“The owner died last night,” Peter said in a somber voice, hoping reason would win out.
Turning his head, the blue-headed thief gave a mock shrug. “That’s even better. Wouldn’t want to reward a loser.”
Peter didn’t answer with words but slowly drew his longsword.
“Oh, come on, boys. The old man thinks he’s going to teach us a lesson.”
As one they stalked toward Peter.
Immediately my spear and shield were out and we rushed over to stand behind him. Though we looked like an odd assortment, Kline was abnormally buff even if he was short and Oliver would intimidate anyone with his size. Our gear was superior to theirs, which should have been a sign.
Peter’s lion cub and Victoria’s falcon were visible for all to see. From the text above their heads, these players weren’t even level 5.
I stood leaning on my spear with my shield dragging at my side. My hope was that they saw how fearless I looked; even if my fearlessness was really just exhaustion in disguise.
They stopped short, but not without a few hoots at Victoria.
Biting her lower lip, she lowered her spear as a dare.
“The person who died last night, died protecting the village. If you will not respect that, then I will make this very clear. Drop the sword or experience what he did,” Peter said.
The gang led by the blue haired guy looked as if they would test Peter’s resolve when another group joined us.
“I suggest you listen, boy. That belongs to a friend of mine,” said their leader. I remembered his full rusty beard from the night before. The name over his head read Harrison.
About fifteen people stood there opposing them.
Not as stupid as I hoped, the blue haired thief shrugged. “I didn’t know he was your friend. Guess it can’t be helped.”
He threw the sword to the ground near Peter’s feet.
“Watch your back.” He led his group out of the crowd into the woods.
The large bearded man gave us a slow nod. After the problem was out of sight, he headed to the gate with his group. Other groups followed shortly after.
What is wrong with people? I knew that wasn’t the right question. In VR games where pain isn’t an issue, there are thousands of guys like Mr. Blueberry. They enjoy giving people a hard time for the sake of the thrill. It really isn’t a big deal normally, but the reality of Freedom had not yet caught up with them. In time, the real criminals would be the people that didn’t change after they experienced the difference.
After the initial rush of players had left the village, a large crowd headed our way. They were armorless, with nothing but their newbie browns. There were dozens of them.
One of the players at the front of the pack was one of the men that had backed us up when the Hobgoblin boss first attacked. His name was John.
Most of the groups from last night had already entered the village so only our group was there to meet them.
They stopped before us, the pile of armor and weapons between us.
“Is that what I think it is?” one of the men asked.
Victoria stepped forward, a young falcon perched on her shoulder. The bird of prey had silver head feathers and a cherry brown colored body.
It caught me as odd that she kept doing the talking. She was more than capable, but it was Peter that commanded respect with ease. Not to mention he was an adult.
“Yes. We gathered all the items we could find that were dropped by everyone that died last night. The other groups helped. Please come gather your things. I’m sorry there was no way for us to sort them.”
The first to approach us was a black woman. Her hair was cut tight against her head and she was even taller than Victoria. She had well-toned muscle definition overall and was definitely an athlete. Such a strong woman had tears streaming down her face.
Walking up to Victoria, she grabbed her hand and cradled it in her own.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Turning to each of us in turn, she mouthed the words.
I felt tears threaten my eyes when she turned to me, but not out of compassion. I was jealous. She had gotten to die. The pain had ended quickly for her. I rebuked myself for even thinking such a thing.
When she was done, she turned to the pile and started sorting.
“Marcus! I think this is your club,” she said while placing items to the side.
A man stepped forward and grabbed the weapon, inventoried it, and stooped down to help her sort. Though it wasn’t as ceremonial, he also looked to us and nodded his thanks.
Soon a stream of players were working together to sort through the items. The tragic night had caused something I rarely saw in massive multiplayer games. Everyone was helping one another and there was no quest reward at the end.
After a few minutes, John stood and asked a question.
“So how did you guys kill the Hobgoblin?”
No one answered right away, but Victoria cleared her throat, choked up with emotion.
“When it attacked, we were all taken by surprise. Our group faced it first, but it ran right through us. If it wasn’t for Lucius, I would have been the first person crushed.”
When the crowd looked to me, I found it hard to breathe. My chest filled with warmth. Normally the spotlight was a part of being a high-level gamer, but this was something different. I cracked a smile to not be rude, but I didn’t think I deserved any praise.
“After that, it slaughtered many of us. Lucius once again took it upon himself and attacked the Hobgoblin alone. He gained its attention by throwing his spear into its back. Then he rushed forward and barely blocked the creature’s mace, which shattered his shield. That didn’t stop him. He slashed down at the Hobgoblin’s leg and disabled it at the knee. After…”
Suddenly she was unable to speak. Nothing looked externally wrong, she hid it really well. With a single shake of her head, she looked to Peter, who took over the story.
“After that Lucius was hit in the back as he tried to escape. I’m afraid he had the worst of it last night. Many of his ribs were broken, his back. He didn’t die.”
I was not able to look up at anyone. My body trembled. Wringing my hands, I tried to hide it.
A hand found my wrist and Victoria was there holding onto my arm. She didn’t even look up or say anything, but the gesture helped. I focused on the sweet smell of fruit that I remembered from last night. It had been her.
“We found that alcohol helps alleviate pain. When the beast fell, no longer able to walk, we were able to finish it quickly. Kline decapitated it for us.”
There was a deep sigh from the crowd.
“And as you can see Lucius is fully recovered.”
Those in the crowd needed no explanation about what it meant that I hadn’t died.
John soon found me and offered me his hand. A round of handshakes and pats on the back followed. I quickly came up with a theory that some of them were patting me on the back just to see if I really had recovered.
It was the most sobering moment of my life up to that point. What I saw was real thanks in people’s eyes. Winning a gaming world championship wouldn’t compare to what I felt at that moment. It was a humbling happiness.
Many of them headed back to the village after getting their stuff, but a few joined their groups and headed into the woods. Those were the brave ones.
Would I also find the courage? It was too early to tell. Now it was time to get some sleep, but this afternoon I had some thinking to do. I couldn’t lie to myself and say I didn’t fear what had just happened. It could happen again.
Oliver was charged with escorting Victoria and me to an inn. They had slept the least until early morning when Peter insisted and took over watch.
Victoria kept asking if I needed help walking, which wasn’t necessary at all. Never before had I grown this close to a group in all my years gaming online. I really liked these people. Not only were they willing to help me, but also protected the loot of everyone that had fallen facing the hobgoblin boss.