The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

Chapter 18: Changing of the Guard

(Sunday, March 7th Game Day / Friday, January 22nd Real Day)

A bit past mid-day in-game we had neared the edge of the forest line. The snow on the ground was still packed tightly but the first signs of spring had started to appear. With birds chirping in the distance and critters scurrying up the sides of trees, it was a lively sight. The type of sight that was unheard of weeks before.

The sun was still shining brightly and with nary a cloud in the sky the prognosis was good. Visibility was excellent, the weather was nearing perfect levels, and the hunting was starting to look promising.

Spotting the small black bear from a significant distance with [Keen Sight], I had signaled for the group to quieten their steps and slow their pace.

[Keen Sight] was a skill from the Archery proficiency that essentially enhanced your alertness. If you were already attentive it wasn't much of a skill, but it did help. As soon as that bear was in visual range, a small glimmer of light shined for a split-second to alert me to its position in a tree.

The small [Young Northern Black Bear] was lazily napping in the tree a few feet from the ground. The hibernating period seemed to have ended recently with the uptick in temperature and the lessening snowfall that spring brought.

This little bear must have decided to venture out into the woods for a picnic.

Approaching within bow range, I signaled the group to stop and the five warriors drew their spears while Selene and I drew our bows. We needed a good ambush here in order to be successful. A bear at this stage in the game was quite strong seeing as I was only level 14 after all.

Of course I also had the cumulative stats of someone in the mid-level 100s, but that was my trade secret.

Selene and I took position with quivers out as we each carefully nocked an arrow in our respective bows. Silently drawing the bow and taking aim slightly behind and below the shoulder, I inhaled.

As my chest rose I released the arrow.

Thwack.

Thwack.

Without a pause I quickly nocked a second arrow as I saw Selene do the same. But before I could draw my bow the second time, the bear had roared to life as it fell out of the tree.

I had aimed for the bear's lungs as the heart was too small and was obscured by the leg bone but I couldn't be sure if I had actually landed a fatal hit.

It didn't matter really, as the bear raised on its hind legs for a second to let out its threatening roar. The roar sent shivers down your spine as even a small bear is quite intimidating, especially when it stands upright.

The bear lowered its head and started to charge at me, I drew my bowstring back as fast as I could and quickly released. I had panicked slightly and with my breathing off, the arrow flew off course, landing in the frontal shoulder area rather than the chest.

Selene had more patience than I and had waited a hair longer than me before releasing; her arrow flew straight into the center of the bear's chest but it wasn't fatal either.

I dropped my bow and drew my axe while the warriors stood in the background, they were rather useless honestly. Most likely they were hoping that I would die so they wouldn't have to dirty their own hands.

With my axe at the ready I took a batter's position as if I was going to slug a ball out of the park, whether this was the best position or not to attack a raging and charging 300-400 pound bear was up for debate.

But the jury was still out.

And I needed an answer.

The small black bear came crashing down on me as I swung with all of my might directly behind the skull of the bear, driving deep into the thick fur and muscle in the neck.

It was a solid, clean hit.

It should have cut into the neck by at least three or four inches.

But it didn't stop the bear's charge or swipe which had hit me with full force knocking me on my back. The bear was on top of me but was staggered from the blow of the axe.

As I was directly under the bear I was in a terrible position and couldn't move with the weight of the bear pinning me to the ground.

Selene had rolled over to the right and quickly let another arrow off into the general area of the heart but it wasn't any good. My health had taken a huge hit but my stamina had nearly entirely disappeared from the force of the charge with the weight of the bear behind it.

The bear roared ferociously but a foot from my face as my ears rang from the deafening noise. Lifting its body up slightly as if to crush a can it soon dropped back down on my chest.

Blood spurted out of my mouth as I gasped for what little air I could.

The compressing of my lungs from the bear's weight along with the sudden body slam had all but completely winded me.

My eyes watered as I frantically tried to move my arms in a way to create space, but it was futile.

I wouldn't be able to do much more, so I quickly put my hand on where I thought the bear's heart would be and started casting a [Lightning Bolt].

I simply didn't have the time.

Struggling to breathe as my chest started to collapse in on itself from the weight of the bear on top of me; I looked to my right to where Selene was.

Another arrow hit the bear and it roared and turned to face Selene as if I was already dead underneath.

It wasn't entirely wrong either, I was being crushed to death by the weight of the bear and as my stamina bar hit zero my health points started to rapidly deteriorate.

I couldn't even shout for the lack of air in my lungs but I was able to whisper the spell, "Lightning Bolt!" and watched as the black bear on top of me suddenly convulsed in spasms.

I had stopped it's movements but I was slowly and steadily dying.

But then Selene let off another arrow that finally hit the mark.

She actually hit the heart.

The bear stopped convulsing and slumped down on top of me, smothering me with its dead weight.

I used what little strength I could muster to push the head of the bear off me so I could breathe. Selene soon came over and used my axe as a lever to push the corpse of the little black bear off me.

As I rolled over and got on my knees I stopped to look at the young black bear that was lying in front of me.

Shaking my head, I quietly spoke to anyone willing to listen.

"It's not quite as big as I remember it being."

Selene replied quickly to me, "You mean it's not as big as it was ten seconds ago? Well, I guess…."

She had a point.

But the bear definitely looked a lot smaller in stature as it laid dead at my feet then when it was standing on its hind legs with its chest puffed out or how it looked directly on top of me with a frothing mouth ready to chomp on my face.

It still weighed over three-hundred pounds.

The five warriors who had simply stood still the entire time now made their way over and I quickly checked my remaining health and mana, they couldn't be trusted after all.

The senior warrior opened his mouth first, "I didn't think you had it in you but you did it adventurer. This bear will be quite the feast!"

I almost wanted to say they wouldn't get to enjoy any of it, but I held my tongue.

Instead of causing a scene I took out my skinning knife and got to work on the hide.

I wasn't going to lose the hide even if I had to flee with it over my head with it fluttering in the wind over my back like some kid on Halloween. Not too long after skinning the beast I had started to divvy up the meat for the warriors to carry and everyone was in good spirits except for the senior.

I figured he alone was informed by the Earl and the others would just follow orders.

He needed to die first.

About fifteen minutes after the bear had fallen, the work was completed and the warriors now had sacks of meat to carry. We started packing everything up as my health and mana had finally completely recovered, thanks in large part to munching on rabbit jerky during the downtime.

It was time to get Selene out of here.

I winked at Selene when the warriors were looking elsewhere and she understood the signal. As I finished handing the meat to the five men and was about to turn around to head back to the town, Selene spoke up, "Ah, my apologies but I need to relieve myself shortly before we head back, excuse me for a second."

I had left the excuse up to her and I guess she chose "when nature calls" as her plan of attack, it wasn't half bad.

I had already turned to start walking away hoping the warriors would follow as well but their senior leader nodded at two of them to follow her and they simply did what they were told.

I muttered, "Couldn't just walk away, huh," as I had set down my meat bag and let my axe slide down my palm.

Of the three warriors standing and facing away from me, one turned his head around only to open his eyes as widely as he possibly could before the axe-head landed squarely in the center of his cheekbone cleaving a large chunk of his face off and onto the ground below.

He collapsed without a sound as the other two warriors turned around at the strange wind noise they had just heard.

Without giving them a moment to understand the situation I swung my axe down from an overhead position directly into the top of the skull of the warrior closest to me.

A second fatal blow swiftly delivered.

Clean kills.

I kicked the man's body to break my axe free and pressed my attack on the senior leader that was standing in front of me, he yelped out a shrill shriek as he thrust his spear as quickly as he could towards my chest but was met in-kind with an axe to his neck.

He fell to his knees staggered from the blow as I prepared the next swing, lopping his head off.

These warriors were of significantly higher level but it didn't matter if you were level one or level one hundred when it came to vulnerable areas and fatal blows.

If the neck or skull is exposed and solid contact is made with sufficient force, the end result is often the same.

That result, is death.

The two warriors that had been stalking Selene quickly ran back and saw their three comrades lying in the snow with blood spilt, a face missing, and a head separated. They raised their spears and shouted profanities and insults but it didn't faze me.

I would have a much harder time with them in straight combat as I had lost the bonus of surprise, but I had an ace up my sleeve still. I quickly started casting a [Lightning Bolt] at one of the warriors as the other took an arrow to the back and stumbled. I was counting on Selene to turn back if fighting had started, even if she didn't I could die and respawn all the same.

But she was dependable and I had bet correctly, the surprise arrow to the back had completely caught the warrior unaware as he turned around unsure which way to run.

In that momentary distraction I finished my cast and watched as a ball of condensed lightning shot out of my hand, leaving a small trail of lightning that looked like bluish-white string connecting the mass of energy to my fingertips.

The [Lightning Bolt] hit the other warrior that was still charging at me square in the chest and he collapsed to the ground while convulsing, paralyzed by my special ability for a second.

I quickly ran forward and wasted no time in swinging my axe down on the defenseless man before me.

I've split a lot of logs this way.

In the confusion the last man with an arrow sticking out of his back lunged at me as another arrow hit him in the neck. He lost his balance and stumbled as another arrow hit him in the shoulder, but that alone wasn't enough so I brought my axe up high and to the right and swung downwards at an angle, just grazing the neck enough to cut into the larynx.

As the man grasped at his neck I simply kicked him down and embedded my axe into his chest.

Just like chopping wood.

In all honesty it was the first time I had killed another humanoid-type in the game and it was realistic enough to consider it a killing of another human being.

This wasn't the same as in other games where they might have looked realistic but they were on your television or computer screen.

Even in the other virtual realities there was some disconnect between the interactions and your personal experience.

I felt the shudder of the axe as it contacted and smashed through bone.

I could see and feel the warm blood that had spurted onto my face.

I could see the, thankfully, dumbed down version of the dismembered corpses in front of me.

If it was completely realistic I think I would have quit the game. The game was real enough and I was glad it wasn't overly detailed and grotesque.

I was already desensitized enough when it came to killing humanoid-types anyhow.

As I stood there contemplating what I had just done I was prompted with a system message, [You have learned through trial and error, the Skill: Execute] [Execute: A finishing blow delivered on a target that has been rendered defenseless. A successful Execute boosts the chance for a Critical Fatal Blow.] …it seems my log splitting on the warriors when they were on their backs or on their knees while paralyzed or staggered was actually an ability in-game.

I knew the attacks were effective because it was in a fatal zone, but now I knew there was also a corresponding skill that I could use to ensure a one-hit kill… hmm, I might just be using [Execute] a lot more from now on.

Selene came over and interrupted my deep thinking with a tap on the shoulder, I guess she was talking to me and I didn't hear or respond.

She was wondering what we would do next.

I needed to strike while the proverbial iron was hot so I told her of the rather simple plan, "I think we should set up camp here, eat our fill of the bear meat, move those bodies behind the forest line and wait for the Earl to send a search party.

"He has fifteen warriors left at his disposal and if we fought them now in the town we would certainly lose. If we retreat to fight another day he will surely bolster his forces and either raid the Northern Triangle or send search parties out until they find us… I'm betting he would do both."

I was fairly certain the Earl would use this opportunity to claim more territory and eliminate any potential desertions, so in my mind the only way to resolve this properly was to sever the head of the snake and destroy the eggs.

Every one of his warriors needed to die along with him, his wives, and children.

It may sound cruel but hatred and revenge is something born of time; if I left his wives and children alive, if he even had any, they would surely come back to haunt me in the future.

I didn't want to pay the price for being the nice guy.

Reality is a cruel thing after all.

Selene thought it over and simply replied, "Well if that's what you think is the best strategy, I won't say it is a bad one."

Shrugging my shoulders, I meekly replied, "I'm open to suggestions, by all means."

"No, I believe yours will work. I just hope they send less than ten."

"Ten would be about perfect for me though."

"I disagree; I can't save you from that many. I only have so many arrows."

The truth was the more men that left the town the better, out here in the woods we could easily kill two to four men from a surprise attack before the rest caught on. From our vantage point I could then get off at least one or two [Lightning Bolts] before engaging in melee while Selene could continue to pick people off.

I would much rather fight ten here and then leave four plus the champion back inside the village. That would make things much easier.

But that was for tomorrow as I was tired and could use a real dinner.

After relocating the bodies, setting up a makeshift camp with a fire, and roasting up some bear I decided to log off briefly.

I would eat dinner, clean up, and then log back in and sleep in-game incase of attack.

It paid to be diligent.

I had no plans to miss out on any opportunity that presented itself.

I had to be ready.