Orc Glitch- The Mad King Page 7

  Direwasps are found all over Terrafaytum. Their stingers secrete a toxin that will deal 1% of the victim’s full health gauge value every second. They tend to attack in groups and combined can coordinate devastating attacks that have been known to bring entire cliffogres to their knees.

  Cal dismissed the message. A drop of venom dripped from the tip of the foot-long stinger of the direwasp closest to Cal. It dropped onto a delicate frond that had pushed itself through the forest floor. For the first few seconds nothing happened. 10 seconds later, it had shrivelled up and disintegrated, its new life cut short.

  Gram spun around, her yellow eyes filled out with the darkness of a cat in hunt mode. “Cal, are you OK?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I might need your help with this one.” Gram turned back just in time to parry a flurry of attacks from a direwasp, manoeuvring its stinger with the ease of a swordsman with his blade.

  Cal didn’t know how much help he would be but he nodded. “Alright, what do you want me to do?”

  “Form a party with me. We’ll boost each other's stats during this battle.”

  “OK.” Keeping one eye on the battle before him, he opened up his menu. Scrolling through the options, he couldn’t find a ‘Join Party’ or ‘Create Party’ option. “Uh, how do it do it?”

  Gram batted away yet another direwasp with the butt of her spear, too preoccupied to answer.

  OK Cal, you got this. He focused on the movements of the snowy werejaguar. The words formed in his mind. “Form Party.”

  Gong!

  Congratulations! You have formed a party for the first time. Base stats are now boosted with your comrade. To increase the boost percentage, increase your Support Level with the comrade.

  Gram is now in your Party!

  The environment blurred around Cal, the battle slowing down to snail’s pace as Gram’s stat screen launched itself onto Cal’s view:

  NAME: Gram

  AGE: 62 (Terrafaytum)

  CLASS: Werejaguar Captain

  LVL: 21

  HP: 275/275

  MP: 210/210

  AFF: Fire (x27)

  STR: 37+1%

  DEF: 28+3%

  AGL: 45+1%

  INT: 39+1%

  ABILITY: Examine

  SKILL:

  Flaming Spear – Level 15 – Next Level in 54%

  Fire of Fury – Level 4 – Next Level in 56%

  WEAPON: Lance/Spear – Level C – Next Level in 47%

  Cool. He swapped screens and looked at his own again:

  NAME: Callahan Rogers

  AGE: 29 (Earth)

  CLASS: Orc Fighter

  LVL: 6

  HP: 105/105

  MP: 105/105

  AFF: Earth (x1)

  STR: 10+5%

  DEF: 10+4%

  AGL: 11+8%

  INT: 10+6%

  ABILITY: Examine, Verdant Whisper

  SKILL: Earth Wall – Level 1 – Next Level in 47%

  WEAPON: Axe – Level E – Next Level in 87%

  Even with the stat screen open, he could feel the changes in his body. Cal opened and closed his fist, relishing the increased power. Cal dismissed the screen and the environment came back into focus.

  “Alright. Now get over here and let’s take these pests out!”

  Cal drew his hatchet and started side-stepping around the hollow. The wasps were in a triangular formation, one at the front, two at the back. The front one drew back and launched itself, straight as an arrow at Gram.

  She crouched low then, when the giant wasp was mere feet away, launched herself gracefully above it as it buzzed underneath her. Using the momentum of her jump, she thwacked the spear into the bulbous abdomen of the giant wasp.

  It screeched with a high-pitched, two-layered voice, slamming into a tree five yards away and lay still. The two remaining ones, unperturbed by the death of its comrade, attacked Gram in unison.

  “Earth Wall!”

  Cal felt energy ripple through his fingers as he raised his hand in the direction of the melee. A wall of earth several inches thick tore up through the earth. The direwasps, unable to halt their forward momentum, stabbed their stingers into Earth Wall. They thrashed helplessly, trying to wrench themselves free, the Earth Wall pulling them further and further up towards the canopy.

  “Gram!”

  She had come around to Cal’s side, spear already alight. She ran up Cal’s Earth Wall, launching herself up the final few feet. Switching to a javelin grip, she threw her spear with so much force that it pierced through one bug then the other above it, sailing towards the tree tops. The direwasps froze, neon yellow blood oozing from the gaping wounds. Seconds later, they fell limp. Mana depleted, Cal’s craft disintegrated, bringing the flying fiends back down to earth. Have to allocate more points into Intelligence next time.

  Gram landed on all fours. She raised her hand and as if summoned, her weapon fell vertically down from the treetops and back into her grip.

  “Fuck yeah!” Cal roared. Gram sheathed her weapon behind her. Her eyes had become yellow and calm again as she regarded the orc.

  “What does ‘fuck’ mean?”

  Cal froze. “Umm…” He could only ponder for a heartbeat before he saw the twinkle of dripping poison from behind Gram. “Watch out!”

  Pushing the surprised werejaguar out of the way, he slammed his hatchet into the mandibled face of the direwasp Gram had stunned earlier. Its stinger tore open Cal’s stomach and side.

  -85 Damage!

  You have been poisoned!

  You will lose keep losing HP until you reach 0!

  “Aww fuck…” The last thing Cal saw was a flaming spear piercing the torso of the Direwasp.

  “Yes, Elder. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  Ugh, my head. Cal seldom got headaches. That was the one thing he had going for him despite his crippling condition. It was something he was coming to get used to in ValorVale.

  “A ring of light surrounded him. Droplets as luminescent as water dripped upwards – upwards! – from the earth to the heavens from an unknown source until it seemingly dried out.”

  Cal kept his eyes closed, trying to identify the things around the room. There was a fire warming the soles of his feet. Gram was definitely in the room. Presumably, she was recounting yet another one of his deaths to the Elder. Was Kai in the room somewhere, leaning against a wall, plotting how he could drive his spear into Cal yet again?

  Cal’s foot twitched involuntarily; the flames starting to get a touch too hot.

  “Ah, our hero awakens,” Keizen chuckled. She shuffled from the fire to Cal’s side. Cal opened one eye and looked at her. Grey whiskers sprouted from the corners of her red eyes as she smiled down at him. She was holding what looked like a Cuban cigar in her hand, pale green fumes twisting and twirling lazily from its lit tip.

  “Open your mouth.” Keizen ordered gently.

  “Oh sorry, I don’t–”Keizen socked the cigar into Cal tusked mouth, moving with a speed that belied her age. Cal dragged in the smoke and sat bolt up, spluttering.

  Keizen chuckled, picking up the cigar that rolled across the floor. “Orcs make themselves out to be so strong and tough.” She opened her maw, encouraging Cal to do the same as if he was a fresh mewling that needed to be taught how to eat. Cal hesitated, looking ruefully at the werejaguar’s cigar. A notification popped up.

  Dotesprout

  This plant is an antidote to common toxins. Its ability to be used in fresh or dried forms makes it a popular herb to carry on missions.

  “It’s called–”

  “Dotesprout.” Cal plucked the cigar out of the surprised fingers of the werejaguar elder, putting it back between his lips. “Drying it by sparkflame for a quartermoon allows it to be rolled up and smoked, maximising its medicinal effects. A strong antidote, especially for insect poisons.”

  Keizen took a step back, eyes wide. “That is werejaguar lore. How did you know that?”

  Cal took a deep drag. He ti
lted his head towards the ceiling and exhaled. Man, it was good shit. “He has the Verdant Whisper Skill, Elder.” Gram said softly. She stood a few feet behind Keizen. The fire burning at the foot of the bed threw shadows onto the wall, making the werejaguars as tall as the ceiling.

  Keizen shook her head. “Knows Earth Craft, has been endowed with Verdant Whisper and comes back to life when impaled. You are one of the strangest orcs I’ve ever met, Callahan.”

  Cal took another drag and said nothing.

  “It’s a good opportunity, Elder. The Chief grows weaker by the moon shift. The sentries have swept the forest for the lucentleaf but none have been sighted. We have no choice.” The Elder turned back towards the foot of the fire, the snowy werejaguar right behind her. “You can send Kai. He has been wanting to leave the forest for the last seventeen Karsts.”

  Cal stood up. “What’s going on?” He looked around the room. His bed – made of pliant rubberoak – was one of about twenty in the room. Each had what looked like a cast iron pot at the foot of the bed.

  Keizen slowly turned back towards Cal. She looked at him, her red eyes not giving anything away. “You witnessed one of our own being injured in the Sibelle just passed.” Gram spoke to the wall, but Cal knew she was talking to him. “He was – is – our chief. That eryn,” she spat out this word, “had secreted some sort of toxin in her blade. We’ve tried using all the herbs we have in our apothecary, but none have worked. The only one that remains is lucentleaf.”

  Gram turned around. Even though her eyes were averted, Cal could still see the hurt in them. “We have word that Gresshia has some but…”

  The environment around Cal blurred again as some text beamed itself up:

  Mission I: Lucentleaf Beyond The Forest

  The Chief of Rawdriad Village grows sicker by the day and is in need of a healing herb. It can only be found beyond the Forest in Gresshia Village. Reward: increased Repute with werejaguars, upgrade to weapons and armor.

  Accept?

  Yes | No

  “I’ll go,” Cal said. Keizen watched him grind the cigar butt under his bare foot in thinly veiled disgust. Catching her displeasure, Cal bent down. “Sorry. Yeah, I’ll go. This has all been my fault. If I hadn’t butted in, your chief might be well now. It’s the least I can do.”

  The two werejaguars regarded the orc quietly. “Gresshia Village is just beyond the Valley of Anguish.” Cal stilled himself, looking at Gram. She wasn’t the strongest werejaguar, but she was definitely competent in battle. If she hesitated when she spoke about this Valley of Anguish, then…

  Cal swallowed. He hated flaky people. Now that he had accepted, he wasn’t going to back out. Besides, this was all just a game. He could die an infinite amount of times. What was the harm? “I’ll go with Kai. He’s pretty strong, right? Killed me twice.” Cal mocked a stab through his chest and chuckled. As warm as the room was, it was positively chilly right now; the two werejaguars weren’t purring with laughter. Note to self: work on that werejaguar sense of humour.

  Gram turned to Keizen. “See Elder? Cal has said himself that he is willing to go. Kai needs all the EXP he can get in case…”

  “Summon my grandson, Gram.” Keizen ordered tiredly.

  Gram nodded deeply and slipped out of the room. It was difficult to find somewhere else in the room to look, but Keizen only had eyes for Cal.

  “Tell me Callahan, how did you come by the Verdant Whisper skill?”

  Finally, an ice breaker. “Oh funny story. So I was standing there in the forest watching your chief take on the eryn. She’d already wounded him and Kai had tagged in. He had cornered her and was about to finish her off. That’s when I got an in-game notification. A ‘Decision Mission’, I think it was called. If I chose to rescue the eryn, I would get this new skill, if I didn’t then no. So I chose to rescue the eryn.”

  Cal nodded and smiled at the same time. It didn’t take long for him to realise that he had made things even more awkward than they had been before Gram left.

  “Karst’s anus!”

  Cal had never been so relieved to hear Kai’s voice. The blue werejaguar flew into the room, Gram catching up moments later.

  “Whose idea was it to set me up with this sack of dung?”

  Keizen looked up into her grandson’s snarling face. “Mine.”

  Kai went from ready to kill to meek and timid in record time. His eyes flitted to Cal, annoyed that he had let him see that moment of weakness.

  “So what is it exactly that you want me... us to do?”

  “Callahan is to accompany you to Gresshia Village. There you will locate the apothecary and find the lucentleaf that Zkar needs. I trust that Gram has relayed this request to you?”

  “I have, Elder.” Gram had a trace of a smile as she nodded slightly at Keizen. So Cal wasn’t imagining things when they had brought him into Rawdriad Village before; Kai didn’t respect Gram.

  “In the future, if Gram tells you to do anything, you can assume that it came from me. Is that understood?” Kai stiffened, casting half a glance back over his shoulder.

  “Yes, Grandmother.”

  There was a knock at the door. A short sentry saluted, closed fist held at head height. “Karst imbues you. Elder Keizen, it’s Chief Zkar. You need to come quickly.”

  She nodded and shuffled out rather quickly. At the door, she turned around, looking between Cal and Kai. “I want you two to get acquainted with each other. This will not be an easy mission. You will have to work together to see it to the end.” She followed the sentry out and the door slid shut.

  The tension in the room grew by several notches as Gram, Kai and Cal found themselves standing around looking at one another.

  “Cal and I fought a group of direwasps a league beyond the village. I’ve only ever seen them in the Valley of Anguish. If they’re being sighted in the forest, something must be driving them down south.”

  Great, so there were more of these oversized pests to contend with, plus an oversized man baby of a cat as well. Kai grunted indiscriminately. He was avoiding eye contact with both Cal and Gram.

  “Cal, you should rest. You and Kai will head out next at the next moonshift.” Gram made to leave.

  “Wait, wait, wait… can someone explain what’s with the moons in ValorVale?”

  Kai had slinked out of room while Gram gazed at Cal. “‘ValorVale?’”

  “I mean Terrafaytum. I don’t understand how time works here.” Now that he thought about it, it seemed like it had been night for an awfully long time.

  Gram raised a hand to her chin and looked into the fire burning out at the foot of Cal’s bed. “Well we live by the four moons, Sibelle, Karst, Hyten and Flulia. They govern the ways of life of every race in Terrafaytum. They also determine our climate and can imbue certain people predisposed to craft.”

  Cal wished that he had taken the time to trawl the forums before heading into the ValorVale. He nodded dumbly, trying not to show it.

  “I’ve heard you guys say, ‘Karst imbues you’… so that’s what you mean, right? It’s the moon?” Gram nodded. “Can I ask a stupid question?”

  “Asking that was a stupid question.”

  “Uh well, I’m feeling generous. Why Karst? Which one is it?”

  Gram smiled at Cal again. He didn’t mind feeling like an imbecile. It was a welcome change from feeling like a diseased outcast.

  “Come with me.”

  Cal trailed the werejaguar captain out of the chief’s manor. He watched Gram’s shoulder blades slide in and out of her spotted, grey-white fur. Her long tail came inches within his face as it swayed rhythmically with each step. He had a strange compulsion to reach out and grab it, but decided against it.

  Moments later, they came out the front of the manor. The guards stood idly by as Gram and Cal descended the steps and turned around, facing the tall building.

  Gram pointed up at the hole that opened in the canopy right above it. “That’s Karst. It’s the moon of fire and imbues all
werejaguars.” Most of Karst could still be seen. A sliver of a milky white moon was visible at the edge of the opening, the next one to come.

  He closed his eyes, basking in the red moonbeams that struck his face. Gram thought back to the first day that he logged into ValorVale. He remembered the feeling of the earth, pulsing and alive beneath his feet as he ran for the first time. Every blade of grass trembled with anticipation that day. It felt as if the plants – no the earth beneath his feet itself – were speaking to him.

  “Sibelle was closest when I came to Terrafaytum for the first time.” Cal opened his eyes and met Gram’s steady gaze. How long had she been looking at him? “That could have been how I got Verdant Whisper.”

  Gram shrugged. “When the moon that matches your alignment is closest to Terrafaytum, your craft power is multiplied several times. At the right level, I have heard of people gaining new skills.” They stood in silence staring up at Karst.

  “Where’s the sun?” Cal asked.

  Gram gave him a puzzled look. “What’s the ‘sun’?” Cal returned her puzzled look with interest.

  “There’s no sun in Terrafaytum?”

  “If you tell me what a sun is, I might be able to tell you if there is one.”

  Cal looked up again at the sky. Stars twinkled around the moons, so there had to be a sun. Cal shook his head. You idiot, this is just a game…

  “Unless you’re talking about Lis, but that’s just a myth.”

  “What’s Lis?”

  Gram crossed her arms. “Keizen says that a long time ago, when she was a cub, Lis co-ordinated its movements with the four moons. She described it as a raging ball of fire so hot that not even werejaguars could touch its flames barehanded. All of a sudden, Lis disappeared. Apparently things were chaotic for a while, but soon the natural order of things that we know today settled in.”

  Cal yawned. Time was pretty weird in the game, but all he knew now was that he needed a little shut eye.

  “Thanks for bringing me up to speed Gram. I’m going to bed. Good night.” He paused. “Karst imbues you.”

  She turned away from him. “And you.”

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