I finally left the Alchemist Guild after spending a bit more time there then planned. I still had some discomfort but nothing terrible. It turns out the lady's name is Iris and she has a house in the nicer parts of town. She made it clear that I was welcome at her place at any time.
I understood the hidden message; I may be daft but I'm not stupid. I don't know if I will visit her but I might.
"F%ck." I cursed under my breath. I was supposed to be heading out to kill things but now I've got a head thinking of a different kind of battle. I cursed once again. "Bloody hormones, why did she have to whisper things like that in my ear."
I tried to keep my mind off it, but like a cowlick, it just wouldn't stay down. To quiet my head, I decided to visit her at least once before leaving for a new city.
With my mind busy my footsteps were quick and before I knew it I was at the gate. They were brightly lit with magical lights on both sides. The guards there stopped me. "You know that we will be closing the gates soon, they will not open for anyone until the sun comes up. Monsters are much more active at night too."
It was kind of them to look out for me but it was unnecessary. "Thank you for the warning but that is why I am coming out at night, better spoils to be had at this time."
He looked at his partner who just shrugged. "We hope you return safely then. May God watch over you."
His partner offered a prayer as I left the gate which made me laugh. If only he knew just how closely their God watches over us players.
The sun was just setting over the forest bathing everything in an orange glow. The surrounding small hills created pockets of shadow. There were a few people in rough clothing heading back to the city.
I ignored most of them and started walking towards the first. The breeze from earlier was nearly gone and the temperature was dropping slightly. But this didn't bother me at all, because of the ring my surroundings felt comfortably warm.
I killed the rabbits who jumped at me when in the valleys but they were boring to kill at this point. I didn't even bother to pick up the small amounts of copper.
When I was approaching the forest, an arrow came flying at me. This was the first time I truly noticed the impact my high stat totals had. I was easily able to track the trajectory of the arrow and move slightly out of the way.
It landed a few centimetres away from my foot. I looked up to find where it came from but couldn't see anything. It came from the treetops but whoever shot it was obscured by both the shadows and the sunset.
The first scenario that came to mind was PKers. And instead of feeling concerned about this encounter, I was excited. I called out to them because anyone out at this time of night is someone who is either confident in their skills or stupid.
"IF YOU ARE A PLAYER, COME OUT! SHOW YOURSELF, OR I WILL COME TO YOU! AND IF I DO, I'LL BE SHOWING YOU HOW THE DEATH MECHANIC WORKS!"
My shouts were answered with a rain of arrows. With all of the arrows coming down at me, I was able to pinpoint where the shooter was coming from. I moved around on the ground and planned my next move.
When I felt confident with my prediction of the arrow's speed I snatched one out of the air. This action caused a pause in the steady rain and sharpened metal. I stepped clear of the line of fire and threw the arrow.
I was no javelin thrower in real life, but with the game doing its thing, my throw was fairly accurate. I didn't get a notification or any indication I hit anything, but the arrows stopped coming at me.
I waited for a full minute and nothing happened, but when I was about to ignore this whole interaction a voice called out from the woods. "WAIT, DON'T KILL ME! I'M COMING OUT!"
'Finally! Stupid, cautious people.' A few seconds later a tall thin figure walked out of the woods.
He had black hair and super pale skin, he probably liked the contrast in the character creation screen. He had the basic clothing we all spawned in and held a simple-looking black bow that looked to be unstrung.
Overall the weapon suited his character design and color scheme well. He was just missing some vampire fangs and nice clothes and he would be a goth girl's wet dream.
When he was close enough, I didn't have to yell I held up a hand to stop him. "Care to explain why you shot at me?"
He was tall. Probably just around 7' tall, but still a foot shorter than me. "Why wouldn't I? Best case scenario I get a cool weapon to sell or some coin. Worst case, I can run away. I didn't expect you to be a monster though."
'At least he is honest.' "Why the second rain of arrows then?" He cocked his head to the side and answered.
"I thought the first shot was a miss on my part. Besides, if you can't kill them with one arrow then you should fire more, isn't that common sense?"
'I guess that is sound logic for an archer.' "It's my turn to ask questions now. What kind of class are you? You nearly killed me with my own arrow, I haven't even seen your weapon yet."
I pulled out Excalibur and did a flourish with it as fast as I could for effect. My quick motions with the blade left a few trails of silver in the air. "Swordsman, of course. What's your second question?"
The archer's eyes went wide when he saw the weapon and the speed at which I could wield it. He cleared his throat and asked, "Why are you hunting at night?"