"But why do people farm those?"
I shrugged. "Because the XP is good and they are naturally drawn here because of the sludge beetles."
Tim looked confused. "Wait, why not farm the sludge beetles? There are thousands here!"
"Those beetles only give one experience point each, but the big guys give between nine and eleven experience points. It's much more effective to just hunt the big guys and collect some random sludge beetle experience as you hunt."
Tim looked satisfied with the answer. "Ah, I see. That' makes a lot of sense."
I began to head deeper into this area of the forest. I was certain that Punisher was here, but I had no way of knowing his exact location aside from radioing him in. I pressed the button on my radio and waited a few minutes. There was no response from him on the other end, which was really concerning to me.
"Shit, no response."
Tim looked up at me. "Hey, I've never met this Punisher guy, but if he's anything like what you've said he's like, I'm sure he'll be fine."
I looked down at Tim the smart watch. This is the first time I've heard him say something reassuring. "Hmmm, something's wrong with my watch's settings... It looks like the rude setting's been turned off."
"Fuck you."
I laughed, "Oh, there it is. It's working again."
I traveled deeper into the ranch and looked for signs of Punisher. It hadn't been long before I came across the remnants of a fight between players. I saw the body of a human player that had his head blown off, a huge trench cut into the forest floor by some kind of magic attack, and some arrows that had been imbedded into various trees. I looked over at the dead body and analyzed it some more.
I recognized the gray sweater the dead man wore. "Holy shit, this is one of the twins. This is Martin Hughes."
Tim's confused face appeared on the smart watch. "Who is Martin Hughes?"
I looked down at the watch again. "He's a player who committed numerous crimes with his brother back on earth when he returned from the first season. They were known as the Swift and Strong brothers. One was fast, the other was strong."
"Wait, in the future again? Don't tell me you had a vision about these guys too?"
I laughed to play it off. "The visions are weird; I see a lot of things. The world is going to be a better place now that one of the brothers is gone. It looks like Punisher did this, so he must be okay. I don't see him dead in that giant trench over there."
"How do you know your friend Punisher did this?"
I knew because I had seen this kind of kill from him before. I remember that when he used his gun fu, if he charged his energy, he could release it in a close combat explosion of force. If it were directed at someone's head and their vitality was anywhere around thirty or more points below his spirit stat, their head would be blown off just like this.
I decided to lie to Tim to keep things simple. "It's because I just saw it in a vision as we walked up."
Tim rolled his eyes. "Those are some really convenient visions you've got there."
"I know, right? Let's follow this trail; it looks like Punisher and his pursuer's went southwest."
It was at that moment that I felt the presence of others in the area, about fifty meters in the direction of where it looked like Punisher had gone. I instinctively hid my presence and dove behind a tree. Expanding my senses, I began to feel around for who was approaching.
I whispered to Tim, "We have a few players heading in our direction from the southwest; we'll have to be quiet for a while. Two on the ground, one flying. They're approaching slowly."
Tim nodded, and his face disappeared into the watch. I felt the three players approach and noticed that the flying player was the only one who might be capable of sensing me. None of them appeared to be a real threat, but it never hurts to be cautious.
I estimated that I had about twenty meters of distance that I could have between myself and the flying player before they would sense me. With my agility, I'd have no problems crossing that distance in seconds. I don't know who they were, but in cases like this, it was better to strike first and ask questions later.
The moment they crossed the twenty-meter mark, I felt that the flying player had detected me, so I leaped into motion. I darted out from behind the tree that was providing myself cover and leapt at the three players. As I approached, I saw their faces and instantly recognized them all. They were members of the Black Keys, or at least would be.
The Black Keys were an organization that originated between the first and second seasons. It was comprised of criminals who used their powers for their own benefit. They were determined to clear the five seasons and become a ruling power back on earth. It was founded by several players, but one of them was floating before me. It was a man who went by Bane; no one knew his real name, even after all five seasons.
He was shadowed by Walter Hughes and Cassidy Green, both of whom would end up becoming serious problems for humanity in the future. Although I had planned to resolve things without unsheathing my sword, the opportunity to rid the world of such an evil man was too good. I pulled my blade out of the sheath and made a horizontal slash at Bane the moment I came into range.
I watched Bane's eyes flicker to my blade. I saw that his body was reacting very slowly to the attack, even though he saw it coming, which told me two things. The first of which was that Bane had a really high mind stat, and the second was that he had a very low agility stat. The moment my slash hit his body, I felt a massive amount of recoil as the blow was reflected back at me with the same amount of force.
"Shit!"
I was knocked back about five meters, landing painfully on my ass.