibly been affected by the raid as well. Azure hoped that the kind farmer and his wife were all right.

As he was thinking, a notification popped up.

Congratulations! Quest: Return to Cragbell has been completed.

You made the journey back safely. Unfortunately, Cragbell wasn't so lucky. Uden did not return to warn the villagers, and as a result, they were unprepared for the goblin raid. You have earned 55XP.

Brushing it away, he voiced his opinion on the situation. “We should go check on your parents. I know that rescuing Bronna is of the utmost importance, but we can kill two birds with one stone if we head to the farm first. If Uden isn't there, we might be mounting a rescue mission for two people instead of just one. Could any of the footprints we saw have belonged to a man?”

“I don't think so. ” Lonnell shook his head. “They weren't big enough to have belonged to Uden. He was not with them.”

“Regardless, we need to find out what happened to your brother.”

Lonnell let out a loud sigh. It was evident that he felt conflicted about the matter, but finally, he agreed. “You are right. We should check on my parents and find out what happened to Uden.

“I hate to think what those...beasts want with Bronna. But the goblins are in a group and are traveling slowly. Besides, we already know in which direction they're headed. As long as it doesn't rain, those footprints should remain undisturbed.” He glanced up to check the weather. The sun shone brightly overhead, the sky dotted with only a few fluffy white clouds. There was no threat of unfavorable conditions at the moment.

A quest notification popped up in Azure's field of vision.

Quest: Where in The Realm is Uden?

Uden wasn't in Cragbell. Maybe he's at his parents' farm? Whatever the case, you need to find out if the farm survived the goblin raid. Fingers crossed that it's in better shape than Cragbell.

Difficulty: Very Easy

Success: Reach Manny's farm and discover what happened to Uden.

Failure: Die

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

“Then it is decided. We shall return to your parents' farm,” Azure said, sending the notification away. “But first I think we should offload our wares and restock on items we might need. Who knows when we'll be coming back here next. I think it's safe to assume that once we check on the farm, we will immediately head back out to search for Bronna.”

“I hate to spend the time, but as you said, it is necessary.”

The two men returned to Ruthren's cart to trade all they'd collected during their hunt for the silver nether. Azure immediately went for the Bag of Holding as soon as Ruthren presented them with a stack of coins.

“I want this,” he said, holding it up. Oh, how he'd longed for it. His excitement was almost too much to be contained.

The grizzled merchant lifted a thick eyebrow. “Can you afford it?”

“I would certainly hope so.” There was a question to his voice. Wasn't that massive pile of coins enough?

“It's twenty-five gold pieces,” Ruthren informed him.

“Twenty-five gold pieces!” Azure's jaw dropped.

“They're not cheap,” Lonnell said as if that wasn't now abundantly clear.

“Not cheap?” Azure huffed. “Twenty-five gold pieces is outrageous.”

“And that's for the smallest one.” Lonnell patted the bag on his hip.

“I guess you can't afford it right now.” Ruthren took the bag back from him.

Azure felt the loss of it immediately, and he scowled. This was bullshit. They had fought hard to defeat the silver nether. The reward laid at their feet by the sprites seemed like a small fortune at the time. He had been confident he'd have enough coin to buy the bag with plenty leftover for a better quality bow and maybe some armor. He suddenly felt poor all over again.

“Fine.” He gave the Bag of Holding one last longing look before surrendering to the idea that he was going to have to save up for it. Maybe this wasn't so different from real life after all. Nothing of great value came easily.

His mood now soured, nothing else that Ruthren had for sale seemed to please him. The weapons he'd been carrying thus far had served him well enough. There was no real immediate need to upgrade, especially since he was still in a party with someone stronger. Maybe it was a cop-out, but Azure really wanted to save up for the Bag of Holding. The only things he was willing to part with some of his coin on were a bunch of empty vials and a mortar and pestle to help level up his Alchemy skill.

“This would serve you well in upcoming battles.” Lonnell handed him a book. The cover had a dark green hue to it and an almost reptilian feel, the title reading Speaking Goblin for Idiots in some strange, messy text that looked like the handwriting of a child. Apparently, anyone who wanted to learn a new language in The Realm was immediately considered an idiot, which was kind of ironic.

Azure held the book up to Ruthren. “How much for this?”

“Seven silver and one copper,” the merchant told him.

“Good grief.” He fought the urge to roll his eyes. These prices were robbery. The last time he spent so much on a book, he was in college.

“Knowledge is expensive.” Lonnell consoled him as Azure sifted through their pile of coins for the payment. Whether he liked it or not, he knew that learning Goblin-tongue would be useful. He didn't want to have to waste time having Lonnell translate everything for him. That would just get annoying for the both of them.

You have received the following item:

Book: Speaking Goblin for Idiots

Quantity: 1

Durability: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.5 kg

Uses: Language Skills

With their shopping concluded, they collected the rest of their coins, thanked Ruthren, and went on their way. Azure tried to kill two birds with one stone by reading his book while they walked, but the foreign text wouldn't convert in his brain like the sprite book had.

“I think this book is broken.” He closed the book and tilted it towards Lonnell.

“What makes you say that?” Lonnell kept his eyes forward. His focus seemed entirely set on returning to his parents' farm as quickly as possible.

“Shouldn't this be making sense to me?”

“You can't learn a language while you're mobile. You need to be in a quiet place where you can concentrate on what you're reading. I assure you that the book is fine.” There was a hint of irritation to his voice, though Azure knew that Lonnell meant nothing by it. He was just stressed out over the situation. A lot had gone wrong in a very short amount of time.

“Fair,” Azure said, placing the book in his pouch. That did make sense anyway, needing to be able to concentrate to pick up on the language. The words had been bouncing before him as he walked, and he had barely even been able to focus on the English portion. He'd try again later at a more opportune time.

Compared to how much walking they'd done in the previous days, the trip from Cragbell to Manny's farm seemed short. A rabbit hopped across their path when they were a little more than halfway there. Azure had wanted to shoot it, but Lonnell understandably had no patience for hunting. Priorities were priorities, and leveling Azure up wasn't one of them right now.

When the path finally opened up and revealed the farm, Lonnell paused and let out a sigh of relief. All of the buildings were intact, and the crops seemed undisturbed. Perhaps the goblins had bypassed this area and gone straight to Cragbell instead.

They hurried on toward the house but diverted to the barn when they saw the door open. Manny was inside mucking out the stalls. He smiled when he saw them, setting his shovel aside and wiping the sweat from his brow before coming to greet them.

“You've returned safely. I'm glad.” He gave Lonnell a hug and then nodded to Azure in acknowledgment.

“We have, but I fear Uden has not.”

Azure could hear the pain in Lonnell's voice. It was evident that he feared the worst for his brother.

Manny let out a short laugh, seemingly misplaced at the moment. “Fear not. Uden returned home late last night, though he was pretty bloodied up. A tough one, your brother is.”

“He returned home?” Lonnell parroted slowly. The relief of knowing his brother was safe seemed lost on him.

“Yes. The goblins had taken him captive, but he was miraculously able to escape. He's inside resting now.” Manny nodded towards the house.

“And the raid didn't reach here?”

“Thankfully, no. But I fear that supplies and rations were not the only things they were after. Your brother could tell you more.”

“We just came from Cragbell,” Azure chimed in. “The goblins kidnapped a girl.”

Manny let out a short sigh. “It is as I feared.”

“Bronna,” Lonnell added, weighing his words with significance.

“Bronna! Oh no.” Manny shook his head sympathetically.

“Do you know what they plan to do with her?” Anger and urgency seeped into his words.

“You should probably speak to your brother.”

“We must make haste,” Lonnell said to Azure before returning his attention to Manny. “I'm glad that you and mother are all right. I am sure you understand that we will have to leave again immediately. Azure and I came across goblin tracks while we were on our way to Cragbell. There was a woman with them. It had to have been Bronna. We need to pick up their trail before it's too late.”

“I understand. Do what must be done, son,” Manny gave them his blessing before returning to his work.

Azure and Lonnell left the barn and continued on to the house. Uden was lying on a cot in the corner of the room. His eyes were closed in sleep, his arms crossed over his chest. The contrast of his pale skin and dark hair reminded Azure of a vampire.

Meva was tending to a stew on the hearth. She immediately came to greet the boys, smiling brightly with the same relief that her husband had shown. After a brief exchange of affection, Lonnell turned his attention to his brother, kneeling beside the cot to gently shake him awake.

Uden's eyes fluttered open, his expression a mixture of weariness and weakness, though most of both dissipated once he recognized his brother. “You've returned. I am glad. What of the silver nether?”

“Vanquished,” Lonnell told him, quickly brushing the subject away. “What happened to you?”

“Ah, I was careless with my arrogance. The goblins caught me sleeping.”

It almost seemed that Lonnell was ignoring him as he dug into his Bag of Holding for vials to aid in his brother's healing. “I do not mean to sound skeptical, but goblins do not take prisoners.”

“Not usually,” Uden agreed, groaning slightly as he forced himself up onto one arm, “but they were planning to use me as a sacrifice.”

This made Lonnell give pause. “A sacrifice. To what?”

“Of that, I do not know. They simply called it The Dark One.” Uden plucked the vials from his brother's hands, opening them one by one and downing the contents.

“The Dark One,” Lonnell parroted in thought. “They usually call Luuq The Dead One. Do you think they might have meant him?”

Uden shrugged. “Perhaps a new god has emerged.”

The potions seemed to work on him instantly. Revitalized, the half-imp sat up. His brother pulled himself up onto the cot beside him while Azure was left standing, listening in on their conversation like an outsider.

“There are no new gods.” Lonnell eyed Uden as if even suggesting that was sacrilegious.

“Whatever the case, it does not matter. I was able to escape, so they are sans one sacrifice.”

“Not quite,” Azure spoke up.

“They raided Cragbell and took Bronna,” Lonnell informed him.

“I'm sure she'll make a worthy sacrifice in my stead.” Uden smirked which was met by a cutting glare from his brother. “Oh, don't worry. She's such a cunt, I'm sure The Dark One will reject her the second she opens that flapping cavernous hole on her face.”

“Uden,” Lonnell growled, causing the half-imp to stand as if he feared being hit.

Uden rolled his eyes and sighed. “I know, I know. Now we have to go save the little bitch because you love her. Duty, and all that bullshit.” He made a dramatic circular motion with his hand.

“Man, you really don't like this girl.” Azure was even surprised by how bold Uden was being in light of the grim situation.

“I think we should just leave her,” the half-imp admitted. “Karma is a bitch, and I don't mean the Tree Queen.”

“We're not leaving her.” Lonnell stood, puffing out his chest as if he were trying to intimidate his brother. It clearly wasn't working.

“Like I said, I'll go. But I'm only going to kill goblins. If your little slut opens her mouth and gets murdered, that's not my problem.” He pushed past them to go sit at the table. “Now that I feel better, I've worked up an appetite. What's for dinner?”

Congratulations! Quest: Where in The Realm is Uden? has been completed.

To Lonnell's relief, you found Uden safely back at Manny's farm. Luckily, he was able to escape from the goblins who took him captive. It appears that something more sinister is afoot than just a goblin raid though. You have earned 55XP.

Quest: Rescue Bronna

Uden may have escaped the goblins, but now they have Bronna. There's nothing quite like rescuing a damsel in distress...unless she's someone else's girlfriend. Oh well. Best help a brother out, right?

Difficulty: Hard

Success: Rescue Bronna

Failure: Bronna Dies

Reward: Lonnell's eternal gratitude and some sweet Goblin loot.

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

Lonnell wanted to leave as soon as they all finished eating, but Manny and Meva were able to convince their stubborn son to wait until morning. Uden suggested going back to Cragbell so that he could do some shopping at Ruthren's cart, but his brother insisted that there was no time. After many arguments, everyone bedded down for the night, knowing that they would only get a few hours of sleep before they'd have to be up again to start back out after the goblins.

Azure took his lantern and headed towards the barn. Settling down in the straw felt like heaven after sleeping on the hard ground for so long. It was strange to him how when he'd first woken up in The Realm, the bed of straw had been the most uncomfortable thing in the world, yet now he saw it as a luxury.

That seemed like a lifetime ago. How long had it last been since he actually questioned if this was still just a game? That thought made him uneasy.

Trying to distract himself, Azure pulled Speaking Goblin for Idiots from his pouch. It was much thinner than Speaking Sprites for Idiots had been, about half the size. From what Azure could tell from the brief exchange at the river, Goblin-tongue was a relatively simple language filled with grunts. He flipped open the cover, seeing more of the childlike handwriting inside with hard lines and some jagged edges to the letters. Squinting in the dim light of his lantern, he began to read the English part. Just as it had with Speaking Sprites for Idiots, the foreign text began to realign itself until it made sense to him. Though, amusingly enough, even when it was in English, the text was still rather broken. There were no full sentences. Simply blocks of words that barely made sense.

Good enough, Azure thought as he saw a notification pop up and felt the book crumble in his hands.

Congratulations! You can now understand and speak the language: Goblin-Tongue. The item: Book: Speaking Goblin for Idiots has been destroyed.

With that business concluded, Azure settled down to sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE REALM – Day 9

“Lazy as ever, I see.” Uden's voice was an unpleasant awakening...as was his foot nudging into Azure's side.

It felt like he had only shut his eyes for a moment, and the morning had already come. Azure glanced at the open barn door. Could it really be considered morning when it was pitch black outside? He didn't think so. In his mind, it was still night. This reminded him of when his mother used to wake him up for school. All that he had wanted was to roll over and go back to sleep.

“Five more minutes,” he groaned, feeling particularly stubborn.

“Five minutes can mean the difference between life and death,” Lonnell's voice came from behind his brother.

Azure tried not to grumble as he forced himself up. He could wake up on the road.

“I'm up,” he said in a yawn as he stretched.

“Good.” Lonnell turned to head outside. “Let us be off then.”

They began their trek back to where Lonnell and Azure had seen the goblin tracks. Once they reached their destination, Uden took a moment to examine them as well. “That is definitely Bronna's hoofprint,” he said, making Lonnell scowl. “Oh come now, brother. We could have always left you to rescue the bitch on your own,” he tried to smooth things over, though it didn't seem like much of an effort. “That way.” He pointed into the forest, stepping past Lonnell's angry glare to lead the way.

Azure smirked behind Lonnell's back. Ah, how he'd missed the half-imp. Lonnell was always so stuffy and righteous. It was nice to be traveling with someone who had a bit more...personality, even if Uden could be an asshole sometimes.

They journeyed deep into the forest, barely getting a wink of sleep due to Lonnell pressing them onward. Naps were more like it. All that Azure and Uden were afforded were a few hours a night to recharge before Lonnell was waking them and making them continue on.

Traveling through the forest reminded Azure of a long road trip, the type where the scenery almost never changes, so you lose track of time. Days ran into each other. All that he knew was that they had gone further than they had traveled to get to Baremire. How big was this island anyway?

It took four full days before they finally caught up to the goblins. They slowed their pace as Uden noticed the prints began to look fresh, the dirt newly disturbed. A few more miles into the forest and the goblins could be heard in the distance. The three men stealthed themselves to get a closer look, coming upon the goblins camped in a small clearing. There were thirteen of them circled around a fire. Most of them appeared to be well armed, probably warriors. Two were much larger than the rest. Hulking muscular beasts about as tall as a man, their exposed skin covered in scars from previous battles.

Azure Analyzed them one at a time. Not surprisingly, the two larger goblins showed up as orange, hard kills. There was also one yellow in the group. The rest were an almost equal mix of purple and green except for a smaller goblin that was tending to a pot of slop over the fire who Analyzed as blue.

Congratulations! The skill: Analyze has reached Level 3. This skill allows you to see how dangerous a foe is in relation to your own level. Use this skill frequently to avoid getting yourself killed.

Bronna was bound to the tree nearest to the fire. Her hair was mussed, and her face was a bit dirty, but she looked no worse for wear otherwise. There was a clear path down one cheek where tears had fallen. She sat against the tree, her head hanging low. One goblin stood watch over her, but the others seemed to ignore her presence.

Upon observing the situation, Lonnell nodded back to the forest for them to retreat. They crept quietly until they were a safe enough distance away to speak, though they stayed ever vigilant in case more goblins were scouting the forest.

“There are a lot of them,” was the first thing that came out of Lonnell's mouth, a look of concern on his face.

“Plenty for all three of us,” Uden said with a grin.

“We are not going to do that.” Lonnell eyed him.

The half-imp's grin turned into a scowl, and he kicked the dirt lightly. “You're no fun.”

“What are your thoughts?” Lonnell asked Azure.

He had to agree with the elder brother on this one. There were way too many goblins for them to try taking on. Three against thirteen weren't good odds.

“At the very least, we should wait until they're asleep before we rescue her,” he replied.

“I agree. But even if we wait until they're asleep, they will always keep one awake to guard their prize. Goblins are stupid, but they're not that stupid,” Lonnell informed him.

“I figured as much,” Azure said. “So we wait until nightfall, and one of us will take out the guard while another rescues Bronna.”

“That's a sound enough plan to me.”

“That plan is lame and boring,” Uden grumbled.

“This isn't about having a good time,” Lonnell chastised him, though it fell on deaf ears.

Lonnell and Azure spent what was left of the day gathering herbs while Uden stayed in their designated meeting spot sharpening his daggers and lazing about. Once Azure had filled his bag with garlic, juniper berries, and red mushrooms, he got to work mixing potions until he ran out of supplies. Then he'd stand up, go foraging, and start the process over again, working at it until his hands began to hurt from grinding up the components. Soon, he had more Potions of Minor Healing than he knew what to do with.

Congratulations! The skill: Foraging has reached Level 3. Plants collected through foraging have a variety of uses. You can sell them, consume them, or use them to create potions through alchemy.

Congratulations! The skill: Foraging has reached Level 4. Plants collected through foraging have a variety of uses. You can sell them, consume them, or use them to create potions through alchemy.

Congratulations! The skill: Alchemy has reached Level 2. There are many uses for potions. Hone this skill to heal yourself in battle and thwart your enemies!

Knowing he probably wouldn't need all of them, Azure gave half of his Potions of Minor Healing to Uden. In return, the half-imp imbued a few of his arrows. It seemed like a fair trade-off.

With that all done, the sun had nearly set. They still had a few hours to kill, so Azure sat down to rest some. He glanced over at Uden lounging in the grass, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

“So how exactly did you manage to escape from the goblins? I'm assuming they had a guard on you at all times, too.” Azure asked.

“I would like to know as well,” Lonnell said from a few feet away.

“As you know, goblins are notoriously stupid,” Uden began. “One night, the guard who was supposed to be watching me fell asleep, so I took the opportunity then. I always keep a dagger in my boot. When they patted me down for weapons, they missed that one. I used it to cut my binds.”

“That was a stroke of luck,” Lonnell commented.

“That's what happens when you put a bunch of characteristic points into Luck. It tends to pay off when it matters,” the half-imp replied nonchalantly.

“I wonder how much Luck Bronna has,” Lonnell muttered.

“Considering that she hasn't even bothered to learn how to properly speak Common Tongue, I'm guessing she put all of her points into boobs.”

Uden managed to dodge the rock that Lonnell threw at him, a chuckle on his lips. Azure couldn't help but smirk at the joke, though he did wonder how a person would level up at all if they didn't hunt or fight. He could only imagine that the answer was that they didn't. Bronna had Analyzed as purple back at the tavern when they had met, but Azure had been a lower level back then. He wondered if she'd Analyze as blue to him now. Making a mental note to check, he rested back on the grass.

It wasn't much longer before the only light afforded to them was that of the stars and moon overhead. Not knowing when goblins typically slept, Azure waited for Lonnell to make the call.

When the time was right, they regrouped to go over the plan again before heading back toward the goblin camp. Lonnell warned them to be watchful of goblins potentially guarding the perimeter of the camp, but Uden brushed the warning away, insisting that there was nothing to worry about.

“You go first.” Lonnell gestured for Uden to take the lead, probably because of his superior night vision.

They didn't stealth themselves until they were almost upon the camp. Peering through the trees, Azure could see that the goblin guarding Bronna Analyzed as an even match for him. Bronna now Analyzed as blue.

“Maybe I could...” he began to suggest that he be the one to kill the guard, but Lonnell quickly shushed him. More than likely, Lonnell just wanted the goblin taken care of quickly, and they all knew that Uden was the best man for the job when it came to silent kills.

“Come from the right. Make some type of noise to cause the guard to investigate. Rustling in the trees or something along those lines,” Lonnell began to instruct him. “When he walks away, I'll sneak in and start cutting away the rope around Bronna. Uden, you come in from behind and take care of the guard.”

With a nod of acknowledgment, they all went their separate ways. As usual, Uden disappeared almost immediately, despite the fact that he'd only taken a few steps away from them. Lonnell stayed in Azure's vision until the night swallowed him up. There was a sense of vulnerability in not seeing his comrades, but Azure was confident that they could pull this off without a hitch. He had the easiest job, which didn't really sit well with him, but it was too late to complain now.

He watched the goblin guard from beyond the treeline, assessing it. All it was wearing was a leather cap, but it held in its hands a halberd. Standing with a proper upright stance, it seemed rather alert. Well rested, Azure thought, not that it would help it against Uden. Once the goblin's back was to him, it would be easy prey for the mercilessly swift half-imp.

With a sigh, Azure placed his hand against a small sapling, shaking the trunk and causing the leaves to rustle. He immediately regretting shaking it so hard, realizing that the sound could easily be deciphered as something more than a deer brushing against it. Still, it did the trick. The goblin's ears perked up, and its head turned in the direction of the noise before its body followed. Gripping its halberd tightly and lifting it into a position ready for attack, the goblin took slow, cautious steps in Azure's direction.

Azure stepped further into the darkness, his eyes dancing between the goblin and Bronna. As soon as the guard was far enough away, Lonnell appeared behind the tree, dagger in hand to cut away at the ropes. Now all Azure had to do was wait for Uden to make his move, and then they could be done with this and start making the long journey back to Cragbell.

When the goblin gave pause, Azure kicked at the dirt to get its attention again. This time, it didn't proceed forward. For as stupid as both Lonnell and Uden had claimed that goblins were, Azure could see the wheels in the creature's head turning. Or perhaps this particular goblin just happened to be incredibly dedicated to its job. Whatever the case, it was clear that it was beginning to piece things together.

Where was Uden? Azure wondered as he felt a knot form in his stomach. There was no time to question any further. He knew he had to make a move when the goblin began to turn around.

A low growl could be heard coming from the goblin camp. Azure glanced at Lonnell just in time to see him duck to dodge an incoming dagger. Something had gone wrong.

Adrenaline dictating his every move, Azure drew his dagger from his belt, emerging from the darkness like a madman and using both hands to drive it down into the goblin's neck. Blood sprayed from the arterial wound—a killing blow. The guard looked at him in shock, it's mouth opening in a gasp that contorted into a choke. The halberd dropped from its hands with a loud thud that made Azure cringe, and the goblin crumbled to the ground with it.

Critical hit! Defeated Level 3 Goblin. 24XP rewarded.

“Attackers,” a voice yelled from the camp, obviously goblin.

Lonnell had already abandoned his quest to free Bronna. She was now alert, her mouth an O as she watched the battle before her. Azure sprung into action to join the fray. It was fairly clear what had happened as soon as he was in the middle of everything. Several bodies laid around the fire, their throats slit with no sign of a struggle. Uden had decided that an ambush would be more exciting than a silent escape. He looked like a lunatic, his pale face streaked with blood, an ear-to-ear grin stretching his lips as he faced off against one of the larger warriors and two lesser goblins. The other large warrior had already been done in, a deep gash across its throat.

Azure would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. The half-imp had managed to take out five of the goblins on his own in the time it had taken them to be discovered. Now he was fighting three and wasn't showing an ounce of fear. With six goblins already dead, that left them with six more to face. Six? That wasn't right. Hadn't there been thirteen when they first arrived?

Azure didn't have the seconds needed to count. He drew his cutlass just in time to match blades with an incoming goblin carrying a short sword. Evenly matched, the sound of metal clanging against metal rang out over the forest as the goblin met him blow for blow. Azure's awe faded quickly as he realized that he was about to be overwhelmed. None of the goblins that they were fighting were below his level, and one of the three that had been occupying Uden broke off to come after weaker prey. Weaker prey being him.

Lonnell had his hands full with two goblins of his own. Azure had no idea how to fight against multiple foes that he was evenly matched with. He backed up as he saw the other goblin approaching, trying his best not to let it get behind him. What was worse is that it was swinging a flail, and Azure had no shield to defend with.

The two goblins shared a quick glance and then moved to surround Azure. If he let them get on opposite sides of him, there was no doubt he'd be done for. Desperation driving him, Azure let out a war cry as he charged the goblin with the short sword. Not about to let him get the advantage, the goblin parried. Azure spun to the side, putting all of his weight into a slash that landed across the goblin's left arm. The creature hissed, but he wasn't dumb enough to drop his weapon. He turned to defend against Azure's next attack, which ended up fumbled when something hitting his back knocked the wind out of him, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward.

“Fuck,” he cursed, quickly pulling himself to his feet. It felt like he'd just been charged by a rhino. His back ached, and his health bar had dropped quite a bit.

Sensing another incoming attack, Azure jumped and rolled, stopping a few feet short of his assailants, who were now both in front of him.

Not good, he thought, realizing that they were winning. Walking hurt. Hell, just moving hurt. The only thing keeping him standing was his fear of death. Taking a deep breath, Azure clutched his cutlass in front of him. The goblin with the flail was grinning, spinning it around almost mockingly. The other goblin just looked pissed off, a trail of blood leaking down its arm.

Azure braced himself as they both lunged forward to attack. Holding his cutlass vertically, the flail's chain wrapped around the blade. The force of it about threw Azure off balance again, but he knew that he had to pull from the depths of his strength if he hoped to survive. Using everything he had left, he turned to wrench the flail from his attacker's grasp, successfully flinging it away. His blade hit the swordsman's just as it was grazing his shoulder, but a cut was still made.

Ignoring the pain, Azure knew that this was the moment to make his attack. The goblin with the flail scrambled for its weapon, and Azure gave chase. Raising his cutlass above his head, he drove it hard into the creature's spine just as its hand had landed on the handle of its weapon. The goblin let out a cry of agony, its fingers outstretching and trembling before falling limply on the weapon. Weakly, it turned its head to look at him. Fear was replaced by a strange smile. It was at that moment that Azure realized what was going on. A moment too late.

The knot in his stomach shot up to his throat to choke him as he spun around to see the other goblin standing there, his blade thrust forward. This was it. The killing blow. Azure didn't have time to pull his cutlass from the other goblin's back, so he let go of the grip to jump to the side and dodge. A momentary distraction turned what would have undoubtedly been a direct hit into a glancing blow slicing across Azure's ribs seconds before the goblin collided with him, a look of shock on its face.

Azure hissed from the pain, the weight of the small creature pushing him back. He tripped over the goblin behind him and ended up sandwiched between the falling goblin and the dirt. Just before he fell, he saw Uden several yards away, his arm outstretched in Azure's direction from having just thrown the dagger that had lodged itself in the swordsman's back. Despite all of his pain, Azure quickly seized the weapon from the stunned goblin, using it to finish him off with a few uncalculated stabs to the chest. It was a messy death. A brutal death. A frantic kill or be killed kind of death. Azure's health bar was lower than it had ever been before. He wasn't taking any chances.

Defeated Level 3 Goblin. 24XP rewarded.

Congratulations! The skill: One-Handed Weapons has reached Level 3. This skill enables you to use all manner of one-handed weapons to defeat enemies. What you do with your other hand is up to you.

As soon as the notification popped up and disappeared, Azure moved over to the other goblin, finishing it off as well and earning another 24XP and the chiming sound that told him he'd leveled up. There was no time to be excited about that now, though. Looking around for other threats and seeing none, he fell to his knees, quickly digging into his pouch for healing potions. Azure could not remember a time when he had ever hurt so much. His stamina was nearly depleted, and he felt as weak as a kitten.

“Are you all right?” Lonnell rushed to his side.

“I am almost dead.” His health bar blinked in warning in the bottom right corner of his vision.

“You should rest.” Lonnell took the vials from Azure's trembling hands and quickly uncorked them, handing them to his friend one at a time.

“Well, that was fun.” Uden sauntered up, putting a foot on the swordsman's back as he pulled his dagger from it.

“That was not fun!” Lonnell barked at him. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

“Probably the same thing he was thinking.” Uden pointed his blade at Azure before wiping the blood off onto the goblin's side, unapologetic. “You knew we could take them, didn't you?”

“I had thought so until we were actually in the heat of things,” Azure confessed. Now that his wounds were healing and the intense fear of death was finally subsiding, anger began to take over. “Could you at least warn us before you do something like that?”

“No,” Uden replied, ignoring his shift in mood to go loot the bodies. “Had I warned you, you would have stopped me.”

“Had you warned us, we would have been better prepared. Now we're all injured.” Lonnell uncorked a vial for himself, gulping the contents down.

Azure had been too busy worrying about himself to notice that both Lonnell and Uden had lost some health during the battle.

“We lived. That's all that matters.” Uden shrugged his brother's complaint off. Oddly, he didn't seem in any hurry to heal himself, not that he had sustained any significant damage.

Normally, Azure would have been excited to see what all new weapons and armor he could find amongst the goblins' corpses, but he was too busy just being happy to have survived the ordeal. The sky had never been a more beautiful shade of black-blue. Coppery blood and defecation had never smelled less unpleasant.

“We have a live one here,” Uden announced before speaking down to the goblin. “I thought I killed you. I guess I should finish the job.” He pulled the dagger out that he'd just cleaned off.

“Wait!” Lonnell called back to him, leaving Azure to rush to the goblin's side.

“For what?” Uden snorted. “No survivors, brother.” He cast a sinister glance in Bronna's direction that caused her to shy away. This entire time, she'd still been strapped to the tree, small sobs coming from her chest. Azure wondered if she'd ever witnessed such violence before.

“I want to know where they were taking her. We need to put an end to this Dark One, whoever he is,” Lonnell said with distaste as he crouched next to the injured goblin. It had slashes all over its stomach and part of its intestines were hanging out like spilled spaghetti. Azure had no idea how it was still clinging to life, but it was definitely on borrowed time.

He sat up, feeling like an under-performer next to his comrades. They seemed to recover from the battle almost instantly. Azure had to remind himself that it was because they were more accustomed to it, not that he was a wuss. Besides, he had been the only one who had almost died. Surely it was natural to mull over your mortality whenever you saw your health bar blinking ominously. They could afford him a bit of time to reflect and be thankful.

“Is anyone goin' ta cut meh loose?” Bronna asked in a voice laced with annoyance.

Lonnell held a hand out to shush her, and Uden shot a glare in her direction. “We'll be with you in a moment, my love. There's no need to worry. The threat is over.”

“Yer not the one still tied ta a tree,” she grumbled.

Azure pulled himself to his feet and joined his companions, curious about what the goblin had to say.

“Where were you taking her?” Lonnell interrogated the creature. “Tell us, and we'll make sure that your death is swift and you suffer no longer.”

The goblin's eyelids were heavy, flitting open erratically as if straining for life. Its eyes were everywhere, looking but not seeming to see. They had gotten to it too late.

“Altar,” it gurgled out in a forced word that obviously caused it pain.

“Altar. Where? In which direction? Can you point?” Lonnell looked out into the forest, then his gaze fell to the goblin's hand, hoping it would make a weak attempt.

It opened its mouth to speak again, but only a strained breath came out before its body seemed to deflate and its eyes stopped moving. The smell of its bowels releasing filled the air, causing Azure to take a step back, not that the stench wasn't already surrounding him. Death was a smelly business.

With a sigh of defeat, Lonnell stood to go tend to Bronna. Meanwhile, Azure set to work helping Uden finish looting the bodies. By the time they were done, there was a small pile of weapons and armor. Azure felt like a kid in a candy store, ready to upgrade. Among the items were the following:

Crude Goblin Sword

Attack: +2-9

Type: One-Handed Weapon

Durability: 4/15

Item Class: Common

Quality: Poor

Weight: 1.7 kg

Rusty Flail

Attack: +2-6

Type: One-Handed Weapon

Durability: 5/13

Item Class: Common

Quality: Poor

Weight: 1.6 kg

Bronze Halberd

Attack: +3-8

Type: Two-Handed Weapon

Durability: 6/15

Item Class: Common

Quality: Poor

Weight: 2.9 kg

Leather Cap

Defense: +4

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 4/10

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.3 kg

Leather Shield

Defense: +7

Durability: 1/20

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 2.0 kg

Leather Boots

Defense: +1

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 12/15

Item Class: Common

Quality: Poor

Weight: 0.5 kg

Bronze Chainmail Shirt

Defense: +15

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 25/50

Item Class: Common

Quality: Good

Weight: 6.9 kg

The first thing that caught Azure's eye was the halberd that Bronna's guard had been carrying. While he didn't have much interest in pole weapons, the halberd was the first two-handed weapon he'd come across, and that was a skill he didn't yet possess. The question was, what were the odds he'd actually use it frequently in the future. Was it worth trying to level up now if he didn't plan on carrying a two-handed weapon regularly? Deciding that it wasn't particularly important at the moment, he set the weapon aside so that Lonnell could hold it for him for later.

Considering that his cutlass had better stats than any of the other weapons in the lot, the next item of interest was the leather shield. That would have definitely come in handy during his last melee against the flail-wielding goblin. Too bad it only had one point of durability left. Maybe it wasn't worth taking after all, but Azure decided to strap it to his back anyway after putting on the chainmail. He also equipped the boots and cap, though the cap quickly got removed when he thought about how stupid it made him look. Vanity shouldn't be important to him right now, but it still was. He was also lucky enough to find a quiver with more arrows, which he helped himself to.

“If you guys are done, we have a problem,” Lonnell said, disturbing them from their greed.

“Tha problum is were out in da middle of nowhere,” Bronna said, obviously wanting to go home immediately. She stood by Lonnell's side, rubbing a spot on her arm where the rope had chaffed her skin.

“Should I take off after him?” Uden asked, reading his brother's mind.

“Will you be all right? I wouldn't want to risk you getting captured again.”

Azure couldn't tell if that was a statement of concern or if Lonnell was teasing Uden, but he doubted it was the latter of the two considering how serious Lonnell usually was.

“Fool me once,” the half-imp said, already walking backward toward the forest.

“Does that mean we're heading back to Cragbell now?” Azure asked, a bit disappointed that he hadn't been assigned the task of tracking down the escaped goblin. As if wearing permanent proof that it was a lesser goblin, there had been a ring of bite marks on its collarbone. It was the cook who had Analyzed as blue—an easy kill for him.

“Not yet,” Lonnell replied.

“We most certainly are!” Bronna crossed her arms over her chest.

He gave her a side-look, though his demeanor was incredibly patient. “We need to find that altar and kill whoever The Dark One is. And to do that, we need to use you as bait.”

“What?!” Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Azure was amused by the exchange between them but tried his best not to smirk. To be honest, he was a bit surprised that Lonnell was willing to put Bronna in danger.

“I'm certain that whoever they are calling The Dark One is responsible for the curse on Crescent Island. If we can take care of him, then all of our problems will be resolved,” he explained to her.

“We don't have any clues as to where the altar is though,” Azure reminded him.

Lonnell gazed into the flickering fire in thought. “They camped early. That probably means that the altar isn't far from here. Whatever the case, we need to wait for Uden to return. Hopefully, that goblin won't get too far in the dark.”

“It won't be safe to stay here. If there are other goblins around, or if the escaped goblin reaches the others, they'll be coming back here.”

The thought of having to relocate in the dead of night wasn't optimal, but it was safer than leaving themselves exposed and at risk.

“It is a conundrum,” Lonnell agreed, rubbing his chin.

“Ye can find someun else ta sacrifice. I want no part a this.” Bronna hugged herself stubbornly.

“You're more than welcome to find your way back on your own.” Azure gestured to the forest, annoyed with her whining.

Lonnell scowled at Azure before turning to Bronna, rubbing her shoulders soothingly. “It's not safe for you out there on your own. We need to stick together so I can protect you.”

“Ye want to offer me as a human sacrifice! How is that protectin' meh?” She rolled her eyes at him.

“I promise, we won't let any harm come to you. This is important. I know you've been through a lot already, but I promise I won't ask anymore of you beyond this.”

With surrender in her expression, she sighed. “Fine. I guess all be yer stinkin' bait.”

“Thank you.” Lonnell pulled her into an embrace.

Watching them made Azure feel uncomfortable, so he turned his attention back to the pile of loot by the fire. “I've got an idea,” he said, not sure if it was a good one or not but suddenly feeling the need for his own space.

“What's that?” Lonnell pivoted to face him.

“You take Bronna somewhere safe. I'll wait on the outskirts of the camp for Uden to return. When he does, we'll track you and find you. I'm sure she could use some rest after her harrowing ordeal.”

“We could all use some rest,” he muttered before agreeing to the plan.

Lonnell gathered up what loot they planned to take with them in his Bag of Holding. Then he made a torch, and he and Bronna set off into the forest. There was an odd sense of peace once they were gone. A chance for Azure to reflect on the carnage that they had just created without the worry of having his thoughts disturbed. The night sounded oddly peaceful now that he was alone. Well...alone with a bunch of dead bodies. He hadn't had time to reflect on how surreal the situation was until now. Blood and gore laid all around him. The smell of death was like a uniquely putrid butcher's shop. Briefly, Azure thought about burning the bodies, but he just didn't have any energy left.

Now attuned to the sounds of the forest, and doubting that anymore goblins would be coming by anytime soon, Azure sat by the fire, staring into its flickering flames and listening to the wood crackle and pop. Without anyone tending to it, the fire was beginning to die, so he took the time to throw another log on before sitting down again. It felt like just the actions of sitting and standing took so much energy. His stamina was still low. Resting would replenish it slowly, but he knew it wouldn't fully restore until he slept. That battle had taken so much out of him. Though they had initially not seemed as fierce a foe as the silver nether, those two goblins had been the most dangerous thing he'd faced yet, and he felt it had mostly been due to his lack of skill. He needed to get better at fighting. This wasn't like other virtual reality MMOs where the skill just came naturally. Sure, instinct had kicked in to help, but he was bumbling around for the most part. He needed some actual training. More than likely, the foes would only get harder from here on out, and he needed to be prepared.

After about ten minutes, Azure forced himself back up, relocating to the outskirts of the camp to sit against a tree and wait for Uden to return. He would have stayed by the fire if the thought hadn't crossed his mind that goblins could probably use Stealth, too. Staying there would have made him a sitting duck if a foe had decided to approach from behind. While Azure knew how to decipher the sounds of the forest, he doubted he would be able to detect someone with a high Stealth skill. That was partially what the skill was for, after all—to sneak up on your enemies and dispatch of them without a sound.

Sitting alone in the darkness was relaxing in a way that Azure hadn't imagined it would be. But there were still things that he could do while he waited for Uden, like checking his stats and allocating his characteristic points. With a mere thought, he brought up his character sheet.

Name: Azure

Race: Human

Level: 4, 2% of the way to next level

Health: 150 / 150

Mana: 130 / 130

Stamina: 140 / 140

Vitality: 12

Intelligence: 10

Strength: 11

Agility: 12

Dexterity: 11

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

Skills: Archery Lvl 2; 30% of the way to next level

Stealth Lvl 2; 30% of the way to the next level

Analyze Lvl 3; 36% of the way to next level

Cooking Lvl 4; 97% of the way to next level

Alchemy Lvl 2; 70% of the way to next level

Foraging Lvl 4; 2% of the way to next level

One-Handed Weapons Lvl 3; 16% of the way to next level

Languages: Common Tongue, Sprite, Goblin-Tongue

Deciding that it would probably be more important going forward and wanting more loot drops so that he could afford his Bag of Holding faster, Azure threw two points into Luck, wondering if he'd regret it later. Charisma and Intelligence still needed to be upgraded, but as it stood now, he didn't feel that they were necessary. You didn't really need to be a smooth talker when dealing with goblins and sprites, especially when he wasn't the one doing most of the talking. So far, he'd taken more of a backseat in negotiations. He honestly didn't see that changing anytime soon, and he didn't really mind it. While he wasn't a noob anymore, he was still getting his bearings about how this world worked.

Azure had been so focused on obtaining the Bag of Holding from Ruthren, and so upset afterward when he couldn't afford it, that he hadn't bothered to see if the merchant had any spells for sale. Magic was definitely something he'd want to delve into sooner rather than later. Though being currently magicless, he couldn't justify the expense of using a point on Intelligence.

After nearly biting it from the fight with the goblins, what Azure felt he really needed were more health points. Submitting to his decision, Azure put his last point into Vitality and then turned his attention to his skills. He was torn between leveling up Archery, Stealth, or his One-Handed Weapons skill. All three were important, but at the end of the day, sheer attack power seemed more critical than sneakily moving around. Azure's Archery skill was still lagging one level behind his One-Handed Weapons skill, but his One-Handed Weapons skill had longer to go before he would level it again, and he didn't feel that it had taken long to get from level 2 to level 3 in his other skills. More than likely, skill progression would grow more arduous as he continued to level up. That's typically how it had gone in most MMOs that he'd played in the past. It was a tough choice, but Azure ultimately decided that leveling his One-Handed Weapons skill was more the best choice. Being a ranged skill, Archery put him at less of a risk. If the melee with the two goblins taught him anything, it was that he needed to get better with close-range weapons quickly.

Having made his selections, Azure closed his stats and reminisced about the battle some more. Nothing had made him feel more alive than seeing his imminent death right before him. A solemn victory, he thought as he watched the lifeless bodies. Goblins were not innately bad, he decided. They had just gotten caught up in this curse like everyone else. Knowing that made him feel a bit guilty for what they had done. It wouldn't have had to be this way if it weren't for Uden, though. There was definitely evil within him—bloodlust and a need for disarray. Killing all of the goblins had been completely unnecessary. Buttttt....he had earned some sweet experience points from the battle, so should he really be reflecting too hard on everything. It was just a symptom of being alone with his thoughts and trying to stave off the sleepiness attempting to overtake him. A sleepiness that inevitably won.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE REALM – Day 12

He didn't even see it coming. Didn't hear it. Lost in sleep, there was no defense.

“Make a move, and it will be your last,” a voice hissed in Azure's ear.

His eyes fluttered open to the cool feel of steel against his throat. There was a hard grip on his hair, his body locked in submission, his back pressed against something hard. It was the motion of him being jerked away from the tree that had woken him.

Startled, Azure clutched at the wrist holding the blade to his throat. It pressed forward, and the sting of his skin being pierced followed. For the briefest of moments, he tried to fight his attacker off before he was pushed forward. His arms went flailing out in front of him, his palms landing in the dirt. Instinctively, Azure drew his blade, rolling to face his attacker.

Uden stood there with his hands on his hips, his dagger still in one hand, an ear-to-ear grin on his face. “I bet you're not judging me for being taken unaware now.”

“You about scared me to death.” Azure exhaled a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding, glaring at the half-imp as he put his cutlass away and pulled himself to his feet.

“I could have killed you to death,” the half-imp chuckled.

“You're too fucking quiet,” Azure growled.

“Even if I hadn't been, you were too asleep to notice. I unstealthed way back there.” He pointed to the camp. “And tracked your footprints here. You are shit at hiding, mate.”

Azure was embarrassed to realize that he hadn't even thought about leaving tracks behind. It was a reminder that he was still more of a noob in this world than he liked to admit. Luckily, it had been Uden who had found him instead of a goblin hellbent on avenging its friends. How long had he been asleep? A glance at his stamina bar told him that it hadn't been very long. Still, he wondered if any goblins had come by while he was out cold.

“I can't believe I passed out.” He stretched, still feeling exhausted.

“I can't believe you did either. Especially this close to an active goblin camp. I killed a scout before I finally found the cook.” Uden sheathed his dagger.

“At least you found him,” Azure sighed in relief.

“My brother will be happy to know that I got the location of the altar out of him before I killed him.” The half-imp stared towards the camp. “Speaking of which, where is he and his horse-faced wench?”

Azure snorted. “I thought you were the tracker.”

Uden side-eyed him. “Don't make me regret not killing you.”

“He took her somewhere safe.”

“I see he took the loot, too. Shall we scour the camp one last time before heading off to find them? I hate the thought that I might have missed something in my haste. Or did you take the liberty while I was away?”

“I was admittedly a lazy piece of shit,” Azure confessed, not feeling the least bit bad about it. “I don't think we'll find much more, but it's worth a shot.”

The two men went back to the camp to give the dead goblins another one over. While their efforts were mostly fruitless, Uden did manage to find a pouch on one of the goblins that they'd missed before.

“Jackpot,” he announced, weighing the pouch in the palm of his hand before dumping out its contents. There were eight coppers and four silvers inside.

“I thought that goblins didn't carry coins,” Azure said, though he was clearly happy about the find.

“They usually don't. It must have taken this off of someone it had killed.”

The thought was a bit grim, but Azure knew that was just how things worked in this world.

“Shall we be off?” Uden slipped the coins back into their pouch and fastened it to his belt.

“Is it smart to just leave the bodies like this? Shouldn't we burn them?” Azure hated himself for even suggesting it.

“Do you really want to do all of that work?” The half-imp cocked an eyebrow at him. “Your stamina is pretty low right now, and mine isn't great either. This is really a three-man job.” It sounded an awful lot like he was trying to talk Azure out of it.

“If other goblins find this, they'll know something went wrong.” He stared at the bodies, already feeling the extra exhaustion from the task ahead.

“If other goblins find the ones I left in the woods, they'll know something went wrong. Are you suggesting we go gather them as well?” His expression was skeptical.

Azure's shoulders slumped. “Meet me halfway. I know that burning the bodies is the smart thing to do. Being lazy could cost us a lot.”

“You do realize that when these guys don't return to wherever they came from, the rest of the goblins will know that something went wrong anyway, right?”

“Stop arguing with me and help.” Azure bent to take one of the goblins by the arms and start dragging it towards the fire.

Thankfully, the cauldron had been taken off long before they had mounted their attack. One look inside showed a thick layer of brown sludge that was crusting around the edges. It smelled almost as badly as the bodies around them. Azure didn't even want to take a guess at what had been inside.

They dragged the bodies one by one to the fire. Most of the smaller goblins were easy for them to handle on their own, though it took both of them to move the two larger warriors. As Uden was bending to take one by the legs, a pendant fell out from the top of his tunic. Azure probably wouldn't have even noticed it if not for the fact that Uden dropped one of the goblin's legs immediately to stuff it back in his tunic.

“What's that?” he asked, waiting for the half-imp to pick up his half of the weight.

Uden hesitated for a moment, looking annoyed by the question. “It's a...family heirloom.”

“From Meva?” Good lord the bigger goblins were heavy. It took all of their strength to drag the thing over.

“No.”

Manny didn't seem like the type to pass jewelry onto his sons, but what did Azure know. “From your father?”

“No,” Uden replied shortly, his irritation growing.

“You're being awfully cryptic,” Azure said with a smirk before they both took a breath, counted to three, and then tossed the body onto the pile. The smell of burning flesh was reminiscent of the pyre at Cragbell. Azure wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to it.

“It's from my real family,” Uden admitted finally. "Can we get on with this? I'd like to reach my brother before daybreak so that maybe we can get some sleep before we have to travel on to the altar.” He urged Azure to help him with the last of the bodies.

Realizing that talking about the pendant made Uden uncomfortable, Azure dropped the subject. “How far away is the altar?”

“Not far,” the half-imp replied shortly.

Azure decided to keep his mouth shut for the remainder of the task. They were both tired, and Uden had done more work than him tonight. He couldn't blame the half-imp for being cranky. It had been a long day. They'd engaged in much bloodshed, and they were looking at another sleepless night ahead. What was left of it, at least.

Once the deed of stacking the corpses on the fire was done, they headed off in the direction that Lonnell and Bronna had gone. Thankfully, they hadn't traveled but a few hundred yards away. The two heard them before they found them. Bronna was snoring loudly while Lonnell was on watch, looking especially tired. The torch had gone out a while back. Lonnell was holding what appeared to be a small flame in the palm of his hand. Magic, Azure realized with wonder. Seeing it woke him back up. To be honest, he was a bit surprised that Lonnell knew any magic at all.

“The goblins will hear her from a mile away,” Uden growled, ignoring the look of welcoming in his brother's eyes to glare at Bronna.

“I doubt there are many more around here.” Lonnell frowned, staring down at his sleeping girlfriend. “She needed to rest anyway. She's not accustomed to such travels as we are.”

“Such travels,” Uden snorted. “Sitting on her ass tied to a tree. And I bet they carried her the entire way. Surely, she's more exhausted than the three of us.” He nodded in Azure's direction.

Weariness showed on Lonnell's face. "Can we please not fight right now?"

Uden seemed to deflate a bit. “I am sorry, brother. I am tired. I killed two more goblins after I left the camp. Then when we returned...” his voice trailed off as he looked at Azure.

“I made him help me burn the bodies,” he chimed in, feeling guilt mix with his own exhaustion. Had it really been worth the effort?

“I would not have the energy to face more enemies,” Uden confessed. “Forgive me if my caution comes out as anger.”

Lonnell pushed himself away from the boulder he'd been leaning against and placed a hand on Uden's shoulder. “It is fine, brother. I understand. Bronna is my charge. If we are attacked, I will fight for her.”

“Good. Because no one else will,” the half-imp grumbled, not so much under his breath, pulling away from his brother to go sit down. “I need sleep. At least a few hours. Then we can continue on to the altar. They were planning to sacrifice her tomorrow night.”

“How did you come about this news?” Lonnell's eyes trailed behind him.

“The cook confessed the whereabouts of the altar and their plans before I took his life.”

“Then we know where we're headed next.” A sigh of relief passed Lonnell's lips.

“Yes. I know the location.”

“We should sleep in shifts,” Lonnell suggested. “You two go first. I'm better rested than the both of you since I've just been standing here keeping watch.”

Both Uden and Azure nodded, not bothering to argue, nor caring who would take the next shift. All either of them wanted were a few hours of sleep—a sleep that seemed all too fleeting whenever Lonnell woke Azure to take his shift. It was as if he had just closed his eyes, though he knew he had slept because he had dreamed of Uden's mock attack. An image of the pendant flashed through his mind. For some reason, he just couldn't get it out of his head. It was the last thing he had thought about before he had passed out and the first thing he had thought about when he awoke. Azure glanced over at Uden who was sleeping on his back like a vampire again. He hoped that the half-imp would wake in a better mood than he had gone to sleep in.

Lonnell bedded down next to Bronna who had thankfully quieted down some. When Azure had first laid down, he was certain that her incessant snoring would keep him up, but the second his head touched the grass, sleep had come blessedly quickly.

It was still pitch black outside. Considering that his stamina bar was now only a little more than halfway full, Azure could only assume that he got maybe two hours of sleep in. Not nearly enough. Hopefully, his stamina would fill the rest of the way while he waited to wake Uden for his shift.

As soon as he was reasonably sure that Lonnell was asleep, Azure sat down, leaning against the boulder where they had first found Lonnell standing when they had walked up. Being caught sitting wouldn't be optimal if goblins happened to wander upon them, but Azure hoped that he'd hear them before he saw them...if he could see anything in the darkness now that Lonnell's candle flame had been extinguished. A few stars were dotting the sky, but the moon was nowhere to be seen. He didn't need to worry about it for long though, because after what seemed like only an hour, the sky began to grow lighter.

The fact that Lonnell didn't wake up at the first sign of sunlight was proof of how long of a night it had been for all of them. Sitting down, Azure's stamina seemed to be regenerating at a fair speed. In a bout of good-natured gratitude, he decided to let Uden continue sleeping. Despite Lonnell's higher level, the half-imp was the strongest fighter in their group. If they came upon a high-level foe anytime soon, they'd need him at his best. Then again, they'd probably all need to be at their best if they were to face this Dark One tonight.

Azure wondered what The Dark One could possibly be. Perhaps a necromancer or a hobgoblin. Definitely a magic-caster of some sorts if it needed a sacrificial offering. What would be more exciting would be seeing the birth of a new god in The Realm, but Azure doubted that was what they were dealing with. There was no way that any of them could face a god at their current levels.

I suppose we'll find out tonight, he thought only a moment before Lonnell began to stir. Azure forced himself to his feet so as not to look like he'd been lazy. Lonnell blinked a few times before his eyes settled on Bronna, and a smile took over his face. A man in love. There was a twinge of pain in Azure's heart as he thought about how he had once looked upon Sheila sleeping beside him like that. Another time. Another life ago. The pain was followed by jealousy, wondering if he'd ever have someone like that in his life again. Certainly not if he was stuck in this game for all eternity.

Azure sighed, looking at everything around him. It was all so real to him now. Indistinguishable from the trees and grass that he had known before. Except the air smelled cleaner. That was definitely different. Exhaust and trash and the other various smells from the factories and businesses around him weren't here to muddy up the environment. There was something pure about this place, even with all of its perils.

“You didn't wake Uden,” Lonnell noted as he stood up.

“He needed sleep more than the rest of us.” Azure stared down at the still sleeping half-imp, hoping he'd appreciate the kind gesture of allowing him to fully recharge.

“Hopefully we'll all get more rest today. I fear we won't survive the night if we don't.” He gave Bronna a look of concern.

“Are you sure she's up for the task of being bait?” There was no doubt in Azure's mind that Bronna was better rested than all of them. But she hadn't seemed too keen on their plan. He just hoped she wouldn't bow out of it at the last minute. The Dark One probably wouldn't come out of hiding if there was no sacrifice on that altar tonight.

“She has to be,” Lonnell replied, sounding uncertain. “Any idea how far away the altar is?”

“Unfortunately not. Your brother was being crabby last night. He wasn't much in the mood for talking.” Not after Azure had brought up the pendant at least.

“Then we're going to have to wake him,” Lonnell said with a sigh before walking over and kneeling beside Uden.

“What's that hideous brightness?” Uden shielded his eyes from the sun. In Azure's mind, he could hear the half-imp hissing and see him skittering away into the comfort of the darkness. The thought put a smile on his face.

“It's called the sun,” he said dramatically, leaning around so that Uden could see him past Lonnell.

“I can't remember the last time I woke up this late.” Uden sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“We need to know how far away the altar is,” Lonnell told him.

“About half a mile to the west.” Uden looked to the west.

“Not far at all,” Azure realized with relief. “In that case, I'm going back to sleep.” He stretched and yawned before finding a spot in the grass to pass out.

This time, he woke on his own around noon, fully restored and stomach rumbling. Wanting to get to the altar as quickly as possible to cement their plans, they ate leftover boar along the way. It amazed Azure how long that one kill had lasted them. Even divided between them, there was still so much left that they wouldn't need to hunt again for a while. Although it was a great time saver, Azure felt like having so much meat onhand screwed him out of gaining experience from hunting. While game animals didn't earn him much XP, every little bit helped. Every time he saw a rabbit or squirrel cross their path, he yearned for the kill, but he knew that Lonnell wouldn't condone, what he saw as, the unnecessary killing of an animal.

After a seemingly short trek through the forest, they came upon a small hill with the altar seated atop it.

“Well, that certainly looks sacrificial,” Azure mentioned dryly of the very typical stone table that had been erected. The dirt surrounding it was disturbed. Someone, at one point, had drawn symbols into it, but most of it had been messed up due to weather and time.

Approaching the altar, they noticed remnants of dry blood. There was a chip in the middle of the stone surface, likely from someone driving a blade a bit too hard through whatever they had been sacrificing on it.

Bronna hugged herself as she looked at the altar, shuddering. “I'm not goin' on that.”

“Yes, you are,” Uden said almost automatically.

“Let's sacrifice you instead.” She glared at him.

“Ohhh, you spoke proper Common Tongue that time. You must really be angry with me.” He smirked at her.

“Weren't they going to bring you here and sacrifice you?” Azure reminded him.

“They obviously didn't get too far with that. I'm too cunning.” Uden grinned wolfishly.

“Cunning enough to get captured while you were asleep,” Lonnell muttered.

“I see no reason why ya can't get on dat altar instead.” Bronna nodded to it.

“How many reasons do you want me to name?” He gave her a sarcastic look. “Let's start with the fact that The Dark One probably already knows that I escaped. Then we'll go with the fact that they'll need me to fight with them if we're to take him down. And finally, I'm pretty sure The Dark One is expecting a vestal virgin, not some snarky half-breed. Forgive me for saying this, love, but you're useless to us other than this one task.”

Bronna gasped. “I am not useless, ya toad!”

Lonnell turned to her, rubbing her shoulders to calm her down. “You are not useless. But we do need you to do this.”

“That altar es filthy!” She gestured to it in disgust.

“I'm pretty sure The Dark One will know that something is amiss if we try to clean it off,” Uden told her. “Besides, who knows, maybe the mixing of the fresh blood with the old blood is part of the ceremony.”

Bronna shuddered again, clearly still not liking the idea of having to touch the altar.

“Speaking of ceremonies, can you figure out what the marks on the ground are? It looks like some type of necromancy spell.” Lonnell turned his attention away from Bronna to examine the marks in the dirt.

“It is undoubtedly dark magic,” Uden said as he circled the altar.

“All sacrificial magic is.” Lonnell meant to say that it was obvious.

“So this was done by a human?” Azure asked, unable to make out anything. It was all just lines and squiggles to him.

“More than likely,” Uden agreed. “That or a hobgoblin.”

“It would have to be one powerful hobgoblin for the other goblins to be afraid of it,” Lonnell said skeptically. “I don't understand who on the island would do this.”

“Not everyone has received a welcoming reception,” the half-imp reminded him.

“Our foes are few and far between, though. And it's rare that new people come to the island. If there had been any kind of unfortunate incident, we would have heard about it.”

“Perhaps it wasn't a recent transgression.” Uden walked up to the altar and leaned over to sniff at the dried blood. Bronna winced away, disturbed.

“Someone from stories past?” Lonnell raised an eyebrow at him.

“Who can tell? There are always a lot of stories.” The half-imp straightened himself and shrugged.

“Can you tell anything from all of this? It's not like anything I've seen before.” Lonnell looked around them.

Uden shook his head. “The markings are too weathered. The blood on the altar is mixed, not entirely human.”

“Not entirely human,” Lonnell parroted.

“I suppose that would explain why they tried to take you, too,” Azure said, meaning no offense.

“I'm not sure what they're sacrificing things to, but whatever it is, it does not appear to be discriminating much,” Uden told them.

“If that were true then the goblins wouldn't have risked coming to Cragbell for a human sacrifice,” Lonnell pointed out.

“True,” Uden agreed. “Perhaps whoever this person is keeps demanding greater sacrifices. The greater the sacrifice, the more powerful the blood magic.

"Shall we look for where to stake out at? We should also probably return to the goblin camp for rope.”

“What da ya need rope fer?” Bronna asked.

“Do you think The Dark One will believe that you're actually a sacrifice if you just lie on the table waiting?” Uden's eyes flashed at her.

She turned to Lonnell, clutching onto his arm. “Please don't tie meh up. I don't lyk the idea of not bein' able ta get away.”

“We'll just make it look like you're tied up,” he assured her.

“We should definitely tie her up,” Uden said to Azure as he paused next to him. “With any luck, we won't have to take her back to Cragbell.”

“That's horrible,” Azure glared at him. Though he wasn't fond of the idea of traveling back with Bronna either, he didn't want her to die, and he couldn't help but believe that Uden was sincere in his ill wishes.

“We should split up,” he ignored the soft chastisement, as usual. “This foe will be a powerful one. We need to surround him.”

“That could create a problem, though,” Lonnell said as they all walked back down the hill together. “Depending on how far we're spread, we won't be able to see each other to make a coordinated attack.”

“That's what we can use her big mouth for.” Uden smiled at Bronna. “I'll attack first. When she sees the attack, she can scream. Then you guys can join in.”

“Ya know a didn't tell meh fawther aboot yer impness on perpus, ya? I was deep in me cups when it happened,” she told him.

“Water under the bridge.” He waved her...apology? Away.

“I'm pretty sure we'll see when you attack him,” Azure pointed out.

“And I'm sure she'll be screaming anyway,” he responded before walking to the forest's edge, keeping his eyes to the ground.

Azure had been around Uden long enough to know he was tracking what footprints he could find. He and Lonnell waited until the half-imp returned to them, while Bronna just stood there looking awkward and uncomfortable.

“The Dark One will most likely come from there.” Uden pointed to the west. “I'll stealth myself and hide nearby. Azure should be on the opposite side with his bow, taking shots when he can.” He glanced at Azure before turning his attention to Lonnell. “I'll need you closer since you're stronger. When I do attack, I'll want you to come in from behind.”

“I'm not keen on this plan,” Lonnell butted in. “We should have Azure attack with his bow first. Then you come in from behind, and I'll sweep in from the side. Injuring The Dark One unaware will give us the best chance of success. I doubt he'll be quick enough to deflect an incoming arrow when he's not expecting it. And even if he is, the frontal ambush should distract him enough that you can do what you do best. Worst case scenario, Azure misses the shot and I will still attack from the side as a distraction. I'm good at dodging, and if he's occupied with me, then he still shouldn't see you coming.”

“That's if any of us can even get to him,” Uden commented. “A high-level magic user, especially one using human sacrifices, would probably not be dumb enough to go out into the open without some type of defense barrier in place.”

“Barriers are only effective for so long. We'll have to time our attack perfectly. Just before...” his voice trailed off.

Picking up on what he was about to say, concern took over Bronna's expression, her gaze volleying between the two brothers. “Before what?

Azure felt the tension rise. He knew what was coming next. They all knew

“Right before he's about to make the sacrifice,” Lonnell finished.

“When he starts casting whatever spell he plans to use on you, that's when we'll strike. A mage is most vulnerable when he's casting a powerful spell,” Uden informed her.

“Is that...safe?” she asked hesitantly.

“It's our best shot at killing him.” Lonnell avoided her question.

“You'll be fine,” Uden told her in a rare moment of comfort. There was no amusement in his voice—no sign that he planned to purposely let harm come to her.

“Only if everything goes as planned.” Shaking her head and backing away, Bronna was clearly beginning to panic. “No. Ah don't lyk dis. Ah don't lyk et one bit.”

Lonnell gave her a pleading look. “Please, Bronna.”

“Just think of it this way. If you make it back alive, you'll be a hero, not just some stupid tavern wench,” Uden said with the offensive smile they were all used to.

“Yew get up on dat altar.” She gestured to it before crossing her arms over her chest. “I'm not doin' it.”

“Shall we get the rope, brother?” Uden continued to tease.

And perhaps a gag, Azure thought, though he didn't dare say it. The poor girl was dealing with enough cruelty from Uden as it was. Maybe she couldn't help that she was so...annoying. He definitely couldn't see whatever it was that Lonnell saw in her. Perhaps it was the accent?

It took a bit more convincing, but Bronna eventually agreed to go along with their plan, though she refused to return to the goblin camp. She and Lonnell stayed behind while Azure and Uden went to fetch the rope. The goblin bodies had burned down into a pile of black bones and ash, the charred remains now smoldering. It was strange to see so much reduced to so little. All of that life simply gone.

They gathered the rope and headed back to the altar. Not knowing what time The Dark One might come to collect their sacrifice, they loosely bound Bronna and set her on the altar as the sun was setting. She gave little complaint, but her face showed all of her discomfort. Uden drew a circle around the altar, trying to mimic what symbols he could still make out to give the sacrifice a look of authenticity. Then they settled into their respective hiding spots and waited.

It felt like the longest several hours of Azure's life. While it didn't drain his stamina, standing in the same place as still as a statue for an extended period of time was tiring. He was being so inanimate that a squirrel came right up to the tree he was hiding behind and started climbing up the side of it. The urge to reach out and snatch the small creature made his fingers itch. But if this Dark One was as perceptive as Uden had said, one wrong move could give away their position and spoil everything.

Would they hear the necromancer coming, he wondered? Most men made noise when they traipsed through the forest. Azure imagined that The Dark One would be stealthed though.

They waited and waited and waited some more. The sun went down. The moon came up. And still, they waited. They waited until the dead of night when Azure's eyes began to grow heavy. No one came. And when the darkness of night began to fade away with the rising sun, they knew that no one would be coming.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Uden muttered as he emerged from the forest to Azure's left.

“Don't do that!” He clutched his chest. Not only had the half-imp's sudden appearance woken him up, but it had about given him a heart attack.

“He's obviously not going to show.” Uden ignored his complaint, looking towards the altar.

“Obviously.” Azure flanked his side to go fetch Lonnell.

As soon as the three of them were together, they walked up the hill to tell Bronna that it was all right for her to come down from the altar.

“Do you think he knew that she wasn't really tied up?” Azure asked.

“I doubt anyone would be that perceptive. I didn't sense anyone coming from the forest at any time,” Uden told him while Lonnell helped Bronna get the rope off.

“Are you sure that they were supposed to sacrifice her tonight?” Lonnell inquired.

Uden gave him an annoyed side-eye. “I don't have these big ears for nothing, you know.”

Azure went over everything they'd already been through in his head. “Perhaps the cook ran into another goblin and told it what had happened before you were able to catch up with him, and that goblin tipped The Dark One off.”

Uden considered it. “It's a small possibility, but still doubtful.”

“Well, nothing else makes sense,” Lonnell said, winding the rope up before sticking it in his Bag of Holding.

“So what do we do now?” Azure looked at the two brothers.

Bronna stepped up between Uden and Lonnell, putting a hand on both of their shoulders. Uden visibly cringed from her touch. “Ye put in a good effert, boys. Ey say we head back ta Crags.”

Lonnell sighed. “We've already come so far. I hate to return to Cragbell without resolving this.”

Bronna turned to him, standing on tiptoe to whisper into his ear, though they could all hear her. “Ey can't stay out here much longer, Lonni.”

“Important business to get back to?” Uden said dryly. “Like flipping up your skirt at men at the tavern and telling other people's secrets.”

“Enough!” Lonnell barked at him.

“She's right.” Uden took on a serious demeanor. “There's nothing else for us to do out here. We have no leads to follow. Whatever this Dark One is, it was cautious enough not to leave any distinguishable footprints behind. If it's demanding sacrifices out in the open like this, then I doubt the goblins even know where it dwells. We've done what we can, brother. Let's go home.”

“It took us four days to get here,” Lonnell reminded him. “It will take us four days to get back. A lot of bad can happen in that time. If one of the goblins did find out about what happened at that camp, then who knows what they're planning. They could already be on their way back to Cragbell to acquire another sacrifice.”

“Even more of a reason for us to return as quickly as possible.”

“But it won't stop there. Until we deal with the source, the goblins will just keep raiding the village. We have to end this. Now!” It was clear that Lonnell saw no other option.

Uden turned to Azure suddenly. “You've been awfully quiet. What do you think we should do?”

The answer seemed simple yet complex at the same time. “I think Lonnell should take Bronna back to Cragbell, and we should keep looking for this Dark One.” That way, neither he nor Uden would have to suffer the girl. On the downside, they probably wouldn't be able to fight The Dark One on their own, but that didn't mean they couldn't take the time to form a plan while they waited for Lonnell to return. It would be a lot of traveling on Lonnell's part, but less wasted time.

Lonnell sighed. “I don't like the idea of separating.”

“We cannot take her where we need to go,” Uden pointed out. “If this is any kind of intelligent foe, he'll immediately know that Bronna is one of our weaknesses. If he's able to sense her presence, he'll attack her to fluster you and destroy whatever plan we come up with. Taking her back is the best decision. And yes, splitting up will be dangerous, but if you're worried about wasting time, then it would be better for us to stay behind and continue our search. We don't have to engage in battle unless it's absolutely necessary. We will simply observe and plan for your return.”

“I still don't like this.” Lonnell shook his head.

“Then what do you want to do, brother?” It was evident that Uden was beginning to get annoyed.

Azure understood the danger of the situation. Maybe they should return to Cragbell together. It was their best chance of safety if they ran into another large group of goblins. And that was a pretty real possibility considering what they'd already experienced.

“I don't want to think about it anymore,” Lonnell said finally. “You decide.” He cast his gaze to Azure.

It could mean their deaths, but he was willing to take the chance if it meant making progress instead of wasting days in the forest having to listen to Bronna whine. He was pretty sure that Uden would agree with him on this. “I say we split up.”

“Then we split up.” Uncertainty was etched all over Lonnell's face, but the decision had been made.

“I think we will accomplish more this way,” Uden said.

“We can meet back up at the altar in eight days,” Azure suggested. “Hopefully, we'll have something to report by then.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Lonnell nodded in acknowledgment, holding an expression of doubt the entire time. “I suppose we will be off then. Best of luck to both of you.” He reached out to clasp wrists with Uden and then Azure before he and Bronna took their leave. She offered both men a polite nod but said no words to them as they parted.

Congratulations! Quest: Rescue Bronna has been completed.

Thanks to Uden's mischievous nature, you almost bit off more than you could chew when you came upon the goblins holding Bronna captive. Fortunately, no one died, and you were able to complete your task. You have earned Bronna's gratitude and 90XP.

“Good call,” Uden told Azure as soon as Bronna and Lonnell were out of earshot.

“You think so?”

“Why so uncertain?” The half-imp smiled at him. “Scared to be alone with me?”

“More scared to be stuck with her.” Azure glanced in the direction that Lonnell and Bronna had left.

Laughter echoed through the woods, and Uden patted him on the shoulder. “Of that, we can both agree.”

After they had recovered from the joke, Azure looked at the ground and the lack of clear footprints.“I don't even know where to start.”

Uden let out a short sigh. “If we can find a body of water, that would probably be the best place. No creature can go without hydration. Wherever this Dark One is camped, I would bet it's next to a water source.”

“Do you know of any nearby?”

“I've never traveled this far away from the village, and we don't have a map. I'm afraid we're going to have to wing this,” Uden confessed.

“Did Lonnell have a map on him?” Azure thought aloud.

A mischievous smirk took over the half-imp's face. “Probably. But it's more fun this way.”

All Azure could do was snort and shake his head. “I don't know about you. Honestly, fun should be the last thing you're thinking of, especially when it relates to the safety of Cragbell.”

“If not fun, then how about rest? We've had a long journey. I think we should spend the day resting up for what's ahead.”

Azure quirked his head back, furrowing his brow. “That seems like a bit of a cop-out.”

“Is time spent regaining our strength really time wasted?” Uden's expression was sincere. “It's going to take Lonnell a while to return. I highly doubt it will take us a full eight days to locate wherever this Dark One is hiding, if we're even able to find him at all.”

“Better to rest after. Rest is a reward.”

Uden rolled his eyes. “I fear my brother is rubbing off on you. Whatever the case, you do what you want. I am going to rest.”

Azure scowled. Was Uden really that lazy, or did he just not care? What had been the point of them staying behind if they weren't actually going to do anything useful? He didn't understand the half-imp's lack of motivation. If the goblins found out what they had done, Cragbell would undoubtedly suffer for it. Even if they weren't planning to take another hostage to sacrifice, they would most definitely mount some type of raid in retaliation for the loss of life to their people. At least, Azure assumed that they would. For all he knew, goblins could be as soulless as Uden.

His irritation mounted as he watched the half-imp plant himself on the grass, lounging back as if they were on a vacation. Not wanting to waste any time, Azure decided to scout the area again, searching for clues. Looking at the altar and the markings in the dirt around it that Uden had made, Azure realized that he probably wouldn't know a clue about the ritual if it hit him in the face, so he decided to go in search of footprints instead.

For as much time as he'd spent in the forest, it was still hard for him to distinguish the different types of tracks. He'd never had to do it on his own before. Either Lonnell or Uden had been around to point him in the right direction. That's why he was so surprised to see a notification come up when he stopped at a set of small animal prints.

Congratulations! New skill learned: Tracking Level 1. You can now easily find footprints in favorable weather. This will be helpful in following prey and enemies. But remember to be mindful of the tracks you leave behind, for they can be followed as well.

Despite his new skill, the only seemingly fresh footprints that he could find belonged to them. From what Azure could tell, no one had been here in a long time. Was this really even where the sacrifice was supposed to have taken place? Had Uden gotten it wrong? Maybe there was another sacrificial altar in the area. That would be strange, but not impossible. They'd never know, though, if Uden wouldn't get off his ass and help Azure track.

Surrendering to the realization that he likely wouldn't accomplish much without Uden's help, Azure returned to him. The urge to kick the half-imp out of frustration was strong. Seriously, what in the hell was wrong with this guy?

“So are you really just going to lie here all day?” He scowled down at Uden.

“You're the one who needs to level up. Go hunting or something.” The half-imp waved him away absentmindedly.

It wasn't the worst idea. Now that Lonnell was gone, Azure could hunt freely without worrying about being chastised for it. That was definitely one advantage to being left alone with Uden.

“All right,” he acquiesced, but whenever I get back, I want you to teach me how to be a better fighter. I feel like I made a lot of mistakes when we were facing the goblins.”

Uden lazily opened one eye. “I'll only agree if you don't mind if I don't go easy on you.”

Azure smirked. “I would expect nothing less from you.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE REALM – Day 14

“My fighting style is roguish,” Uden began, standing in front of Azure with two daggers drawn. He stared down at them with a thoughtful expression. “I have always been a big fan of the sneak attack. Some people look at it unfavorably, especially around here. But as you've seen, it can be rather useful.

“Since I've dedicated so much of my time to trying to perfect the wielding of small blades, my skills at two-handed weapons are nonexistent, not that you have one on you right now.”

Azure was admittedly surprised that the half-imp's skill set was so specialized, but he supposed it made more sense to pick one weapon of choice and level that up. While he typically liked to be balanced in games, this wasn't like anything he had ever played before. With the quick progression of things putting him on a river of non-stop danger and increasing perils, spreading his skills over a range of weapons might put him at a disadvantage when tougher foes came along. It wouldn't be so bad if he were always in a party, but there was no guarantee that would always be the case.

“If you've noticed, I also tend to prefer close quarters combat. When using small blades, that puts me at a greater risk of injury. I've made up for it by greatly increasing my agility. My speed and stealth have saved my ass more than a handful of times.”

Azure nodded, taking mental notes. While he listened to Uden's brief lecture, he wondered which weapon would eventually end up being his main. Archery would always be important to him. Shooting foes and game from a distance was definitely necessary for survival. But as far as blades go, he honestly couldn't see himself adopting the same fighting style as Uden. While incredibly effective, he had always found the sneak attack a bit cowardly. The speed and stealth of rogue types were undoubtedly impressive, and there were definitely huge advantages to it, but the fighting style just wasn't for him. He had always been a more traditional one-handed weapon, sword and shield type of guy. More than likely, that's what he'd end up sticking with. Regardless, there were definitely things to take from Uden teaching him how to effectively wield small blades that he could apply to other fighting styles. The lessons would not go to waste.

Once Uden was done speaking, they put what he had verbalized into practice. He taught Azure how to effectively attack at close range, how to parry and dodge. Each mistake earned him a superficial cut. Despite what Uden had said, he was definitely taking it easy on Azure. There was no doubt in Azure's mind that the half-imp could finish him quickly if he wanted to. The speed at which Uden moved around him was like a flash. It made Azure wonder exactly how much he had leveled up his Agility.

They trained for an hour before taking a short break. Azure checked to see if his One-Handed Weapons skill was gaining experience while they practiced, but the percentage indicator hadn't budged. Apparently, it only went up when he was engaged in real battle. The thought occurred to him to have Uden actually try to attack him, but it wasn't worth the risk of injury. If the skill wasn't leveling while he was training, then it most likely wouldn't increase from a friendly attack either. Oh well.

“You mentioned that people around here aren't fond of rogue types,” Azure said as they sat in the grass for him to catch his breath. It was also obvious by their melee that Uden had better endurance. While Azure was panting away, the half-imp breathed normally, as if he didn't feel the exertion at all. “Is there a reason for that?”

“Is that really a question?” Uden side-eyed him.

Azure nodded, feeling a bit stupid.

“Most people who spend their time learning small blade skills are thieves or deviants. Sadly, I have stereotyped myself.” He sighed.

“What do you mean?” Azure looked at him curiously.

“I am a half-imp. Imps are known for devious behavior. To be honest, it's not surprising that I gravitated towards this fighting style. Just like it's not surprising that I put so much of my characteristic points into Agility and have focused greatly on leveling my Stealth skill.

“Though, to be fair, I suppose my high skill level has a lot to do with the fact that there is no magic school around here. If we lived on the mainland, I imagine that my fighting skills would be less because I'd have a larger focus on magic-casting, which is also something inherently in my nature.”

“Do different races have affinities for different things?”

“Most certainly.” Uden nodded. “I think it's why we're all so easily stereotyped. Humans are unique in the fact that they can be anything. Most other races tend to be predisposed to gravitate towards a certain skill set. Of course, there are always outliers, but they are few and far between.” The half-imp stood, dusting off the back of his tunic. “Well, that's enough of a break for now. Let's get back to it.”

They trained for another hour. Azure could see his skills improving, though he was still no match for the half-imp, earning another fair share of cuts whenever he was careless or didn't dodge quickly enough. Before they finished up, Uden left him with a word of advice to always carry a dagger in his boot.

“If you are ever taken unaware, depending on the species and their intelligence level, sometimes your captors will forget to check your boots for weapons. Stowing away a dagger in a place that's not often patted down can be the difference between life and death.”

The next few minutes were spent on Uden helping him make a crude sheath for his dagger to affix it to his boot. Afterward, Azure succumbed to the exhaustion that had been plaguing him from staying up all night. With Uden well-rested from sleeping while Azure had been hunting, he felt secure taking a nap while the half-imp kept watch.

Surprisingly, Uden allowed him a full sleep. He blinked awake to the sound of a crackling fire and the smell of meat roasting on a spit. The sun was sinking over the horizon, painting the sky a smokey shade of blue. Nighttime insects chirped softly, ushering in a peaceful afternoon.

“Was it not nice to sleep without being disturbed?” Uden asked with a soft smile.

Azure stretched and yawned. “I feel like I haven't slept like that in forever.”

“I am not a slave driver like my brother.”

Sitting up, Azure said, “Lonnell had a good reason for his urgency.”

Uden sighed. “I suppose. But that reason is now over. We shouldn't push ourselves so hard.”

“Are you not worried that the smoke from the fire will attract unwanted visitors.” Azure glanced back toward the altar. They had relocated a good several hundred yards away, but they still felt too close for comfort.

“If I were worried, would I have started a fire?” Uden gave him a sarcastic look, making Azure instantly feel that his fretting was unmerited. The half-imp wasn't stupid. He would not risk their safety, especially when it was just the two of them.

Deciding to surrender to the urge to relax, they supped on the two rabbits that Azure had shot earlier and then spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about.

Congratulations! The skill: Cooking has reached Level 5. You have to eat to survive. You now have a 40% chance of not burning your food when only cooking one item. Your mother would be so proud.

Azure briefly worked on leveling his Alchemy skill, but for the most part, they just sat around the fire telling stories to one another. Oddly, for as much as he and Lonnell had been through together, and the fact that their relationship level was higher, Azure felt much closer to Uden. Even though he was half-imp, there was something more human about him—more relatable and natural.

Congratulations! The skill: Alchemy has reached Level 3. There are many uses for potions. Hone this skill to heal yourself in battle and thwart your enemies!

“What are your goals in this life?” Uden asked him as he was lounging back getting ready to take his turn to sleep while Azure kept watch.

“My goals?” He hadn't really thought about it before. “I'm not sure.”

“You should be. What's a man's purpose if he has no sense of direction?”

“I suppose I've just been following along up to this point. To be honest, I'm still a bit confused as to how I came to be here. I just...woke up in this world. It's not mine, if that makes any sense.” Azure thought about his life before he had awoken in The Realm. Perhaps what he had thought was his reality had all just been a dream.

“Every world is what you make of it,” Uden gave his sage obscure advice.

Azure could only surmise that the half-imp didn't really understand his situation. “I suppose.”

“So make it something great. Find a goal. A purpose.”

“And what's yours?” He gazed down at his friend.

Uden was staring up at the stars, seemingly lost in thought. “To get off of this island. Whatever it takes. Once this is all over, I am leaving here. I don't care what Lonnell or our father or anyone else says. This is not the place for me. Crescent Island is too small for someone of mixed blood.

“My father feels that it's a shield to protect me. I feel that it's a cage. All I want is to go learn magic. To devote myself to studying the intricacies of it.”

“And what would you want to use this knowledge for?” Azure asked.

“That is a secret.” Uden grinned wolfishly.

“You would use it for evil, I bet.” He smirked, only half-joking.

“That is yet to be seen. I am curious as to what the future holds, though.”

“I would like to go with you to the mainland once this is all over,” Azure decided. Accompanying Uden to one of these magic schools he spoke about would definitely be beneficial to them both.

“Would you now?” The half-imp glanced over at him. “I think I might like that,” he said. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep, leaving Azure to weather the night alone.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE REALM – Day 15

Uden awoke in the middle of the night, affording Azure a few extra hours of sleep before the sun began to rise and they finally decided to head off on their quest to find The Dark One. As if summoned by their determination, a notification popped up.

Quest: Discover the Identity of The Dark One

Something troubling lurks in the forest. There are no clues as to where The Dark One may be, but it's your job to track him down. Unravel the mystery behind the source of Crescent Island's curse.

Difficulty: Hard

Success: Find The Dark One

Failure: Die

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

Hmm. Well, that was a bit of a spoiler. Just from that notification, a few things were made clear to Azure. The Dark One was male. The fact that the quest was titled Discover the Identity meant that it was possibly someone they knew. And this person was undoubtedly the cause of the curse on Crescent Island.

Azure thought to accept the quest, and the notification went away. Then he trailed behind Uden as he led them into the forest.

The day was long and fruitless, spent walking seemingly endlessly. They must have covered close to thirty miles before they stopped to make camp for the night. It didn't seem realistic for them to travel so far and not come across a single clue, nor a river.

By their second day of searching, Azure began to notice some things that were off. The hills in the backdrop seemed to not be getting any closer. In fact, at some points, they looked to be getting further away.

“I feel like we're walking in circles,” he mentioned to Uden.

“We're not,” Uden assured him.

“Then why haven't we made any progress towards those hills.” He pointed to the horizon.

“Because we've been weaving,” the half-imp told him absentmindedly.

“Weaving?” Azure quirked his head back. “Why?”

“It's safer.”

That wasn't much of an explanation. Not enough for Azure to rationalize it, at least. Whatever the case, Uden seemed to be getting annoyed with his questions, so Azure chose to trust his friend and follow along, though he decided to remain more alert from here on out.

On day three, they came upon a doe feeding in a clearing. Taking the opportunity, Azure nocked an arrow, but something spooked the animal, and it ended up darting a second before he let his arrow sail. Still, he managed to hit it in its right hind leg.

“I'll wait here while you track it,” Uden told him, ever lazy.

With a nod, Azure followed the deer into the forest. While the blood trail eventually disappeared, he did stumble upon a set of footprints. Kneeling to get a better look at them, he quickly realized that they did not belong to goblins. That was a relief. What wasn't a relief was that when he stood up, he began to notice something more alarming. The scenery around him was way too familiar.

Abandoning his search for the wounded animal, Azure decided to follow the tracks for a while. There weren't many distinct things about this forest, but he was almost certain that he'd been here before...that the two sets of footprints he was now following belonged to him and Uden.

Shit. Who else would be out here?

For good measure, and because he wasn't sure how else to tell, he placed his foot in the larger of the tracks. It was a match. That didn't mean anything, though. It wasn't like he didn't share a shoe size with probably hundreds or thousands of other men in The Realm.

He decided to go retrieve Uden to confirm his theory. If anyone would know if the tracks were theirs, it would be him.

“Tell me those aren't our tracks.” Azure pointed to them once he had brought Uden over.

“Those aren't our tracks,” the half-imp responded without even kneeling to give them a good look.

“Dude, the shoe fucking fits.” He placed his foot on top of one of the prints again. “Try the other one.”

Stubbornly, Uden shuffled forward and placed his foot in the other print. It was a perfect match. For a moment, he looked surprised. “You may be right,” he said, rubbing his chin in thought.

“I am right” Azure insisted. “Doesn't this all seem really familiar to you?” He gestured to the forest around them.

“To be honest, we've been walking for so long that all of the trees look the same to me.”

It was a strange response from someone who was typically very aware of his surroundings, but Azure couldn't really argue. The scenery had been the same for much of their journey.

“Is there some kind of enchantment that could have been cast to disorient us?” he asked.

“Possibly. It's hard for me to believe that we would not have noticed, though.” Uden's eyes scanned the forest as if looking for someone.

“The sprites had the protection of the trees,” Azure reminded him.

“Sprites are practically made of Land and Life magic. They have control over the forest in ways that no other species does. It's an innate ability for them to collectively be able to erect walls of shrubbery from the forest around their settlements. A mage would not have the same ability without laying down runes, and we haven't come across any so far.”

“Would we even notice them if we came across them?” Azure figured that a trap wasn't very good if you could detect it. Kind of like leaving landmines out in the open. Who would be dumb enough to knowingly step on one?

“I'm pretty sure I would have.”

“Well, not to be a dick, but you didn't notice us walking around in circles. I suspected it yesterday.”

The half-imp blew out an annoyed breath. “To be fair, we're still not even sure these are our footprints.”

“How are we not sure?!” Azure gawked at him incredulously. “They fit our fucking feet.”

Uden ignored Azure's frustration, turning his attention toward the direction that the tracks were headed in. “We should follow them for a while and see if we continue to recognize the scenery around us. We should also start looking for runes.”

Why was it so hard for Uden to believe him? Wasn't there even that much level of trust, or did the half-imp just think him an idiot? It certainly seemed that way. Whatever the case, there was no point in arguing further. Just as Uden had been insisting that they wasted the day after Lonnell and Bronna had left, there was no making him budge now. They would follow his plan and likely squander even more time as a result.

“Fine,” Azure acquiesced with a sigh. “What does a rune look like anyway?”

“You'll know one if you see one,” Uden said before taking off in the direction of the footprints.

Azure could feel his blood pressure rising. In his mind, he was reaching out and strangling Uden. The guy could be insufferable sometimes.

Not knowing what to look for, Azure trailed behind the half-imp blindly. He kept his eyes peeled for anything unusual, but as Uden had said earlier, the forest seemed much the same to him. They must have walked a good mile before they came upon anything distinguishable—two rocks that curved oddly towards each other in the shape of a heart.

“There!” Azure pointed. “See! I knew we had been here before.”

Uden paused, gazing at the natural wonder. He didn't even show an ounce of enthusiasm at the find as he said, “I suppose you're right.”

“I don't understand why you wouldn't believe me.” Azure glanced over at his comrade, his displeasure shining through.

“Apologies.” The half-imp placed a hand on his shoulder. “It is incredibly rare that I'm duped. I admittedly didn't expect you to be more perceptive than me. It's a bit embarrassing, if I'm being honest.” He chuckled, lightening the mood a bit.

Azure brushed the offense he had been feeling away. “Everyone makes mistakes, friend. Don't worry about it. Now we just need to figure out how to get past this enchantment. On the plus side, I imagine this means that we must be close.”

“We must be,” Uden agreed. “He is somewhere nearby. But it is getting late. We should make camp for the night.”

“Is it safe to make camp here after we discovered the enchantment? Won't he know?” Azure raised an eyebrow.

“If he were going to attack us, he would have. The fact that he took the time to cast this enchantment means that he's afraid of us. In any case, we won't be able to break free from it until we find and dispel the runes.”

“Isn't that even more of a reason for us to keep searching?”

“I think we've already proven that to be a challenging task in the light of day. If we're lucky, the runes will glow at night.”

“Then we should search through the night until we find them,” Azure insisted.

“Fine,” Uden surrendered with a sigh.

They scoured the surrounding forest to no avail. Uden said that the runes would be on the ground and roughly 1 x 1 foot. Nothing glowed in the night besides the occasional flash of a firefly. The paranoid part of Azure wondered if they were part of the enchantment, but when he asked Uden about it, the half-imp simply laughed at him.

After hours of searching, they finally gave up and decided to bed down for the night. Once more, Uden allowed Azure to slumber until he was fully rested. Traveling alone with the half-imp seemed so different from journeying with Lonnell. There was no urgency in much of what he did. It was as if this quest wasn't very important to him. Or perhaps he wanted to wait for his brother to return for the sake of safety. From the show of magic he'd seen so far, there was no doubt that if The Dark One did try to attack them, they'd be outmatched.

That begged the question, though... If this person was aware of them, why hadn't he attacked yet? Uden had said he was afraid. If that were the case, then he was likely a weak foe. However, the half-imp had also warned that he would be strong. So which one was it? If he was strong, then why not eliminate them right away? Surely, The Dark One must see them as pests.

“We will be free to travel now,” Uden told Azure as soon as he had rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “While you were sleeping, I found the runes and dispelled their magic.”

“You what?” Azure blinked awake. What he really wanted to ask was...you just left me here asleep and vulnerable and went off exploring on your own?!

“I dispelled them,” he responded absentmindedly.

Azure sat up, still trying to get his head around what Uden was saying. “What do you mean you found them? We looked everywhere last night. For hours. Scoured every bit of dirt within a ten-mile radius.” That was probably an exaggeration, but it sure had felt like it.

Uden grinned. “I actually found one when I was taking a piss. Would you like to hear the story?” His eyes flashed with humor.

“Please.” Azure gestured for him to continue.

“Well, I was peeing close to a large rock, and I noticed that some of the splash was glowing an iridescent yellow. At first, I thought it might have been something I ate, but when I lifted the rock...sure enough, there was a rune. The Dark One must have hidden them in case we discovered his enchantment. Clever,” he mused.

“Clever indeed,” Azure agreed with a smile. “But no match for your uncoordinated pissing.”

Uden chuckled. “My pissing is quite coordinated, I assure you. It was just a spell of dumb luck. Needless to say, I went about turning over rocks until I found the other three. We should be good to go now.”

“Well, it's nice to know you were productive.” Perhaps the half-imp wasn't as lazy as Azure had thought.

“But now it's my turn to sleep.” He sat down, stretching out in the grass.

Azure's expression drooped. “Really, man? You shouldn't have let me sleep all night. What if The Dark One discovers that you dispelled his runes and comes back to place new ones.”

“There's no chance of that happening,” Uden assured him.

“How do you know?”

The half-imp eyed him. “Do you really think he'd think that we'd fall for the same trick twice?”

“Probably not. He's more likely to attack.”

“I promise you that if he spent all of that time to throw us off of his trail, he's not looking for a fight unless it's absolutely unavoidable.”

“Then maybe he shouldn't be sacrificing virgins.” Azure rolled his eyes.

“More than likely, this Dark One is probably just some mage dabbling in blood magic. He'll be powerful, don't get me wrong, but one man alone is always at a disadvantage.”

But The Dark One wasn't alone. He had the goblins behind him, or so it seemed. At the very least, they were catering to him to avoid his wrath. Azure couldn't help but think that Uden should be showing a bit more concern and caution.

“You get a few hours,” he agreed finally, sitting down to watch over Uden as he slept.

“Oh, don't be a Lonnell,” the half-imp teased him.

“I wouldn't be if you weren't such a time-waster.” Azure glowered at him.

“I'm not wasting time. I'm simply waiting for my brother to return so that we'll have a better chance of success. Our goal was only to find The Dark One. We're very close to doing that. There's no reason to rush it.”

“What if he tries to leave the area?”

Uden crossed his arms behind his head to use them as a makeshift pillow. “If we're lucky, he'll leave the island. Then we won't have to deal with this bullshit anymore.”

Despite him saying it, they both knew that wasn't what was going to happen. They would have to face The Dark One eventually.

Time wasted away as Uden slept. Even though the half-imp had assured him that The Dark One wouldn't randomly strike out at them, Azure remained ever vigilant. Knowing that The Dark One was close gave him an uneasy feeling. Would he even have time to wake Uden if the mage attacked? If this Dark One was as intelligent as he seemed to be, he would undoubtedly go for Uden first. It would be much smarter to kill the stronger foe while he was asleep than chance him waking and joining the fray. That thought caused Azure to stay close to Uden. It also made him stick to his word of only allowing him a few hours of sleep.

When Uden awoke again, he took his time getting up and moving about, which only served to annoy Azure further. Perhaps he was needlessly impatient. To some degree, Uden was right. What else would they have to do after they found The Dark One besides relocating somewhere that they wouldn't be detected and come up with a plan? Still, even if The Dark One was close, there was no guarantee they'd find him.

Azure tried to be forbearing as he waited for Uden to ready himself to head out again. At least, with the runes dispelled, they should be able to make some actual progress. That was something to look forward to.

“Since you're so fond of those hills, let's head that way.” Uden pointed toward the hills. “That way you can let me know if they're not getting any closer.” He winked at Azure before stepping past him.

They had only traveled for about an hour before Uden came to a dead stop, throwing his arm out to the side to make Azure give pause as well. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.

“What?” Azure listened. Birds chirping in the trees was the only distinguishable sound to him.

“Goblins,” Uden said in a low voice.

“I don't hear anything.” Azure gave him a confused look.

“To be fair, my hearing is innately superior to yours. Stay near me.” He proceeded again more slowly this time, activating his Stealth skill so as to not be detected.

Sure enough, they came upon three goblins camped about a hundred yards away. It bothered Azure that he couldn't hear them at all until they had gotten much closer. Was the half-imp's hearing really that much better than his?

The goblins seemed to be lazing about. One was resting on its side staring at the small fire they'd built. The other two were sitting cross-legged on the ground. Azure used Analyze on them. One was green, one was yellow, and the largest of the three was orange. They didn't appear to have any objective, merely sitting around gossiping about other goblins...which meant that there were definitely other goblins somewhere nearby.

After observing them for a few moments, Uden gestured to retreat back into the forest. Azure cautiously followed him until they were a safe enough distance away to speak.

“Here's the plan,” Uden began. “We split up. I'll come in from behind and make some noise to cause them to come investigate. You attack the smaller one while their backs are turned. I'll take the stronger two.”

“Wouldn't it be better if we did things the other way around? If they aren't expecting you to attack from behind, you can quickly kill at least one of the bigger ones,” Azure argued.

“I'm more likely to be able to handle a frontal assault than you are. I know we spent time training, but trust me when I say that it's not enough,” the half-imp warned him.

Azure sucked in a breath between clenched teeth, not feeling the plan. “We both have ranged weapons. They do not. Would it not be smarter to attack from a distance? I can probably take the weaker one out with my bow.”

“My plan is better,” Uden insisted.

“Your plan is risky.” Azure couldn't help but wonder if the half-imp had a death wish or if he was just that much of a thrill seeker. Whatever the case, it wasn't worth it. “Shall we flip a coin on it?”

“No,” Uden replied stubbornly. “I will be off now.”

Before Azure could open his mouth to object, the half-imp walked away, activating his stealth skill and disappearing into the forest like Predator.

Azure let out a long sigh, feeling tension building in his shoulders with his frustration. This was very reminiscent of the time they had come upon the goblins who held Bronna captive. “I guess we're doing this the hard way, then,” he mumbled, knowing that he now had no other choice than to go along with Uden's plan.

Moving with caution, Azure proceeded back towards where the goblins were camped. He could only assume that he was supposed to attack whenever the goblins started receding into the trees to investigate whatever noise Uden was going to make to distract them. It bothered him that they hadn't fully ironed out the plan, but the half-imp was nothing if not impulsive. Oh well. They'd make this work somehow. Everything else had worked out thus far, even when things were half-assed.

Almost as soon as that thought crossed Azure's mind, a wall of green muscle pushed through the foliage in front of him. His heart jumped from his chest into his throat, and he nearly stumbled back. Flanking his sides were the two other goblins, reminding him of the velociraptor attack from Jurassic Park. Their weapons were already brandished.

“You move, you die,” the goblin in front said in a gruff voice.

With blades pointing at Azure from all sides, there was no time to draw his own weapon. All he could do was raise his hands in surrender and hope that Uden would come to his rescue.

The goblins worked silently to bind Azure's wrists behind his back. Had he and Uden really made that much noise during their retreat? They had both been Stealthed, so it didn't make any sense. What had tipped the goblins off to their whereabouts?

Soon, there was a spear poking into Azure's back as he was being directed through the forest. His eyes raked the trees around him, looking for signs of his friend. Surely, Uden would come to his rescue at any moment. The longer they traveled, the more Azure began to lose hope. And when Uden's stats disappeared from the corner of his vision, he realized with great despair that he was now entirely on his own.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE REALM – Day 18

Things not on Azure's list of things to do:

- Get captured by goblins

- End up in the middle of a large goblin settlement

This is a lot of goblins. A lot of fucking goblins.

Those were Azure's first thoughts when the forest gave way to the goblin settlement perched on the side of a cliff. There were crude huts erected everywhere, the structures entirely primitive. The settlement must have encompassed a good quarter mile radius. It was bigger than Cragbell and had more goblins than the village had humans. They were everywhere, most of them clad in nothing but loin cloths. Azure lost count once he reached twenty-five, all of various levels, though close to half of them Analyzed as blue.

Congratulations! The skill: Analyze has reached Level 4. This skill allows you to see how dangerous a foe is in relation to your own level. Use this skill frequently to avoid getting yourself killed.

As they passed by one of the smaller huts, Azure thought he recognized one of the goblins. It had a ring of bite marks on its collarbone. He was almost certain it was the cook that Uden had sworn he'd killed. That scar was way too distinct, and Azure didn't see any other goblins with similar markings. An uneasy feeling formed in the pit of his stomach as he began to sense that something wasn't right.

As if recognizing him as well, the goblin flattened its ears against its head and avoided his gaze, turning its attention to the pot of slop it was tending. A smaller goblin—what Azure could only assume was a child—came running from the hut behind the cook. He turned and snarled at it, quickly sending it back inside.

Oddly, Azure didn't see any female goblins. What he did see, however, which was even more disturbing, was a large cage with three naked women inside. Their hair was matted, and their bodies were emaciated and covered in dirt and grime. All of them appeared to be pregnant.

Azure did his best to keep his gaze to the floor as he passed by them, but they threw themselves at the bars of the cage, their eyes wide and wild, reaching out to him as they beckoned to be saved. Apparently, they didn't realize that he was in much the same boat—now a captive. It broke his heart to ignore them, and he silently vowed that if he were able to escape, he would rescue them as well.

He was led into an empty hut and made to sit on the floor. The goblins had stripped him of his weapons in the forest. Now helpless, all Azure could do was wait and see what they planned to do with him.

His escorts exited the hut, leaving him to be guarded by two sentries armed with spears standing outside. The inside of the hut was illuminated by two small tallow candles, one near the entrance and another near the back. Animal hides covered the bowed wood that made up the structure.

Since his captors wouldn't speak to him at all, Azure could only assume that they hadn't killed him on sight because they either planned to torture him for what he and his companions had done to their comrades or use him as a human sacrifice. Neither option seemed appealing. With a minuscule probability of being rescued, it was finally time for Azure to think on his own and figure out how to escape.

While time was probably of the essence, surviving a daytime escape didn't seem very likely. There were far too many goblins around, not just the weak ones residing in the village but also scouts on the outskirts. Azure had seen them walking around guarding the settlement when they had entered. All of those had understandably been higher level. You wouldn't want a bunch of weaklings guarding your village. Not even goblins were that stupid.

Intentional or not, Uden had left him with one good piece of advice. Although the goblins had patted him down for weapons and taken most of what he had, they had missed the dagger in his boot. Azure didn't feel entirely comfortable with his close-range skills with such a small blade, but it would have to do. Hopefully, he could avoid a fight entirely.

Before attempting to formulate his escape plan, Azure waited to see how often the guards came in to check on him. It was literally over an hour before one even poked his head inside to make sure that Azure was still there. Not very good guarding, he thought. Then again, with his hands bound behind his back, they probably weren't too worried about him getting free, especially since he was a lower level than both of them. If he had to face them in hand-to-hand combat, he would undoubtedly lose.

Once it was established that his guards were pretty comfortable with the idea of him not being brave enough to try to escape, Azure began working to get his dagger out of his boot. It was...comical, to say the least. Now more than ever, he wished he would have gone to a few of those stupid yoga classes that Sheila had begged him to attend with her. Would that real-life skill even roll over into the game? He wondered. He seemed to have brought most of his real-life proficiencies with him, so he didn't see why not.

Whatever the case, he had opted to huff pizza and beer with his friends instead of going the healthy route, so now he didn't have the flexibility to kick his legs all the way behind his back. Just trying gave him a horrible cramp and made him curse himself.

“Well, that's not going to work,” he mumbled before stubbornly giving it a few more tries, instantly straightening when he heard the flap at the entrance move for one of the guards to check on him.

With a long sigh, he turned his attention to the only other option, an option he had hoped he wouldn't have to resort to. The candle at the back of the room.

“Fuck my life,” he muttered, knowing that there was likely no way to accomplish burning the rope away without injuring himself. Oh well. It was this or die. The choice wasn't that difficult.

Azure had begun scooting back towards the candle when the flap to the entrance flew open. What came through the door had the blood in his veins freezing solid. Fear drowned out every other emotion in his body, for this was truly a creature from his nightmares.

Humanoid, the figure stood slightly taller than that of a man, around seven feet tall. It was covered in weathered ashen gray skin that had deep black cracks in it, more like scars than the oozing type. Its face was crisscrossed with them, looking almost more like a mask than actual skin with its deep-set eyes that were perfectly round beads of glowing red. Two horns protruded from its forehead. There was a slightly red hue to them, but Azure couldn't really tell if that was their actual color or a reflection from the creatures eyes or maybe even the candlelight around them. Atop its head seemed to be frozen brain matter...or a hard skull in the shape of a brain. Wisps of black hair dotted the sides and back of its head but didn't cover it. Its mouth had no lips, just two rows of jagged, uneven teeth, all of which were at least half an inch long. Drool hung from its chin in thick elastic droplets. Though no larger than a humans, its ears were angular and pinched. The rest of its body seemed humanoid, though a bit elongated with thin features and limbs. Its fingers were unusually protracted, each tipped with a long black nail that came to a wicked point. The only recognizably animal part of the creature was its legs, which seemed to suggest it was an unguligrade, walking on broad black cloven hooves to support its weight.

There was a low groan in its throat as it approached, and Azure instinctively crawled backward, wanting to put as much space between himself and the creature as possible. Two goblins filed in behind it, but they kept a respectable distance. Though he hadn't put any time into analyzing goblin expressions, he could tell that they were nervous. The creature radiated pure dark energy. Just seeing it set his nerves on edge—evoked an irrational sense of fear within him. He could imagine how it ate its victims with those insanely pointy teeth—pictured the slaver on its chin swirled with blood.

“What are you?” he dared to ask, trying to sound brave in the face of such overwhelming evil.

The creature didn't deign to answer him. It merely swiped its creepily long tongue across its bottom teeth, then turned to leave. Azure swore he saw one of the goblins shudder as it followed the creature out of the hut. Then like that, he was alone again.

It took several moments for Azure to process what had just happened. The fear inside of him was dissipating slowly. He wasn't even sure why it had been so intense in the first place. Maybe he had subconsciously thought that the creature was going to eat him, and he realized that he was still very much defenseless. One thing was for certain, seeing it made him a lot less afraid of being burnt by the fire. He wasn't about to let that...thing...get a hold of him.

Wasting no more time, Azure continued scooting back towards the candle. As expected from not being able to see what he was doing, the flames licked his skin a fair amount, causing him to wince and his health bar to drop, though not significantly. Even worse, as he struggled, he wasn't even sure if he was burning the rope at all. The intense acrid odor of the goblin settlement and the mustiness of the hut confused his senses. He tried to keep his pained hisses at a minimum as he fought against the rope and the flame, each injuring him in their own way.

As if anticipating that he would immediately try to escape once he saw the creature, the flap to the hut flew open again. Thankfully, only the goblins entered. Also thankfully, since he had scooted back to get away from the dark creature, it wasn't so suspicious for them to find him by the candle.

“What's going on?” he questioned as the two came and hoisted him off of the floor. This couldn't possibly be good, Azure realized. He hadn't even managed to burn through his bonds yet. More than likely, he was about to die in some horrible manner.

They pushed him outside where the terrifying creature waited. Even though there was a campfire nearby and the moon shining overhead, it was barely discernible in the night. Almost like it was Stealthed, though it definitely wasn't. Azure could picture that hideous face slowly creeping out of the darkness like something from a horror movie.

“You go,” one of the goblins grunted at him. Was that a hint of sympathy that Azure detected in its voice? He felt like fear was surrounding him, lingering in the air, hanging over the goblin settlement like a thick fog. Azure could detect that all of the goblins were inwardly cowering to the creature.

Without having to ask any more questions, Azure knew that he was meant to follow the creature. He had also guessed that this was The Dark One they had spoken about, for nothing could be darker than what this thing was. Definitely not a mage. Azure had no clue what the creature was, but using his Analyze skill on it showed it as red, so there was no way he would be beating it on his own. From what Uden had explained to him about the color system, it was very capable of killing him in one strike.

The creature waited for him, its eyes boring a hole into his soul. Reluctantly, he stepped towards it, stopping a few feet short, his gaze roving over it, scanning for weaknesses. Perhaps the cracks in its skin were good entry points for a blade, not that he should even attempt an assault. His number one priority was escaping by whatever means necessary.

The creature began walking away. Azure glanced at the goblin that had spoken to him. It nodded its head for him to follow The Dark One, and so he did.

Much like with the goblins when he was in the hut, The Dark One didn't seem to have any fear of him trying to escape. It didn't even look back to check if he was still following, which made Azure wonder if it could sense his presence there. Since it hadn't spoken and didn't seem to express any emotion, Azure couldn't gauge its intelligence. Maybe it was every bit as dense as the goblins. He hoped. It bothered him that he didn't know.

“What are you?” he asked again once they had left the goblin settlement. They were following the curve of the cliff down, but Azure couldn't make out what was below. When the goblins had taken him to their settlement, he hadn't gotten a chance to peer over the edge. In the dark of night, it was near impossible to see, though Azure was sure he heard rushing water the closer to the bottom that they got.

Clearly not one for conversation, the creature ignored him again. Azure didn't remember it speaking to the goblins either. Perhaps it couldn't talk at all. It had no lips to sound out hard consonants, after all.

They traveled quietly through the night. Azure tested The Dark One by slowing his pace several times. When he would lag too far behind, it would stop, turning to him and growling. Every time it growled, the light in its eyes would glow a bit brighter, and Azure would feel that irrational fear that he didn't quite understand. Whatever the case, it was enough to get him moving—almost as if the creature had some kind of psychological hold on him.

They reached the bottom of the ravine where Azure discovered that there was definitely running water. He used the sound to drown out his struggle with his bindings. For as much as he had burned himself, the rope didn't seem anywhere near singed enough. In fact, he must have fought against it for a good fifteen minutes before he finally felt it starting to give. By that time, his wrists were bloody from rope burn, but it was a small price to pay for his survival.

The glimmer of hope faded when they came upon a cavern entrance in the side of the cliff. Azure knew without a doubt that once he stepped inside, it would spell the end for him. As black as the demon before him, there was no light illuminating the cave. He'd be both blind and defenseless if he entered.

Azure stopped dead in his tracks. Panic was starting to overtake him. He was quickly running out of options. Even worse, there was no time to make a rational decision as to what he should do.

Giving one last fruitless tug on the rope, Azure made the only choice he thought would give him the best chance for survival. Before the creature had a chance to detect his apprehensive distance, Azure made a run for the river, knowing very well that there was a high probability that The Dark One would either catch him or smite him down before he reached it. Dying outside in the clean air next to a river sounded much better than being eaten, possibly while still alive, inside of a dank, dark cave where he couldn't see it coming.

The river was about fifty yards away. By most standards, it wasn't a long run. In this particular situation though, it seemed like miles. There was desperation in every footfall, and having his arms bound behind his back impeded his balance to some degree.

Somehow, the water kept getting closer. Azure felt hope returning. He was going to make it!

At least, that's what he had thought until—like a blur—The Dark One appeared right in front of him to block off his escape route. Remembering a lesson that Uden had taught him about dodging, Azure dove to the side and rolled towards the water. The creature swiped at him with a clawed hand, raking its nails across his shoulder, which sent a searing pain through Azure unlike anything he had felt before. For all he knew, his arm could have just come clean off, but he didn't take the time to look.

He rolled a few more times before his body fell into the river. The impact was hard, and the water was rushing so quickly that it immediately pulled him under. Without the use of his arms to help him stay afloat, both of which were luckily still attached, every glimpse of the water's surface was a blessing. He gasped for air, thankful when he saw The Dark One on the riverbank getting further and further away. It wasn't even attempting to give chase. That would have been more of a relief if Azure wasn't still in great peril.

His feet couldn't reach the bottom, and his body wouldn't stay afloat. There was no way to orient himself toward the riverbank and nothing to cling to. Trying to pose as much of a monster as The Dark One, the river dunked him beneath a blanket of violent ripples again and again. Unable to hold his breath any longer, his lungs gave way, and he began to drown. He was already so close to death that there was no room to be terrified when he caught a glimpse of the waterfall up ahead.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE REALM – Day 19

You have died.

Azure sucked in a lungful of air and immediately choked on it. Water gushed from his mouth as he puked his brains out. It felt like he was drowning all over again, except this was completely different. He was drowning on his desperation for oxygen.

He rolled over onto his back, feeling every rock that he'd hit on the way down the waterfall. Somehow, he had washed up on the riverbank, though the likelihood of that happening naturally seemed almost implausible to him. Then again, he had washed up face first, stuck in the mud. How he had even been able to breathe past it was beyond him.

What was also implausible was the fact that the rope binding him had somehow come unfastened. It still clung to him, but he was able to pull himself free of it easily enough, though his raw swollen wrists were a painful reminder of his struggles. His health bar was also dangerously low. So low that it was blinking dark red at the bottom corner of his vision—the same color as that creature's eyes, he thought briefly with a shiver.

He was too weak to stand. Too broken. Had he really just died? The prompt had come to him in a dream. Azure wasn't even sure if it had been real or not. To revive him with such low health seemed like a douchebag move on the game's part. A rabbit could probably hop on his head right now and kill him again. He was definitely a sitting duck for any predator that might wander by. Which reminded him that The Dark One could easily track him if he simply moved downstream. That thought sent panic racing through Azure. Whether he wanted to or not, he was going to have to get up. The question was, was he even capable. He had never felt weaker in his entire life.

He coughed a few more times before trying to force himself into a seated position. Every bone in his body felt brittle, like he could snap in half at any moment. Standing was a challenge. In fact, he stumbled several times before he was able to get it right, wobbling around like a toddler. His vision was fuzzy, like there was a film over his eyes. The disorientation had him leaning against a nearby tree for support.

Maybe I should just lie here and die, he thought, though he knew he didn't mean it. Existence was pain. Why did everything hurt so bad if this wasn't real? It didn't seem fair.

He might have leaned against the tree forever had he not spotted some mushrooms on the ground to the right of another tree up ahead. It took everything in Azure to will himself towards them, knowing that eating them would make him feel better, if only a little. The effort was almost pathetic with him shambling unsteadily like a zombie. As soon as he was a few feet away from the mushrooms, he collapsed to his knees, ripping all three of them from the ground and shoving them in his maw without even bothering to dust the dirt from their stems. They tasted like dirt, but they healed him for thirty points. The only effect he received was a slight increase in energy. Everything still hurt.

I don't even know where I am, he realized. With no map to guide him, he felt lost. Before heading into the forest, Azure took a few minutes to orient himself.

There were a few things that he knew. If he followed the river upstream, he would find The Dark One's cave again. He would also probably run into The Dark One, which was the complete opposite of what he was trying to achieve. Also in that direction was the ravine, and somewhere above that was the goblin settlement. That still told him nothing about where he was now, but he figured that if he moved away from the river, he would be headed somewhat in Cragbell's direction.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been passed out, but it was now daytime. Depending on how far the river had carried him, The Dark One could arrive at any moment. It was a disconcerting thought, especially in his severely weakened state.

Knowing that he could never be too cautious, Azure activated his stealth skill as he stumbled through the forest, stopping anytime he recognized a healing herb. Being injured, traveling was slow, especially since he was doing his best to cover up his tracks as he went.

It took the entire day for Azure to fully recover his health. Each healing herb he ate seemed to ease his pain and give him a bit more energy. He also managed to level his Foraging skill again.

Congratulations! The skill: Foraging has reached Level 5. Plants collected through foraging have a variety of uses. You can sell them, consume them, or use them to create potions through alchemy.

Though he only walked about ten miles, he felt pretty accomplished by the time he bedded down for the night, the sleeplessness of which only further depleted his stamina. He knew he needed to get some rest, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw The Dark One's face, and it brought him back to a state of alertness. After a while, he wondered if it was a spell that the creature had cast on him to slow him down. Hours passed before exhaustion usurped his fear of the beast, dragging him into a fitful sleep where he fantasized about fighting it and everything that could possibly go wrong. He must have seen the 'You have died' notification flash before his eyes close to half a dozen times before his body gave up on a peaceful rest and forced him awake again.

Wearily, Azure continued his travels with extreme caution. With no weapon aside from the dagger in his boot, hunting would likely be a no go. The second night he stopped to camp, he attempted to build some rabbit traps with bits of rope he had left from his bonds, but his efforts were fruitless On the third night, he tried making a bow out of juniper. All of those damn survival shows made it look so much easier than it was. Though he was able to...what he thought was successfully craft the weapon, his aim with it when he tried to actually hunt game was shit. Either his arrows wobbled when he loosed them, or they didn't go very far. On day four, he tried working on the bow a bit more, but when it still didn't perform as he had hoped, frustration got the best of him, and he ended up junking it.

There was a constant sense of unease in knowing that he only had the dagger to defend himself with. Anytime he thought he heard a sound that didn't belong to an animal, Azure quickly gave it a wide berth, spending the time to walk around it.

The longer that Azure traveled, the more lost he became. Had he wound up in another one of The Dark One's traps, he wondered, constantly moving in a circle but not getting anywhere. Azure found himself paying close attention to the scenery, checking to see if anything looked familiar. He even marked a few trees with his dagger, just to be sure. None of the foliage ever repeated itself, but if he wasn't going in circles, then why was it taking so damn long to return to Cragbell? Lonnell would have made it back by now, but he hadn't started in the same place. Azure was definitely further away, but it couldn't possibly be by that much.

Despite his frustrations, all that Azure could do was press on. Surely, he'd run into a village or town somewhere, whether it be Cragbell or someplace else. And if not, then he should reach the shore eventually. Maybe he could find people there. He was on an island, after all.

After seemingly endless travels, the forest began to grow denser. This did look familiar to Azure, though not in the sense that he was going in circles. When he was accosted by a pair of sprite guards, his suspicions were confirmed. Somehow, he had managed to wander all the way back to Baremire. Though they still brandished their weapons at him for a few moments before recognition hit them, Azure was never happier to see the small flying humanoid creatures.

At his request, they escorted him to the Tree Queen. He explained the situation to her, a bit embarrassed to admit that he had gotten lost, and told her about the horrible creature he had been forced to follow. What little pigment there was in her pale cheeks seemed to fade, and a look of extreme concern took over her delicate features.

“The creature that you have described is a demon,” she informed him. Just at the mention of the word, the fairies around her looked uncomfortable. One even asked if she was sure, to which she gave a dainty nod and said, “No other creature matches that description. And no other creature besides a God could create such widespread chaos just from its existence on the island.”

Azure's head swam with questions. There were so many that they were practically tripping over one another. The most important one, however, was, “How do I kill it?”

“The ease of killing a demon depends on the size of it. Thankfully, from what you have told me, this sounds like a lesser demon,” there was a hint of relief in her voice. “Whatever the size, there is only one way to kill a demon. You must remove its horns.”

Azure thought about the two red-tinted horns that protruded from the demon's forehead. Cutting them off would require close-range fighting. He didn't like the idea of that, but if there was no other choice...

“Is it safe to assume that demons can use strong ranged magic?” he asked, wanting to get as much information on the creature as possible.

“The demon's main defensive skill is its ability to inflict fear. Looking into its eyes will conjure unreasonable terror within an individual. Demons are made up entirely of dark energy and negative thoughts, so just being in the presence of one causes discomfort and is emotionally draining. Their greatest offensive weapon is their claws. Sharp like razors, they can easily tear flesh. What's worse is that a single scratch can also inflict terror and nightmares. That's why it's important to kill them quickly.”

Azure's hand instantly went to his shoulder. Though his wound from the demon had healed, there was a strange black scar left behind. “It did this when I was trying to escape.” He showed Karma where the demon had scratched him.

The Tree Queen's face took on a look of extreme sympathy. “Your nights since you escaped must have been dreadful.”

“They have been,” he admitted, thinking about how exhausted he was.

“It is a curse,” she told him. “But I can heal it for you. You should rest here tonight and fully recover your stamina before you go after the beast again.”

“I don't know if I can afford to rest,” he confessed. “My friends are likely on their way to face the monster without even knowing what it is...” his voice trailed off as he thought about Uden. “Or one of them is, at least. I'm not sure what happened to the other.” With as quickly as Uden's stats had disappeared from Azure's vision, he wasn't sure if the half-imp had died or disbanded from him and run away. Nothing about any of this felt right anymore, but he knew one thing for certain. He could not face the demon alone. It far overpowered him.

More than likely, Lonnell would have already dropped Bronna off and be heading back towards the altar. He wasn't even sure if he should bother returning to Cragbell. But heading back out towards the goblin settlement without suitable weapons would be suicide. Not that he had any money to purchase weapons now that the goblins had taken everything from him. No matter how he looked at it, he was fucked.

Perhaps returning to Cragbell, selling his dagger to buy a bow, and leveling himself up while he waited for Lonnell to come back would be the smartest thing to do. Or at least leveling himself up and trading in the animal pelts he was able to acquire until he had enough money to buy weapons and armor and head back out.

Shit. How had he managed to get himself into this mess?

The answer was simple. It was Uden's fault. If the half-imp would have just went with Azure's plan instead, none of this would have happened.

“Fear not,” Karma said, distracting him from his darkening thoughts. “The sprites of Baremire will lend our aid in this daunting task. I see that you have lost much of what you once had. We will craft and imbue armor that will protect you against the demon. I will put as many of my sprites to work on it as I can spare, but it will still take a few days. I can see that your head is full of worries. Rest and recuperate. A night without nightmares can do wonders for your psyche, and it may give you better mental clarity, helping to point you in the right direction.” She offered him a soft smile.

“You are right.” Azure decided. “I am practically worthless in the state I am in right now. I will graciously accept your invitation and rest here for the night. Thank you for your hospitality and all the other kindnesses you have offered to me.”

“It is the least we can do. By taking on the demon, you are doing a great service to all of Crescent Island,” she told him. “My sprites will guide you to our Pool of Cleansing to bathe. Then return here, and I will remove the curse. Your skin needs to be purified before I can begin the ritual.”

Azure nodded before following the sprite guides that the Tree Queen sent with him. Unlike before when the forest had opened up when he and his companions had left, the trees kept a tight cocoon around them of about three by three feet, only giving way in the direction that they walked but not revealing a clear path ahead. To be honest, it made Azure feel claustrophobic. Wherever they were headed, it was evident that the sprites wanted to keep the location a secret.

Thankfully, after a seemingly short walk, the forest gave way to a small glade. Azure stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw unhinging in awe. It was like nothing he had seen on Crescent Island yet—almost as if he had been magically transported to a different place entirely. The glade was protected by a wall of fir trees so thick that they were impenetrable, reaching up to the heavens like beams that all bent towards the center unnaturally. Their foliage drowned out the sky above. Small white lights floated in the air to illuminate the area. Azure couldn't tell what they were made of, as they seemed to have no palpable center. The floor was covered in a rich jade moss so plush that it was like stepping on an expensive carpet. Toward the back of the glade some ten yards away was the Pool of Cleansing, a body of water not much bigger or deeper than a hot tub. Its water was a shade of blue that reminded Azure of the Caribbean. The pool was calm, but the top of the water sparkled as if there was a faint layer of glitter on top. Just standing in the area cast a calming sensation over him.

The sprite guides led him to the water and instructed him to undress and step into the pool. Oddly, Azure felt uncomfortable disrobing in front of the small humanoids, but he did his best to ignore them. His feet tingled slightly as he dipped them into the water, followed by his body. The glitter from the surface of the pool converged in the middle to swirl around him. Giving the sprites a concerned look, they told him to fear not, that it was just a part of the process. Trying his best to relax and enjoy the sensation, Azure was mesmerized by what he saw. It was as if the small glittery particles were tearing away every bit of grime from his body. By the time they dissipated again and the sprites told him that he could come out, he never felt cleaner. It was perfectly clear to him how the pool had gotten its name. Now he was curious what enchantment had made it this way, or if it was just a naturally occurring phenomenon in The Realm.

“Do they have these all over The Realm?” he asked as the sprites led him back into the forest, which quickly cocooned them again.

“Only in sprite settlements,” one of the guides informed him.

“Do you just bathe in it, or is it used for other things?” It was hard to imagine that the magic of the pool only extended to being a luxury bath with no washcloth required.

“The water is specially formulated to not harm and to nourish our wings.”

So what he was saying was that it basically was just a luxury bath for sprites.

Not pondering it further, Azure and his guides returned to the Tree Queen. He sat in front of her sequoia where she applied a salve to his scar and mumbled a few words in a language that Azure didn't understand. Much like the glitter in the water had done with the dirt on his body, a black mist rose from where his scar had been. He felt something dark wrenched from within him. There was a discomfort that started in his core, making his gut contract, but it was soon replaced by a feeling of ease. She had taken something out of him. Something evil that never should have been there in the first place.

“The curse is now lifted,” Karma told him. “How do you feel?”

“Lighter somehow,” he replied as he stood up. It was like twenty pounds had been removed from him between the Pool of Cleansing and the Tree Queen lifting the demon's curse. Even though his stamina still hadn't recovered, Azure felt invigorated. He even felt...hopeful. Like everything would be okay somehow.

She smiled at him as if knowing his thoughts. “You may feel a bit energetic, but you should still get some rest. I apologize for not being able to provide you with suitable sleeping accommodations. All that I can offer you is the protection of Baremire. You can sleep soundly here without the worry of being attacked. No one can find this place unless my sprites lead them in.”

Azure thanked her and then set off to find a bare patch of ground a few yards away from the settlement. It felt strange trying to sleep right outside of the bustling sprite community, like he was a stray dog on their doorstep. He could hear the soft buzz of the sprites' wings as they traveled to and fro within Baremire. It honestly wasn't very relaxing, but he did the best he could to ignore it. It didn't help that his body was still zinging with energy.

Azure rolled onto his side, facing away from the sprite settlement and staring at the wall of trees that surrounded it. The forest beyond offered a calm darkness that he wouldn't find here, and he was half-tempted to leave if not for the fact that it was definitely safer here than out there. Sighing, Azure closed his eyes, trying to drown out everything around him. As if insistent on keeping him awake, a notification window popped up.

Congratulations! Quest: Discover the Identity of The Dark One has been completed.

While getting captured and losing your belongings sucked, one good thing did come of it. You have learned the true identity of The Dark One and the root cause of the Curse on Crescent Island. You have earned 90XP.

Happy that the quest was complete but annoyed that the notification decided to pop up when he was trying to sleep, Azure quickly brushed it away. He hadn't leveled up, so there was no real reason to be excited anyway. Immediately, a new quest notification followed.

Quest: Defeat The Dark One

You have discovered that the curse on Crescent Island is caused by a lesser demon. Unfortunately, the problems won't stop until the demon is dealt with. Muster up all of your strength and vanquish the fearsome foe.

Difficulty: Very Hard

Success: Kill the demon

Failure: Die

Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

“Sure, sure,” Azure muttered irritably, swatting the notification away as if it were a bug pestering him. Much like he had put off many a thing when he was a teenager, he added, “I'll deal with it tomorrow.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE REALM – Day 24

It's amazing what a good night of dreamless sleep can do for a person. Azure opened his eyes to the rays of the rising sun and stretched like a cat before sitting up. While he was now well-rested, his stomach immediately rumbled from hunger. Eating an all vegetarian diet wasn't sitting very well with him. He could almost feel his muscles beginning to atrophy from the lack of protein.

Azure decided to set out for Cragbell since he had a few days to kill before his armor would be ready. Karma was nice enough to give him a map so that he could more easily navigate around the forest. He thanked her earnestly and then headed on his way.

The journey to Cragbell was blessedly uneventful. Upon entering the village, Ruthren's eyes lit up when they landed on him. The grizzled merchant even left his cart to come greet Azure, clapping him on the shoulder a bit too hard. “Hey, you! I thought you were dead.”

“You thought I was dead, huh?” Azure couldn't help but wonder where he'd gotten that idea from.

Ruthren took a step back, looking Azure over. “You're a bit scrawnier than I remember, but you don't look worse for wear otherwise.”

“I think I did die.” Azure scratched his jaw, still wondering if he had just imagined the 'You have died' notification or if it had actually happened.

Ruthren gave a hearty laugh. “If you were dead, then you wouldn't be here.”

Azure supposed that logic made sense, but he still wasn't entirely sure how things worked inside the game. He wasn't even sure why he was still calling it a game. He'd been in for way too long for this to not be real.

Shaking away his disturbing thoughts, Azure refocused his attention. “Has Lonnell been by recently?”

The merchant hummed in thought. “I last saw him a few days ago. He brought Bronna back and then traded in some items before heading back out.”

That was right. Azure had forgotten that he had given Lonnell some items to hold for him. That meant he wasn't entirely broke. He just needed to find Lonnell and get his cut. But none of that mattered if Lonnell was nowhere near him. That still left him penniless at the moment.

Azure pulled the dagger from his boot, looking it over for a moment before offering it to Ruthren. “How much could I get for this?”

The merchant took the dagger from him, his eyes glancing down at it briefly. “I'll give you five copper for it.”

Five copper? That didn't seem like much at all. Was it really worth so little?

“And how much for your cheapest bow?” Azure asked.

A smile crossed Ruthren's lips as he smelled a sale coming on. He waved Azure over to his cart, picking up a crudely made wooden bow that wasn't even as nice as the one Azure had started with. “I've got this one for four silver and five copper. It's the best deal you'll find here in Cragbell. I guarantee it.”

His brow dipped with sarcastic disbelief. Ruthren sounded exactly like a used car salesman. Azure was pretty sure he was trying to swindle him like one, too. “Are you sure you can't do better than that? I've had a patch of rough luck. I got kidnapped by goblins, and they took all of my gear and money. This dagger is the only thing I have of value to sell right now.”

Ruthren gave him a look of false sympathy and tutted before setting the bow back down. “I'm afraid not, kiddo. A man's got to make a living. Life is all about spells of bad luck. If you don't climb back on your own, you'll never learn.”

There was too great of a divide between the price of his dagger and the price of the bow for Azure to feel that it was unreasonable for the merchant to not make the deal. They did not know each other well, and there was no reason for Ruthren to give him any special treatment. Whether he liked it or not, he had to accept the fact that he was just fucked.

Azure sighed, feeling hopelessness beginning to sink in again, wondering what to do next. He could return to Manny's farm and collect the rabbit pelts that Meva promised she'd have ready for him to sell, but he knew he wouldn't get more than a few coppers for them. Definitely not enough to purchase another bow. Maybe if he were lucky, Manny would have a spare bow lying around that he could use. Other than that, his only option was to stay in Cragbell and try to find work. He didn't feel like he had time for that, though.

“Thanks, Ruthren,” Azure said, patting the top of the cart before turning to leave.

“Better luck to you kid,” the merchant replied, his voice filled with genuine sentiment this time. “Don't die again.”

Good advice, Azure thought a bit bitterly as he walked away.

He didn't like the idea of bothering Manny for more handouts, but he imagined that the farmer would be more than willing to oblige when it came to the safety of his sons. Perhaps he'd even join the quest in taking down the demon. Azure wondered if Manny was much of a fighter. He had to be to run a farm in an area that frequently got raided by goblins. In all honesty, Azure didn't like the idea of setting back out after Lonnell alone, but he would if he had to.

He arrived at the farm in the late afternoon as the sun was setting over the horizon. There was a soft breeze, causing the wheat stalks to dance. It was a calm and welcoming sight, and it made Azure wish he had more time to rest. Ever since coming to The Realm, it seemed like his travels had been non-stop. That was all part of being an adventurer, though. It was a life he had thought he would love. He had never imagined it would come with such hardships.

Trying to be polite, Azure stood outside of the farmhouse and knocked. This was about the time that the family sat down for supper. Just the thought of meat was making his stomach rumble. No doubt, Meva would be cooking up some type of stew. He couldn't wait to eat.

The door swung open, and Azure plastered on a soft smile, hoping they'd be happy to see him. He was startled when the face he stared into wasn't Manny's.

Lonnell looked equally shocked to see him standing there. “You're alive,” he said in disbelief.

“And you're...here?” It was more of a question than anything else. What was going on?

Opening the door wider revealed the rest of the family seated at the table, Uden included. Azure's mouth dropped open in disbelief, and he pushed past Lonnell, feeling a juxtaposition of anger and relief. “You're alive!” It felt like a parroted phrase, like someone should be shouting back in disbelief, “You're all alive. Surfuckingprise!”

A flash of discomfort took over the half-imp's face before he pushed his chair away from the table and approached Azure. “Thank goodness. I thought you were done for. How did you manage to escape?”

There was something fake about Uden's enthusiasm. Maybe it was undetectable by everyone else, but Azure could definitely sense it.

“No thanks to you,” he growled. “You left me for dead.”

Tension blanketed the room. Manny stood, perhaps anticipating a brawl. And Meva kept her eyes to the table, obviously feeling uneasy.

Uden's shoulders slumped. “What was I supposed to do? I was no match for all of them. If I had attacked, they would have killed you without hesitation. Once I followed you to the goblin settlement, it felt like a lost cause. I am genuinely happy that you were able to escape, though. You will have to regale us with the tale.” He gestured to the table for Azure to sit.

Azure felt like he was about to snap. “I might be inclined to believe that had you not disbanded from me long before I reached the goblin settlement. You didn't follow. You fled like a coward!”

“Can you prove that?” there was a hint of challenge in the half-imp's voice.

There was no point in arguing it. Uden's family would more than likely take his word over Azure's. This put Azure in a precarious situation. He still needed to retrieve the coins he was owed from Lonnell, and he also required him to complete the next quest. Whether he wanted to or not, it was imperative to be as civil as possible.

Grudgingly, he walked around the table to take a seat. Meva immediately rose to bring him a bowl of stew. Azure needed to pick his battles, and this wasn't one of them. Getting proper nourishment, collecting his portion of the loot, and acquiring a new bow were his top priorities.

“I found the source of the curse,” he began, trying to ignore Uden's presence entirely. “The Dark One isn't a mage. It's a demon,” he informed them.

“A demon?” Manny furrowed his brow. “On Crescent Island?”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Uden contested him stubbornly. “The Dark one is clearly a mage.”

Azure gritted his teeth, wanting to reach across the table and strangle the half-imp to death.

“What makes you think it's a demon?” Lonnell asked, causing a much-needed distraction. Azure wondered if Uden even understood how close he was to being pummeled to death in his own home. While Azure definitely couldn't match him with a blade, he was pretty sure he could take the skinny half-imp in hand-to-hand combat.

“I saw it,” he drew out the words. “After the goblins captured me, they took me to this tent to hold me prisoner until it came to collect me. I followed it to a cave entrance in the side of a ravine and then made my escape by jumping into the river and getting washed downstream. I'm lucky I survived.” At least, he thought he had. Maybe.

“What did it look like?” Uden quizzed him.

Azure described the creature in detail, then continued on to tell them the story of how he had ended up in Baremire. He recited everything he remembered of what Karma had said. When he was done speaking, both Manny and Lonnell looked deep in thought.

“I am saddened to hear this,” Manny said suddenly.

It seemed like a strange thing to say. “Why is that?” Azure asked.

“Demons are not bred, they are born of hatred. If this creature is here, it is because we have created it.” He frowned.

Azure noticed that Uden's expression had changed. He had wrapped his arms around himself, his lips drooped, his eyes to the table in a look of discomfort. The air in the room seemed to sag with remorse and gloominess that Azure didn't understand. Clearly, he was missing something big.

“It appears that I am the cause of this after all,” Uden said softly.

“No.” Lonnell's gaze shot up to land on his brother. “You are not at fault for this, and I will not hear you say it. If anyone is to blame, it is I. I should have never told Bronna.”

Things were coming together now. Azure wanted to feel sorry for Uden, but he just couldn't after being left behind by him. “So what you're saying is that this all started because Bronna's father told the villagers about Uden being part imp, and their hatred for him is what created the demon.”

“Sadly, that is what appears to be the case,” Manny replied. “Now that I think about it, the timelines do match up. The curse began slightly after that incident.”

“This is horrible.” Lonnell shook his head.

“And now they expect me to save them from the monster they created,” Uden mumbled bitterly. “I will take no part in this.” He pushed away from the table, standing to storm outside.

Lonnell moved to follow him, but Manny held out his arm, telling him to let Uden go. “I am sure this is not what he wanted to hear. Despite the fact that it's not his fault, Uden probably feels responsible.”

“But it wasn't his fault,” Lonnell insisted.

“No. It wasn't. Men can be cruel.” Manny sighed.

“Karma said that it's a lesser demon. All we have to do is remove its horns, and we should be able to kill it,” Azure told them, trying to add some good news to the solemn conversation.

“Killing it won't be half as difficult as getting to it,” Lonnell said, turning his thoughts away from his brother's misfortune to continue onto the important discussion of defeating the demon. “The odds of luring it out of the cave are slim.”

“I don't see how. It needs human sacrifices to continue to grow.” Azure graciously accepted the bowl of stew placed in front of him, picking up his spoon to eat while they talked.

“From what I have gathered from the information that you have shared, the demon has some kind of arrangement with the goblins to send it sacrifices. I am assuming that it will take the goblins as sacrifices if they do not offer it other options. Now that you have escaped and know where it resides, it will probably expect us to come. A smart move on its part would be to make the goblins deliver sacrifices to it so as not to leave itself exposed out in the open. It was probably willing to travel to the goblin settlement before because it felt no threat.”

“So we go to the cave and defeat it.” Azure saw no issue. Wasn't it better if the demon stayed put anyway? Like it would just be waiting there for them to come kill it.

“It's not that simple,” Manny told him, giving him a look to say that there was still much he didn't know about their world. “Demons don't just live in caves, they live in dungeons. The stronger the demon, the more levels the dungeon will have. As you can probably imagine, every level is filled with monsters. Demons can summon the undead and all kinds of nasty creatures. The deeper into the dungeon you go, the higher the difficulty. There will be no rest. The dungeon is designed to deplete you of your stamina and mana before you reach the bottom so that you're easier for the demon to defeat.”

Azure nodded. Now he understood why they all seemed so worried. This was not going to be as cut and dried as he had thought.

“If we hope to win, we will have to use careful planning. Strategic attacks to maximize our effectiveness while conserving stamina where we need it. We will also need to stock up on health potions. It is unlikely that we will be able to reach the demon uninjured,” Lonnell said

“And weapons,” Azure mentioned. “When the goblins kidnapped me, they took everything I had. I will need a new bow and a sword. The sprites of Baremire are working on armor for me that should give good resistance against the demon's powers.”

“That is good to hear,” Lonnell said with a sound of relief. “They wouldn't happen to be making armor for the rest of us?”

Azure wasn't sure if he should feel guilty for not having asked her. “To be fair, once Uden's stats disappeared from my vision, I thought he was dead. And I wasn't sure if you had already headed back towards the altar or not. I did not ask because I had expected to be returning on my own.”

“That is fair.” Lonnell didn't seem the least bit disappointed.

“Speaking of which, why are you guys still here? I thought you would be returning to the altar as soon as you dropped Bronna off?”

“I did start heading back and ended up meeting Uden in the woods. He told me what had happened with you and the goblins—that there had been no way to save you without you both ending up captured and possibly dead. He told me that you two had searched and searched but had never been able to find The Dark One and that with the goblin settlement so close by, it was too dangerous for him to stay out there on his own. We agreed that we should return here, rest up for a few days, and then come up with a better plan before heading back out again.”

Azure mulled that over for several minutes. More than likely, it had been Uden who had suggested that they rest for a few days before heading back out. He had been nothing but lazy lately. Now Azure was wondering if there was a purpose behind it.

“Demons and imps are related,” he recalled the story that Lonnell had told him a while back.

“Uden is in no way related to this demon.” Lonnell scowled at him. “That demon is long gone. To be the same one, it would be a greater demon by this time. This demon was born from the villagers' hatred of Uden's heritage, which ironically was enough to create another creature capable of making more of his kind. People are stupid sometimes.” He shook his head, and Azure couldn't help but get the feeling that Lonnell was indirectly calling him stupid as well.

Manny placed a hand on his son's shoulder. “We cannot let more hatred manifest over this. That will only help the demon to grow.”

“You are right,” Lonnell agreed, forcing a soft smile. “They know not what they do. They let their fear drive them to this point. Their fear creating more of a monster than what they feared in the first place. Once we vanquish this demon, they will see that Uden is good and not to be hated.”

“They will.” Manny gave his shoulder a pat. “You just need to prove them all wrong.”

“Well, we need to prepare first,” Azure reminded them again. “I am weary from my travels. After I finish up here, I'll be off to bed. We should go to Cragbell tomorrow, turn in what loot we have left so that I can acquire weapons, and then head back to Baremire to pick up my armor.”

“Agreed.” Lonnell nodded, though it seemed he still harbored ill-feeling towards Azure for having assumed that Uden was somehow related to the demon they were about to face.

He finished his meal in silence, then took his leave to the barn, carrying a lantern with him the same as he always had. Oddly, he felt Uden's presence before he saw him this time. Maybe he was getting used to the half-imp. Or perhaps the fact that he had leveled up several of his skills was starting to make him more aware of his surroundings and the dangers that might be awaiting him in the dark.

“I am hurt that you don't believe I wanted to save you.” Uden pressed his hand against his chest.

“You are a horrible actor.” Azure sneered. His hand itched to grab his dagger, but he knew he would have no time if Uden tried to attack. Bending over to retrieve it from his boot would give the half-imp all the opening he needed to strike Azure down with one quick blow to the neck.

Uden huffed, glancing away. “In all seriousness, what was I supposed to do? They already had you bound. Goblins are stupid, but not too stupid to eliminate the weakest threat when another is upon them.”

“They wouldn't have killed me. They needed me for a sacrifice,” Azure reasoned.

“Did they? Are you so sure? They could have always returned to Cragbell to take another girl. Or if worse came to worse, offered up one of their breeding stock.”

“Breeding stock?” Azure's eyes widened briefly. So that's what those women in the cage had been.

“Have you not noticed the lack of female goblins? They require other species to breed. Only male goblins are born,” Uden informed him.

“We have to save those women,” Azure mumbled, already trying to come up with a plan.

“How? And more importantly, why?” There was a coldness to Uden's tone. “I'm aware that you still don't understand how things work here. While you may believe otherwise, those women are likely bought from slaver ships. Even if we did save them, they would have nowhere to go. Are you going to support and clothe them?”

Anger welled up inside of Azure. “There's no good reason to allow them to remain captive and used. They are human beings. A life fending for themselves is better than a life in a cage.”

“In a cage, they are fed and cared for. In the wild, they would likely starve to death.” Uden tossed his head toward the forest.

“You speak of them as if they're animals,” Azure said with disdain.

“Aren't we all?” Uden grinned wolfishly.

“Let's put you in a cage and rape you repeatedly and see if you like it,” he growled.

The half-imp's amused expression dropped. “I've been in a cage my entire life.”

Azure gave him a warning look. “It's not the same thing, and this isn't about you.”

“Perhaps I should relish that fact. Everything else seems to be about me. What I've done. What I've failed to do. These past few months I've lived under a microscope, judged for every action and mistake. Misfortunes that weren't even my doing have been blamed on me. How is that fair? Life isn't fair.” His words came out in a stumble, tripping over one another.

Azure couldn't help but internally applaud how Uden had managed to manipulate the conversation and make it about him again. Obviously, the half-imp wanted to discuss all of the injustices he had suffered. The captive women were not important to him. Azure would have to recruit Lonnell to help him later. The more human of the brothers would definitely be sympathetic to the plight of the women.

“If you wouldn't do douchey things then maybe people wouldn't be so pissed off at you all the time,” he offered with a tight smile.

“Ah.” Uden shook his finger at Azure. “But that's the thing. I'm not doing anything any differently than many other men in my position would.

“Should I have tried to save you? Maybe. But I'm not lying when I say that the risk would have been too great to the both of us. One wrong move and you would have ended up dead. If I wouldn't have joined you, then I would have inevitably been captured. I'm no better equipped to face a demon alone than you are. If I had died, what would Lonnell have done? Wandered around blindly searching for us until he got captured, too? Quite possibly.

“I made the best decision I could with the information I had to go off of. Attacking the goblins wasn't smart. Trying to mount some daring rescue wasn't smart. Returning to my brother and protecting him from harm while trying to figure out what to do next was the best plan. I'm sorry, Azure, but sometimes in this life you have to fend for yourself. We will not always be around to protect you.”

It was an oddly brotherly lecture with much more logic than Azure would have liked to admit. Still, he couldn't ignore the obvious. “If you had just gone along with my plan, none of this would have happened.”

“I will admit that I made a mistake,” Uden told him reluctantly. “For that, I am truly sorry. I know that this has undoubtedly shaken your trust in me. We still have a lot of work to do together. I hope that one day you can forgive me and I can regain your trust.” He held his arm out to Azure.

The last thing that Azure felt like doing right now was making amends with Uden, especially when he was so ticked off about the entire situation. But the half-imp was right. Whether he liked it or not, they would have to work together if they wanted any chance of defeating the demon.

“I feel like you don't trust my judgment on things, likely because I am so new to all of this.” Azure cast his gaze around. “If this is going to work—if we are going to work together effectively, you need to trust me more, too. I am not just some idiot who fell from the sky. While I may not be seasoned in battle, I do have a good idea from time to time.”

“I know. I underestimate you a lot. My pride gets in my way. I am not always right, and my impulsiveness gets the best of me sometimes. It's something that I need to work on.

“Now that I've apologized for being a douchebag and we've shared all of these gay ass feelings with one another, can we just move on from this.” He urged Azure to clasp wrists.

A smirk crossed Azure's lips at Uden's not so subtle wording. “You have quite the mouth on you sometimes.” He finally submitted, his hand wrapping around the cold skin of the half-imp's wrist.

“If you need a further apology.” Uden winked at him, making Azure immediately let go and hold his hands up.

“Sorry, bro, but I don't swing that way. I don't have a problem if you do, but just saying.”

To that, Uden guffawed. “You don't know what you're missing out on.”

“Girls. That's what I'm missing out on,” Azure said quickly.

“Ah yes.” The half-imp smiled. “If it's any consolation, you're not really my type anyway. I prefer the fairer of both sexes. Not much for the ruggedly handsome.

"Anyway, perhaps when this is all over, and we go to the mainland, you'll allow me to buy you a night at one of the pleasure houses to make up for my latest batch of mistakes.”

“I might take you up on that,” Azure said as he watched Uden walk away, waving over his shoulder and disappearing into the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE REALM – Day 26

They traveled the next morning back to Cragbell. Ruthren was happy to see the three companions together, but he was even happier to see that they had actually come to do business. Trading in everything that he had Lonnell keep in his Bag of Holding, Azure had enough money to purchase the goblin bow with a little bit left over. Unfortunately, not enough to buy a sword, though luckily Lonnell still had the Crude Goblin Sword on him.

You have received the following item:

Goblin Bow

Attack: +8

Range: 1

Durability: 12/12

Item Class: Common

Quality: Poor

Weight: 1.3 kg

By the time they finished shopping, Azure was down to two coppers. He was poor all over again, he thought with overwhelming disappointment. There was no point in even looking in the Bag of Holding's direction. He should just be happy that Manny seemed to have an unlimited supply of arrows, so he hadn't needed to purchase any.

With their business concluded, they headed towards Baremire. Azure hadn't realized how much he had missed hunting. Just the little bit of experience he gained from killing rabbits felt like a lot compared to how much time he'd wasted without a ranged weapon. He couldn't count how many animals had crossed his path when he was trying to return to Cragbell. Each missed opportunity to rack up some XP left him feeling ill. It also reminded him of the frustrations of trying to whittle and string his own homemade bow. Fuck that bow.

By the time they stopped to camp for the night, Azure had killed three rabbits. He took care in skinning them, wanting to save the pelts to sell for later. It still annoyed him that he had to start from nothing again, but it was common to lose items when you died in most of the games he had played. Except he hadn't lost his items because he had died. He'd lost them because he'd been captured. Somehow, that didn't feel entirely fair, but it is what would have happened if this were real. And it was real. As real as anything could be for him.

They slept in shifts as usual. Azure found himself sleeping more soundly, not like he had when they first all journeyed together. Back then, he hadn't appreciated the safety of company as much as he'd despised only getting a few hours of rest before it was his turn. Since traveling on his own and never having a real moment of peaceful sleep, Azure had a new-found respect for their arrangement. Maybe he was finally starting to get used to the way things worked in this world.

The next day, they continued on to Baremire. When the sprite guards met them in the forest and offered to escort them in, Uden gave hesitation, saying he would rather wait outside of the settlement.

“What's wrong with you?” Lonnell asked him. “Haven't you learned by now that it's better if we all stick together.”

Uden glanced up at the trees, seeming uncomfortable. “It is safe out here. Azure is only going to retrieve his armor. There is no need for all of us to go.”

“The Tree Queen may have more insight on how to defeat the demon. You should at least go listen to what she has to say,” Azure told him.

“You can relay it back to me. I'm fine out here.” Uden crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly, obviously not wanting to budge.

Lonnell stepped closer to him, lowering his voice. “No offense, brother, but every time we leave you alone, you seem to get yourself into trouble. I would feel much better if you came with us.”

Uden huffed, casting his eyes to the side. “I am tired of facing the ridicule of those around me. Once they know that I am the reason why this creature exists, they will hate me all over again. I have endured enough prejudice these past few months to last a lifetime. I'd rather not have to deal with the disdainful stares and whispering behind my back.”

Now it made a bit more sense. Thinking back to how Uden had been treated at the tavern, Azure realized that he hadn't really considered how hard things must have been for the half-imp since his heritage had been discovered by the villagers. Being scorned and rejected all the time had to take a toll on a person.

He placed a hand on Uden's shoulder, trying to soothe his nerves. “The Tree Queen isn't like that. She will understand.”

“But will the others?” Uden pierced him with his gaze. “The sprites know me less than the villagers do, and the villagers no doubt will believe that darkness breeds more darkness. I know that this seems cowardly, but please grant me this one request. I promise that I will stay put and will not get into any trouble. You can even have one of the guards stay here and keep watch over me if you trust me so little.”

Lonnell and Azure shared a look before nodding in agreement.

“Fine,” Lonnell said with a sigh. “You can wait out here. I just...wish you didn't feel this way.”

“I wish they didn't feel that way.” Uden nodded towards Baremire.

“They won't feel that way forever,” Lonnell assured him.

“They won't have to feel that way forever. Once this is all over, I'm leaving this island. I look human enough that I should be able to blend into human society on the mainland,” Uden informed his brother.

“Perhaps that is for the best,” Lonnell agreed before turning to Azure. “Let us not waste much time here. We have many more miles to travel.”

The two men followed the guards into Baremire, leaving Uden behind. It felt strange to glance over his shoulder and see the forest shroud the half-imp from view. Azure felt an instant detachment from him, and there was admittedly some worry that things would go horribly wrong, as they often seemed to do when Uden was left on his own.

“Do you think we should have left a guard with him?” Azure whispered to Lonnell in case Uden could still hear him through the trees.

“He'll be fine. Just let him mope about. I'm the one to blame for all of this, but he still feels responsible just for being born. I don't think he realized that the villagers hated him so much. Heck, I didn't even realize it. Needless to say, it has taken an emotional toll on him. I cannot imagine having so many negative feelings towards me that it was able to create something as horrible as a demon. That says a lot about how the villagers perceive him as a threat and a pest. Once this is all over, I will do whatever it takes to help him leave this place. Even after we vanquish the demon, I doubt he can carve out any type of life here. Things will be better for him on the mainland.”

Azure hadn't realized that things were that bad, but he was happy to hear that Lonnell supported his brother's desire to leave the island. Knowing how much the villagers despised Uden, Azure couldn't imagine that Manny would have much to argue about in regards to letting his son go. If he truly loved Uden, then he would understand that a better life awaited him elsewhere.

The forest gave way to the grove of sequoias. Lonnell and Azure were escorted all the way to the Tree Queen's domain. She greeted them pleasantly but didn't seem to have much more information to offer them about the demon beside that it would have a weakness to light magic.

Hearing that, Azure felt like he had progressed wrongly somehow. Like he should possess light magic at this point. If not, then what else was the purpose of her divulging that information.

But Azure had no money for spells, and even when he had, he'd been too busy obsessing over obtaining the Bag of Holding. That had proven to be a mistake. If he had been smarter, he would have taken the time to see what other soulbound things Ruthren was selling. From what he understood, once learned, spelled could not be unlearned. Oh well. Failures often offered hard life lessons, and in The Realm it was no different.

Several sprites fluttered off to retrieve his armor, coming back with a garment that was a vibrant green color and appeared to be tightly woven with leaves. Azure couldn't decide whether he would look badass or stupid once he put it on, but it didn't matter.

You have received the following items:

Cowl of Light

Defense: +4

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 30/30

Item Class: Rare

Quality: High

Weight: 1 kg

Traits: +5% resistance to Necromancy

Vambraces of Light

Defense: +4

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 25/25

Item Class: Rare

Quality: High

Weight: 0.2 kg

Traits: +5% resistance to Necromancy and +10% damage to ranged attacks

Pants of Light

Defense: +4

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 20/20

Item Class: Rare

Quality: High

Weight: 3 kg

Traits: +5% resistance to Necromancy and +2 Agility

Shirt of Light

Defense: +10

Type: Light Armor

Durability: 28/28

Item Class: Rare

Quality: High

Weight: 2 kg

Traits: +10% resistance to Necromancy

Holy shit!

While the defense stats of the armor weren't particularly impressive, everything else about it was. These were the first Rare and High Quality items that Azure had received. Unlike other items of lower quality and class, the backdrop of the item notification screen showed up as light green. Azure could only assume it was because the items were something special. It was also the first time that he'd seen items that had their own traits. Altogether, they gave him a 25% resistance to Necromancy! Hopefully, that would keep the demon from getting inside of his head.

Unable to hide his gratitude and excitement, Azure quickly equipped the items. As soon as he finished slipping the vambraces onto his arms, another notification popped up.

Congratulations! You have equipped an entire set of matching armor: Armor of Light. Bonuses awarded: Defense stats of armor increased by 20%. Resistance to Necromancy increased be an additional 10%.

“Oh my God, this is amazing,” Azure vocalized what he was thinking. “I can never thank you enough.”

Karma beamed at him, pleased with his reaction. “It is but a small contribution to the cause. If you would hand over your quiver, we will happily imbue your arrows with light magic as well.”

Azure did as she instructed and they waited around for about thirty minutes before one of the sprites returned the quiver. All of the arrowheads now had a soft white glow to them.

You have received the following item:

Bronze Arrows of Minor Light Magic

Quantity: 15/15

Durability: 1/1

Item Class: Common

Quality: Average

Weight: 0.7 kg

Bonus: +4 Damage Against Necromancy

Once again, he thanked the sprites for their hospitality. The Tree Queen bade them to be careful, giving them both a gentle kiss on the forehead before sending them on their way.

As they walked away from Baremire, Azure felt like a new man. He was filled with more hope than he had been in a long time.

They found Uden outside of the sprite settlement sitting on the grass looking bored. If he had any fear of being attacked, it didn't show. Maybe the outskirts of Baremire were as safe as he had claimed. He certainly hadn't hesitated to let his guard down.

Upon their arrival, Uden looked up at Azure and smirked. “It's like the Jolly Green Giant had a baby.”

Fuck's sake. Azure rolled his eyes. He did look stupid, though he had kind of guessed it. One didn't exactly exude manliness when they were dressed like the woodland version of Peter Pan.

“This is some sick-ass armor,” he told Uden. “You should see the stats.”

“Of that, I have no doubt.” The half-imp pulled himself from the ground. “But you still look like a fairy, and I don't mean the fluttering kind.”

“I thought you liked fairies.” Azure gave a chuckle, too happy to let the mocking tear him down.

Uden took a step forward, pinching one of the leaves on the front of Azure's shirt. Though he gave it a good tug, it remained firmly planted. The armor was much sturdier than it looked. “I suppose you've grown on me. Since I almost let you die, and all.”

“Would you two stop it,” Lonnell groaned in exasperation.

“I didn't start it,” Azure reminded him. “It was all him.”

“I don't care who started it. I'm ending it.” Lonnell gave them both a look to suggest that the time to crack jokes was over.

“Always so serious.” Uden tutted at him. “All work and no play...”

“You never work,” Lonnell cut him off.

“Well, that's about to change,” Azure said, looking toward the future. “We got what we came here for. Are you guys ready to go kick some demon ass?”

“Never readier,” Uden replied with a grin. Then the three of them headed off into the forest to face a threat far greater than they had ever imagined.

The adventure continues in book two...

To further support this author, please post a review after you finish reading this book.

Phoenix Grey is the super secret nerd pen name of a USA Today bestselling author. She currently lives in a secluded podunk town outside of San Antonio, Texas where she can hermit away while working on books and playing video games. When she's not busy plotting her world domination, she can be found hosting game nights at the local comic book store or checking out the latest recommended anime.

She loves hearing from and interacting with fans, so feel free to stalk her in the following ways:

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Azure's end of book stats:

Name: Azure

Race: Human

Level: 4, 54% of the way to next level

Health: 160 / 160

Mana: 130 / 130

Stamina: 140 / 140

Vitality: 13

Intelligence: 10

Strength: 11

Agility: 12

Dexterity: 11

Charisma: 10

Luck: 12

Skills: Archery Lvl 2; 65% of the way to next level

Stealth Lvl 2; 80% of the way to the next level

Analyze Lvl 4; 37% of the way to next level

Cooking Lvl 5; 10% of the way to next level

Alchemy Lvl 3; 0% of the way to next level

Foraging Lvl 5; 94% of the way to next level

One-Handed Weapons Lvl 4; 0% of the way to next level

Tracking Lvl 1; 70% of the way to next level

Languages: Common Tongue, Sprite, Goblin-Tongue

Uden's end of book stats:

Name: Uden Namud

Race: Half-Human, Half-Imp

Level: 5

Health: 150

Mana: 150

Stamina: 140

Lonnell's end of book stats:

Name: Lonnell Namud

Race: Human

Level: 5

Health: 170

Mana: 140

Stamina: 150

End of Book Shit

Hey guys and gals,

Phoenix here! I just thought I'd take the time to let you know a little about what was going on in my world while I was writing this book.

The concept for The Realm Between came from an 800-page epic novel that I wrote when I was 21, which was many many moons ago. Long before self-publishing was a thing. I submitted the novel, which was supposed to be the first book in a three-part series, to over twenty traditional publishers. It almost got picked up by one but ultimately ended up getting rejected.

Without spoiling much, The Realm Between is planned to be a very long series. I have been having a blast writing it so far and must admit that there have been twists and turns in the story that I didn't even see coming. I'm hoping that you guys enjoy everything I have in store for this series.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy what you've read so far. I have tons of adventures and plot twists planned in the future, so stay tuned!

Much love,

Phoenix Grey

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Description

One of the world’s top competitive gamers, Theo Robinson, has been invited to demo The Realm Online, Radical Interactive’s second attempt to delve into the VRMMORPG industry. Their first attempt had critics cringing at blocky graphics and less than realistic NPC interactions. Now, after over twenty years of marrying virtual reality and medical technology, Radical Interactive is ready to try again, and they have something really big in store.

But Theo Robinson has no interest in The Realm Online. A MOBA player, RPGs have never been his thing. The only reason he accepted the invitation was because of another secret project that Radical Interactive has been working on. Word has it they have been trapping people with brain injuries inside of The Realm Online. When Nancy Shelton, YouTube's most famous female Let's Player (and Theo's best friend online), got into a car accident and ended up in a coma, it was suspected that her consciousness had been ported into the game. Theo's quest isn't to demo The Realm Online but to try to find his friend. But will he even be able to look for her when the immersion is so intense that he forgets who he is?

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