Nothing interesting. Just more of the same. Rumors of hacks and cheats. Interviews with high-level players talking about their adventures. Along the bottom was an auction house ticker which displayed the latest high value items and their most current (insane) bids.
One headline did catch my interest. A group of lore-hounds, players who studied and cataloged the games vast and detailed history, stated that some game characters were now discussing the possibility of the Demon King’s return to the known realm. This was a trope played out for years. The ultimate goal of the Demon King, like all big bad guys, was to destroy the world and enslave the survivors. Thousands of years ago his minions had spread evil across the land, but only the mighty efforts of a few stalwart heroes drove him back to the Demon Void.
Typical stuff. But now, it seemed the game had decided to reintroduce this big bad guy, instead of keeping him relegated to the history books.
I shrugged and checked my map. The Quest location was close, so I closed down my news-feed and resumed control of my avatar.
A majestic view of a mountain range presented itself as the forest thinned out. The terrain became more rocky and my walk turned into a climb. My eyes kept darting to my low health bar, but there was little I could do about it now. As long as a bear or wandering monster didn’t surprise me I would be okay.
Soon I reached what looked to be the place where the red ‘X’ on the map was. A flat rock wall against a large rocky outcropping appeared to be the most likely spot. I peered about but saw nothing else remarkable about the area.
From behind me I heard a noise. I whirled around sword in my hands ready for an ambush. No one was there. But the noise continued from nearby. I realized the echoing effect off the rocks confused my senses.
Then a man emerged from around a boulder. He appeared to be floating above the ground but in actuality he stood on a small platform. No, not a platform. A sheet of ice. As he propelled toward me, the ice forming a trail in the air behind him that melted away to water which rained on the ground and vanished.
The man on his moving ice sheet got closer, stopped, and raised a hand. “Greetings!” He said. The ice sheet lowered and touched down. It melted away in a few moments leaving the man standing solidly on the rocky ground.
I knew who this was. “Feign?” I said and cautiously sheathed my sword. This guy knew how to make an entrance.
The man bowed. “The one and only. You are Vivian Valesh?”
Nodding, I got a better look at this new arrival. He was of average build, a little taller than me, and wore a sky-blue robe. He had a beard, sort of. It was a tight cluster of icicles that splayed out from his chin and glinted with the sunlight. His hair was snow – real snow, and shaped in a curl similar to what a snow drift would look like after a strong wind. When he spoke cold clouds of air plumed from his mouth. He looked to be in a perpetual deep freeze.
“You’re an ice mage,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Very astute observation,” Feign said with a wink. “My favorite class to play. I’ve been leveling this avatar for years and can’t get enough of the things he can do.”
I offered a smile. He seemed friendly enough. But I still had to be on my guard. He was Ogden Trite’s man and needed to be dealt with caution. “You’ll have a chance to use those abilities soon enough. I fully expect this Quest to be a tough one. You up for it?”
Feign chuckled, and little snow flakes shook from his body. “A Legendary Quest would be nothing but tough. I look forward to the challenge.” He looked around. “The others haven’t arrived yet?”
“Not yet, but I’ll check on them now.” I sent Mudhoof a chat request and it was immediately answered.
“Vee!” Said Mudhoof. “Are you there yet?”
“Yeah, I’m here. How far out are you now? What’s your ETA?”
Mudhoof laughed. “My ETA is about three seconds.”
I peered at the screen in confusion. He didn’t look to be moving at all. In fact he was sitting in what appeared to be a pub. He even drank from a tankard of ale.
“What the heck, Muddie? You aren’t even en route.” Anger flared in my chest. If he was holed up in a bar, it could be hours before he arrived.
“Now, Vee. When have I ever let you down?” Said the minotaur and closed our chat window.
I blinked in surprise and was about to issue a volley of curse words when the air to my right shimmered and glowed.
Then, the air returned to normal, and standing before me was Mudhoof, and a knight clad in shiny silver armor.
“Here we are!” Mudhoof declared with a grin. “Three seconds. Not bad, huh?” He still held the tankard of ale and took a swig from it.
I was incredulous. “You used a Teleport Token? Those are some the most expensive things in the game!” Even my newly acquired deposit money would take a hefty dent just to buy one Teleport Token.
“Actually, we used two,” said the tall knight.
I gave Thorm, a Holy Knight, a scowl. “You could have just taken gates and sky-barges like some of us lowly players do.” I made a show of rubbing my back. “It nearly killed me, too.”
Thorm stepped forward, looking concerned. “Yeah, you look like you’re almost done in. Let me cast a healing spell on you.” He waved his hands which were gloved in armor. His entire body was encased in heavy silver armor, just like the knights of the round table might have worn. The helmet he wore was peaked with a topknot of red manticore hair. Sheathed at his belt was a great broadsword. His long blonde mustache wiggled frantically as he uttered the arcane words of the spell.
A swirling cloud of bright little stars fell over my body. My health indicator shot up to 100%.
“Thank you, sir knight,” I said with a bow.
“Anytime, m’lady,” Thorm returned the bow.
“If you two are done flirting, can we get the show on the road?” Mudhoof said. He stood taller than Thorm and wore a simple gold breastplate, and a gold chainmail skirt that went to his knees. Across his back was his uber ax. His long bull horns were capped with wicked spikes of steel.
“Oh, and this is Feign,” I said indicating the ice mage. “He’ll be our magical backup.”
Mudhoof and Thorm gave the ice mage a once over, but politely greeted him. They were thinking the same as me. Who was this guy, and more importantly, what could he do?
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Feign said with a smile. If the two high-level fighters made him nervous, he didn’t show it.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I said and pulled the Quest scroll from my inventory. The others stared at it in wonder. But before I opened I said, “Remember, the second this is opened the quest marker will appear on the world map for all the other players to see. So, even though we get first run at it, we will be on a time limit.”
“It will take a while for other groups to get organized and get out here,” Thorm said.
“Not if they use Teleport Tokens,” Mudhoof said with a wry smile.
“True,” I said, “But I figure we will only have one shot at this, so let’s make it count. Get in, follow the quest and get the Legendary Item.”
“And don’t die,” Thorm said.
I didn’t have a retort for that as it may be the likely outcome.
I opened the scroll and touched the red ‘X’.
In the rock face before us, a circular gate appeared. The runes around its edges glowed a bright purple. Through the gate could be seen a staging platform surrounded by darkness.
“This is very exciting,” said Feign. “But I vote for a bathroom break before we continue. It might be a while before we get a chance.”