It was a sunny day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was beautiful to travel. Carl and Betsy twitched their ears happily as they trotted down the road. Outside the city, he watched as players battled Level 11 to 20 mobs outside the city. Further outside the city were dungeons, orc camps, and graveyards where the undead patrolled. He watched the players running around hunting, chasing, and fleeing from mobs.
Thaddeus was so busy watching the players, he failed to notice a group of 10 players slowly surrounding the wagon.
"Halt!" yelled a man with an eye patch and black hair.
Thaddeus pulled the reins and brought the horse to stand still. Looking around, Thaddeus realized he had walked into an ambush.
"We've been waiting on you, Thaddeus Brown. You wiped out one of our troops by burying them alive. Now you have to pay. If you pay 10 gold, we'll kill you quickly. If you can't pay, we'll take our time," the man with the eye-patched grinned murderously.
Thaddeus looked around, 10 versus 1 weren't good odds and he didn't have the element of surprise this time. He had no choice but to fight his way out or die. He jumped down from the driver's seat and analyzed the players. Most of the players were Level 10 to Level 12, but the leader was level 15, which would be a problem.
Thaddeus ran to the closed player, bashed him, and then cleaved the player's midsection. True to the game, the attack after stunning the man was counted as a sneak attack which meant he earned a critical strike. With a second quick swipe, the man was dead. That was the only attack, before the leader yelled, "Kill that bastard!"
Eight players at once rushed towards Thaddeus, while the boss looked on pleased. The first attack to hit him was a fireball, from a caster at the rear of the wagon. He looked and saw that attack dealt him -33 damage. He felt like his body was burning for three seconds, which was long enough for the other red-tag players to reach and get a hit on him.
After suffering more than -288 damage, he used improved agility to get a little separation. He knew he had to deal with the caster first, otherwise, he'd continue to suffer damage from strong attacks. With his above-level strength and constitution, Thaddeus was able to damage his opponents, as well as he got it. After all, he reached Level 10 twice, but he was unable to kill any. If he wanted any chance at escaping, he had to even the odds. He divided his 30 remaining stat points into vitality, strength, and agility.
His HP increased when his vitality did. The extra bump in vitality, strength, and agility helped him attack and block more. His shield and axe were being tested like never before. He was thankful for Roy's help in building such sturdy weapons. Even with the increase in HP, his HP was still decreasing rapidly.
When his bash cooldown ended, he hit immediately slammed into the person with the most damage, stunning, and then cleaving them in half. Seven on 1 were still not manageable odds. Thaddeus watched as his HP dipped below the halfway mark. Killing a second person, sent the Crimson Outlaws into a rage. Their attacks intensified, and Thaddeus' HP began dropping as fast as a rock dropped into a lake.
If he didn't do something quick, he would surely die. Even worse, he noticed the mage was in the middle of casting a new spell. Just before he finished, Thaddeus cast [Stone Wall]. The fireball flew into the stone wall and explored. Sending the Crimson Outlaw caster flying and slamming against a tree. The caster was knocked unconscious and provided Thaddeus the opportunity he needed to even the odds. Thaddeus shot toward the snoozing caster and managed to cut off the caster's head and chop down the tree.
The leader seethed in anger at losing his caster. The odds were now six against one and Thaddeus' health was still below the halfway mark. But now he created space, he was finally free of the onslaught. Moreover, the other six red-tag players were looking at Thaddeus worriedly. He could he'd shaken their confidence.
"What are you waiting for attack!" yelled the boss.
The six players attacked Thaddeus running to reach him. But that was their mistake, Thaddeus cast [Erosion], and a 10-foot pit appeared a step ahead of them.
"Watch out!" yelled the boss, but it was too late. He watched as three out of six of his comrades fell 10 feet to their death and were buried alive.
"Damn you! Can't you morons kill one person!" the one-eyed man yelled. "Kill him all his skills must be on cool down!"
The three people looked at Thaddeus, then looked at their boss. Fear gripped their faces. They regretfully realize either their boss would kill them, or Thaddeus would. In a split second, they weighed the pros and cons. And realized 3v1 was still better than being killed by their boss who enjoyed torturing people.
At once the three people rushed at Thaddeus. Thaddeus concentrated, he planted his feet in the group like roots, his legs were strong like a tree trunk, and kept his arms flexible like branches in a storm. He gripped his shield, holding it tighter. The three red-tag players thought Thaddeus had given up because he remained still.
When they crashed into Thaddeus it felt like they had run face-first into a tree stunning them for five seconds. By the time the last player came out of her faze, she awoke just in time to see her comrades die. Gripped with fear, she tried to run away, only to fall into a pit to her death. Now all that remained was the Crimson Outlaw Pinewood boss and Thaddeus.
"Argh, they're worthless trash. I guess I have to kill you myself!" the boss said running towards Thaddeus.
Thaddeus stood in stance, anchored to the ground like a tall tree. But, when the boss crashed into him, Thaddeus was sent flying and landed stunned on the ground. Within in second, Thaddeus lost a quarter of his health from the outlaw boss. Now he only had a 25% of his health remaining. It looked like he would be the next one to die, but that didn't mean he wouldn't die swinging.
"Ha-ha, I'm going to take my time killing you. You'll even get to watch your horses die and watch me post all your items sold to the auction. He kicked Thaddeus' axe away. He said gripping Thaddeus' throat and choking on the ground. Thaddeus desperately tried to reach for his axe, but it was out of his reach.
Thaddeus could feel his throat being crushed. He couldn't breathe. He grasped the boss's hand trying to remove him from his throat, but it was no use. The boss's grip strength was stronger than his. He hit the boss's hands trying desperately to remove them from his throat so he could breathe. Even worse, he could feel the pressure on his neck tightening like a vice grip. He could feel himself getting sleepy. He struggled to keep to stay conscious. He racked his brain for anything he could do when he remembered the hidden dagger in his boots.
With the last of his remaining strength, he head-butted the boss to distract him and reached for the Blood Dagger.
"Ha-ha, did you think that pathetic attempt would keep me from killing you? I'll stop when you have 1 HP left, that's when I'll tie you up and—argh!" he screamed as Thaddeus stabbed the man in the back. "What did you do?"
However, the boss did not let go. Now they were locked into a game of who dies first. The boss choked Thaddeus, while Thaddeus repeatedly stabbed in him the back. On the fifth stab, Thaddeus triggered the critical strike. The outlaw tried his best to hide it, but the repeated -50 damage, + the 5-minute bleed effects, and the critical strike were adding up quickly. He had already lost 25% of his health and it was spiraling quickly down to half.
"Urgh," yelled the outlaw boss as he let Thaddeus go.
"Ah," Thaddeus said gasping for air. With the little breath he gathered, he quickly cast [Erosion] and sent the bleeding Crimson Outlaw down a long pit. Thaddeus looked at his stats his HP was down to 97 and his MP was zero. He felt himself going in and out of consciousness and struggling to breathe.
He quickly picked up the loot from the dead outlaws and cracked the whip, encouraging Carl and Betsy to gallop away. When he saw the jump portal, Thaddeus relaxed and lost consciousness.
When the wagon rode through the portal, the outlaw boss' broke free from the ground. Not much longer his head appeared from underneath the dirt. The man gritted his teeth, and grumbled, "Just wait until I find you. I'll kill you until you're back to Level 1!"
A day later Thaddeus woke up sitting in the wagon's driver's seat. It was dusk and everything around him seemed peaceful. Clyde and Betsy were still walking down the road, unaware Thaddeus was asleep. Thaddeus wondered where he was. He pulled up the map in his display and realized he had actually been asleep for two days in-game. Betsy and Carl crossed over two portals and had brought near the midpoint of their journey. They were just a few miles from Pine Bluff a town that sat on the border between Pinewood and Pine Grove cities. And it wasn't much longer until Pine Bluff appeared in his vision. The towns had the same layout as White Pines, and he saw new players chasing and killing low-level mobs.
"Welcome Traveler, you don't seem to be new. May we ask your business before entering Pine Bluff?" ask a guard.
"I'm on my way to Pine Grove. I'm looking for a place stable to take care of my horses and protect my wagon. If you know a good place to eat, I'd appreciate it," Thaddeus said tipping the guards 10 coppers each and once again watched as the guards' faces brighten.
"There's an inn, the Wretched Troll, just down the street and on your left. Tell Mary, Rony and Tommy sent cha, and she'll treat you well," the guard smiled waving Thaddeus in.
Inside the city, the players looked on in amazement as Thaddeus drove his carriage down the street to the inn. Thaddeus looked like a king riding into town. They were trying to kill Timberwolves and skin them for coppers, yet he could afford two horses and a wagon. Seeing him, inspired them to grind harder and make it to the city and grasp their opportunity.
In a small town, it wasn't hard to find various shops. Everything was pretty much in one central location. He tightened the reins and Carl and Betsy slowed to a stop. As soon as he jumped down a woman met him at the front door. She was a pretty, young woman, probably in her mid-twenties who wore a purple dress with a white apron over top.
"Can I help you, sir?" she asked unsure whether he was a guest or trying to sell her something. Either was fine by which.
"Rony and Tommy sent me. I'm looking for a place to rest and some to feed and water my horse for the night. He wasn't tired, but he was sure Carl and Betsy would appreciate the rest. They made it to Pine Bluff much faster than he anticipated. He figured they must not have stopped on the journey here.
"I can gladly help you. It's 15 coppers for room and board, and another 5 coppers to take care of your horses."
Things were truly cheaper in the towns. Thaddeus paid the 20 coppers and walked inside, as Mary called out to her sons to take care of the horse.
"You want to eat first or go to bed?" Mary asked.
"I'll eat first," Thaddeus said, looking around the room. He could tell the majority of people in the inn where the town's residents were here to grab dinner and a few brews before bed.
Mary quickly brought Thaddeus a plate of sausages over mashed potatoes with baked beans, peas, and a tankard of ale. He ate the food and replayed the Crimson Outlaw ambush over and over again in his mind. He was lucky to barely escape with his life. He was lucky, that he kept the Blood Dagger hidden in his boots, otherwise he really would have lost his life. He was also lucky Betsy and Carl got him as far away from the Crimson Outlaw's boss as soon as possible. One thing he couldn't remember was whether or not he killed the boss the or not. If not for luck, he'd be back in Pinewood starting all over.
Luck or not, he was glad he was alive and made it out of there. As he was thinking about the fight a fifth time, he remembered he picked up some of the dead outlaws' loot before getting back into the wagon. He quickly finished his food and downed his beer and made his way to his wagon to check out the loot and then covertly brought the loot to his guestroom.
For a high-ranking guild, their armor was certainly not the best. Most of the armor was uncommon, there was only one rare piece and bag of holding. He quickly posted their common and uncommon armor and weapons to the forum auction. Afterward, he checked the rare piece of equipment, an emerald ring, when he analyzed he was amazed at what he saw.
Lich King's Elemental Ring
Level 85
+20 Elemental Bonus
Durability 67/85
Boost elemental affinity by 20%. Increases INT by 10 points.
Next, he checked the bag holding and to his delight, it was filled with coins. Collecting tolls from players as they went out to farm mobs, was obviously a lucrative business. It took him nearly 30 minutes to count all the change. There were 962 coppers, 12 silvers, and 4 gold coins. With this amount of money, plus what he earned from the last auction he had over 26 gold, which meant he had over 26,000 coppers. The Crimson Outlaws were definitely his benefactor. Thinking about that made him chuckle.
Since he had just woken up, he laid down in bed and read the forum discussions. He spent the evening catching up on game news, gossip, and reading about the latest guild wars.