Cora walked along the road, curiously looking around. Unlike the somewhat decorative, overgrown trees along the main road, the trees here were thicker and more gnarled. The sun struggled to penetrate the trees, giving the road an ominous look.
She was starting to regret coming this way. Still, she kept walking forward. Soon, she could faintly hear snarls and cries coming from in front of her.
Cora sped up, coming around a bend where the branches were scarcer, letting in more of the late afternoon sunlight.
*****
'Mission Quest: Distract Glug
Description: Daria has left the safety of her tree to pick flowers by the roadside, lured by Glug, the pet of the Druid Lavcheg. Distract Glug so that Daria has a chance of escape. Hurry! Lavcheg is coming!
Requirements: Distract Glug in some manner. Caution advised.
Reward(s): Varied'
*****
Cora stared at the mission floating in front of her in surprise. She hadn't expected to get another one so soon. Unlike what she'd seen on the forums, her only two missions so far had been to work some stones for Blue and to activate the teleportation circle. Her only reward for the second was a book of glyphs that purported to be for the region that had appeared when she arrived at the one for the orc town.
She only hoped that if she reached a new town that had a teleportation circle, it would be added to the book without any other actions from her needed. Cora couldn't imagine asking for a circle's coordinates from its keepers. She had been getting the vibe that they were being kept semi-secret since there was no mention of them in the forums despite the game's age.
Cora cautiously advanced, picking up her kick rock. She'd been using it to help pass the time while walking since she'd left Ufgar at the border of the Wildlands. To her relief, most of the predators that had been tracking them had left shortly after that, most not crossing that nearly invisible line. The ones that had had quickly abandoned the chase after a few minutes.
The rock kicking had started as way to nonchalantly gather up a weapon of some sorts. Cora hadn't had the time or money to buy anything at the beginner's village she'd started in other than the level 0 dagger she'd been gifted with on arrival and a set of tools for harvesting herbs and plants. She'd spent her beginning funds on meat from the butcher to see if she could cook it.
It had been while gathering firewood that she'd stumbled on Sycamore being bullied by that team. Now, she realized that the situation had been more dire than either she or the team realized. If they had succeeded in killing Sycamore, her family might have razed that entire kingdom in retaliation.
Cora bit back the sigh that wanted to escape. She could see a girl in the distance, trying to fend off a wolf the size of a small sedan. The girl was swinging a little wooden staff that sparked every time it came into contact with the wolf who was harrying her away from the road. The girl seemed to just be a few feet from it. Beside her, nearly trampled in the dirt were several bright blue flowers that gleamed in the scarce sunlight.
Cora inched forward, her heart beating fast. The wolf didn't notice her, busily harrying the girl. From the looks of it, she truly didn't want to meet its master if the pet was so unruly. She carefully let down her sack from her shoulder.
Cora gripped her rock and then threw, hoping that it would land. She was rewarded by a yelp as the wolf whirled towards her.
"Pick on someone your own size," Cora yelled, reaching down and prying up another bit of rock from the broken bricks around her feet.
The wolf growled and pounced towards her, only to rebound when it hit the edge of the road. It growled, paws digging at the broken slab there. The girl behind her stared at Cora with wide eyes before scooping up a flower and running into the woods.
The wolf stopped. It growled at Cora again before turning in the direction the girl had run. Cora threw her newest rock, smacking it on the rump. The wolf flashed her a disdainful, angry look before running after the girl.
'Mission successful! Reward: Daria's gratitude.'
"That's it?" Cora muttered. She stood undecided for a moment before plunging into the woods after the pair.
*****
Daria ran, relishing the feel of the ground under her feet. She could hear the clawed steps of the giant wolf behind her, gaining ground. She thought nothing of that. Four feet were obviously faster than two.
She clutched the blue stone flower in her hand. She'd been looking everywhere for them, but they didn't bloom near her grove. Daria admitted to herself that she'd been foolish. She'd caught the distant gleam of the flowers and been lured over.
How was she to know that Glug had put them there? She didn't even know that wolves knew how to transplant flowers, much less delicate ones like blue stones.
Daria diverted her path. Glug was clearly looking for the grove. She couldn't lead him to it. She spotted a small cave near her path. Daria angled her run towards it.
She skidded to a stop in front of it and then hurriedly dove into it. She barely fit into the hole. Daria tried wedging herself in deeper, protectively curling around the flower in her hand. No matter what happened, she couldn't lose the flower.
She heard Glug arrive at the cave's entrance, panting heavily. Daria felt a thread of happiness at the sound. She had made him that tired. She curled in on herself tighter, closing her eyes. What she couldn't see wouldn't be that terrifying was her current trend of thought.
She heard Glug start digging around the entrance. Clearly, the wolf had realized that it wouldn't be able to fit in the tiny cave. Then came a yelp. It was followed by a snarl and another yelp.
"Hey, ugly! You look like you need a rock sandwich," came a voice from outside. It was followed by another yelp and a deeper growl from Glug. "Oh, does Baby have a boo-boo? Oh, crap," was followed by the sound of running feet and a running wolf.
Daria carefully eased out of the cave, remembering the mystery rocks that had distracted Glug in the first place. She looked in the direction of sound, seeing a quickly disappearing brushy tail. Daria heaved a sigh of relief and then paused, conflicted.
Her eyes fell on the few rocks scattered near the cave's entrance. They looked like chunks of road. Daria blinked in surprise. It had never occurred to her that you could pick those up, much less use them as an impromptu weapon.
She scrambled out of the cave and scooped up the rocks, carefully cradling them in her arm along with the flower. Then, after giving it some thought, she tucked the flower into her hair, feeling it root in place.
She tossed her head a few times to make sure it was secure. Then she started running after Glug.
It was, she reflected, the first time she'd actively chased someone.
*****
Cora ran so fast, she could feel a stitch developing in her side. She gave a brief wondering thought to the developers' sense of realism before forcing herself to try to go even faster. She could see the edge of the road ahead, beckoning with the allure of safety.
She didn't know what had possessed her. She was against the abuse of animals, but seeing the wolf harrying that poor girl to the point it was trying to dig her out of that little cave had infuriated her. So, Cora had let fly with her rocks.
It was only after the wolf turned its furious yellow gaze towards her that Cora started to regret. She'd taken two steps back, whirled and ran as fast as she could. She kept praying that the mysterious, unknown limit to afternoon wouldn't come as she did so. Her Stamina Boost and Speed Boost were both afternoon skills. Without them, she'd be at the wolf's mercy.
As it was, she was just a little bit faster. Still, her stamina bar was starting to run low, much to her surprised dismay. It had grown tremendously since she'd been a level 1, but now, she felt much like she had when she rescued Sycamore.
Cora found herself wishing that Dewalt or Germaine or even little Sycamore would appear. She had a feeling that the wolf wouldn't want to deal with any of them.
She could hear it gaining on her. She tried desperately to concentrate on getting to the road. Monsters couldn't attack those who were on the road.
With a soft, muted ding that sounded thunderous in her ears, the sunlight started waning, blue shadows starting to take its place. Cora bit down on the harsh, unhappy words that wanted to start spewing. Cursing would not help her in this instance.
She tripped on an exposed root and tumbled, rolling to a stop a few feet from the road's border. Cora looked up, seeing the faded, almost indistinguishable embossed 'W' on the slab facing her. She could hear the wolf approaching.
Turning her head, she saw the wolf slow as it came near, jaws gaping in a scary mockery of a smile. Cora found herself wishing that she'd looked for a sword while in the orc town. She was sure that someone was selling them somewhere in that immense marketplace.
She scrambled backwards, coming to a stop against a tree trunk. Cora lifted her chin in defiance. She was a player; she'd reincarnate in some beginner's village if she died. She only hoped that she'd be able to get back to her sacks before someone made off with them. She'd left them on the road after all.
"Interfering, little morsel," the wolf growled at her as it approached.
Cora's eyes widened. Did all the creatures in the Wildlands possess the ability to talk?
"You shouldn't pick on little girls," Cora refuted. She frowned as he growled, showing long sharp fangs.
"Sticking your nose where it isn't wanted can get it bitten off." The wolf snapped his jaws a bare inch from her face. "After my meal, I'm going to go back and drag that one back to my master." It glanced backwards.
Cora followed its gaze to see the girl from before, standing a few feet away, looking appalled. The girl was half-obscured by the shadows of the trees, shifting from foot to foot.
"Leave her alone," Cora said, flinching when the wolf turned its attention back to her.
"Yes, leave her alone," the girl echoed, her voice much fiercer and yet there was a tremble in it.
"Stupid girls," the wolf said. It winced as a rock thudded into its withers. "Stop that," it snarled as it whirled towards the new girl.
Cora whipped out her Level 0 dagger and stabbed it in the leg, eliciting a snap that grazed her arm. She stared at the -100 that floated above the wound for a long moment. That was over half of her current HP.
The wolf started to lunge at her before it disappeared, smashing against a nearby tree with a pained yelp that still elicited a twinge of sympathy from Cora.
Cora looked up to see a wall of fur standing between her and the wolf. There was a deep, bone shaking roar.
"Who are you to be attacking her in this place?" was spoken in a dark, deep voice.
"Spence!" The other girl cheered, running over and ducking down next to Cora. "Are you okay? Spence is here, so there's no need to worry any more."
Cora glanced from the girl to the wall of fur. The fur was dark and gleamed in the fading sunlight. The girl wasn't human but something else. Up close, it was easy to see that her skin was a light brown and striated like a finely sanded and varnished piece of wood. Her hair was a shaggy mass of vines and leaves with a blue flower stuck into one side over her ear, and her eyes were sparkling orbs of polished amber.
"I'll be fine," Cora assured the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Spence is here, so yes," the girl replied with a nod.
"Shouldn't you banish this disobedient wolf," the wall of fur said, moving. As it moved, she could finally see the front, realizing that it was a bear.
"I can banish him," Cora asked, looking at the wolf who was levering himself out of the leaves of the forest floor, glowering at them.
"Of course you can," the bear assured her. It lowered itself to all fours and growled at the wolf. "Just say the words."
"Until you learn some manners, I banish you," Cora said half-heartedly. "Glug!" she hurriedly added just in case it backfired.
There was a whirl of wind and leaves. The wolf fought but was still caught up in the nascent tornado. Cora and the girl watched with wide eyes as the wolf was carried up in the sky and away.
"Wow," the girl breathed before turning shining eyes towards Cora. "My name's Daria. What's yours?"