Runeguard 005

I spun around to find a giant insect in my face. Unlike the other bloat flies I had killed, this one was about the size of my torso.

I bashed it away with my shield, but instead of causing the queen to fall to the floor as I expected, the blow only knocked the creature back a little.

Advancing again, the queen buzzed towards my head, forcing me to duck.

Damn, I thought, evading her zipping form. Where the hell had she come from? My hands trembled. I forced it steady. It was the poison, I knew. 

I could feel it worming its way through my body. I didn’t have time to worry about its effects, though. I had a foe to deal with first. Setting my feet, I waited for the queen to circle back. 

She kept me waiting.

Spiraling upwards, the queen climbed high in the sky, until she was no more than a tiny speck. Then she dived. 

But I had seen this maneuver many times already and was ready with a counter. When the queen drew close, I dodged to the side and bashed her away with my shield. Knowing already that she wouldn’t be knocked down by the blow, I lunged forward with my sword. 

The queen bobbed to the right and evaded the brunt of the blow, but my blade still clipped her, slicing off one of her four wings in the process.

The giant fly teetered, her balance disrupted. 

Flinging away my shield, I took my sword in a two-handed grip and struck out again, but mid-stroke my body convulsed, fouling my strike. I bit back a quiver of fear. My infection was worsening, and already my body was weakening.

I had to kill the queen fast.

The queen swayed and easily evaded the attack. I followed through with another slash.

I missed. Tried again. Missed again.

The bloat fly was bobbing too wildly in the air for me to predict her movements. But I didn’t let up, even though my vision was going blurry. 

Sooner or later, I would land a blow—I had to—and as long as I kept the queen dodging, I stopped her from infecting me further.

The queen, though, had had enough. Perhaps realizing she had miscalculated the strength of her foe, or perhaps seeing me weakened and judging her poison would finish the job, she rose straight up in the air in an attempt to flee.

That was her mistake. 

Given a predictable trajectory, I pounced. Raising my sword up high, I slashed downwards through a path timed to intersect the queen’s.

This time, despite my shuddering limbs, I held my blade true to its course. The sword found its mark. Striking the queen dead center, the weapon cleaved straight through her body.

The queen fell to the floor in two lifeless halves and, depleted, I sank to the ground with her.

You have reached level 5! 

+1 rank in strength, dexterity, and constitution.

+3 Essence Points.

“What did the queen poison me with, Adi?” I panted, my body shaking involuntarily as I lay in the mud.

“She infected you with a parasitic agent. I estimate your body will nullify the last of the toxins in the next minute.”

I winced. I wasn’t sure I had that long. Convulsions rippled near-continuously through my body now, and I could feel my organs shutting down. 

“Will I still be alive after the poison has done its work?”

There was a moment of stark silence, and I felt my dread mounting with every second Adi delayed in answering. 

Eventually the administrator answered. “By my calculation, your health will be at 5% when the poison is expelled.”

I huffed in relief. So I would live then—if barely. Clenching my teeth to hold back the screams that threatened to erupt, I waited for the toxin to run its course.

✵ ✵ ✵

Adi’s predictions were spot on, both as to my remaining health and the poison’s duration.

A minute later, I rose shakily to my feet. I had gained another level in the fight with the queen and wasted no time in reinvesting my Essence Points in constitution again.

“Adi, what’s my health now?” I asked once I had done so.

“Your health is 46 / 170 HP.”

Good. The additional health from the invested Essence had made an appreciable difference and already I felt less incapacitated. It was time to head back to town, I decided. I had more than enough of the bloat flies for one day.

Bending down, I touched my fingers to the queen, and looted her corpse, idly wondering just how many bloat fly appendages I would get this time around. This one had been a queen after all. Straightening, I glanced disinterestedly at the System message.

Then froze.

The loot was not at all what I had expected. I hadn’t received any bloat fly limbs. Instead I had gotten something else altogether.

You have acquired: a life Essence Gem.

Item: Life Essence Gem

Tier: 2. Description: grants a player the life Essence. Human compatible: yes. 

Warning: this item cannot be sold or traded. If not used within ten hours of acquisition, this item will be recycled into the System for: 2 gold.

Congratulations, Dace Tolman! You have discovered your first tier 2 Essence.

My eyes widened. The bloat fly queen had dropped an Essence Gem!

“Adi, are you seeing this?” I murmured.

“I see everything you do, Dace.”

I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t meant the question literally. Ignoring her response, I asked, “Is it normal to find Essence Gems in loot?”

“It is rare,” Adi admitted, “but the probability in the Creche is much higher.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I slipped off the island, heading north again while I waited for her answer. The river wasn’t looking so safe anymore.

“Loot is automatically generated by the System according to a set of predetermined algorithms that partially tailors all spoils towards the player who made the kill. In the Creche in particular, this bias is increased for obvious reasons.” 

I frowned. It wasn’t obvious to me. “What’s so special about the Creche?”

“The Creche’s primary purpose is to ready new entrants for the challenges that await them in the Proving Grounds proper.” 

“Alright. So, what can you tell me about life Essence?”

“It is the foundation of most forms of healing and is required to perform life magic. Life magic is the central discipline of healers, and contains a host of supportive and defensive spells. It has few offensive spells.”

Hmm… healing magic. That alone decided me. And it was a tier two Essence too. My decision made, I willed the Gem out of my inventory. Instead of it materializing though, I received a System message.

Life Essence Gem activated. 

Do you wish to recycle this Gem back into the System or absorb its Essence into your available Nodes?

Nodes required: 2. Essence Nodes available: 13 / 17.

My brows rose in surprise. “Adi, why does the Essence require two Nodes?”

“The higher an Essence’s tier, the more nodes it occupies. A tier two Essence fills two Node slots; likewise a tier three one will require three Nodes.”

I pondered this as I waded through the river. So there were some downsides to higher-tiered Essences as well. Yet, the benefits of possessing healing magic outweighed the negatives, and I had more than enough available Nodes—for now at least.

Turning back to the System query still hanging open, I willed my response.

Congratulations, Dace Tolman! You have absorbed: life, a tier 2 Essence.

Warning: you do not have access to your mana yet. Until you unlock the channeling Essence, the life magic skill is unavailable to you.

The warning was not unexpected. I already knew that spellcasting required mana which the channeling Essence provided. Somehow, I would have to make enough money to purchase the Essence or find it somewhere in the wilds of the Creche. 

Either way, things were looking up.

The day has finished off much better than I could have hoped for, I thought. With a pleased grin, I sauntered back to town.

✵ ✵ ✵

With me not bothering to sneak through the river reeds, the trip back to town went much quicker than my journey out, and I made it in just after the sun dropped behind the horizon. 

As I reached the open field surrounding the town, I slowed to a stop. To my surprise, the area outside the town was not as dark as I expected. Dozens of tiny lights dotted the field, which on closer inspection, I made out to be campfires.

Groups of players were huddled around each of the fires, and a delicious aroma filled the air. It was… rabbit.

My stomach rumbled in complaint. 

Storing my shield and my sword in my inventory to appear less intimidating, I stepped onto the field. My gaze darted across the surrounding fires, eyeing the delicious bounty on display. Not everyone’s attempt at cooking was going well, I saw. 

Some had charred their rabbit meat to an inedible mess, yet at the fire I had chosen to approach, the cook was having much better luck. Licking my lips hungrily, I stood in the shadows just beyond the reach of the light, unsure how to introduce myself. 

One of the four players at the campfire—a freckled youth—noticed my presence before I could make myself known. “Not another beggar,” he groaned.

The player on his right—a dapper, older bearded man—turned around and spotted me. “What do you want?” he asked brusquely.

I stepped forward. “Some supper would be good,” I said lightly.

He snorted. “No.”

I shifted from foot to foot, not letting myself be put off by his rudeness. “I don’t mean for free. I’m willing to trade,” I said.

He stared at me, with no give in his expression.

“Show us what you have,” said the blonde-haired woman sitting across from him.

I turned my gaze upon her. The woman looked to be close to my own age, and if not for the lines of weariness drawn on her face, I would have described her as pretty. 

In fact, I noticed that the entire group—except for the freckled youth—were older than many of the other players at the nearby fires. “I’m Dace,” I said.

“I know,” she said, not introducing herself.

I frowned, not understanding. Seeing my incomprehension, the red-haired woman on the blonde woman’s right spoke up, “Ask your personal administrator.”

“Adi, what are they talking about?” 

“Players are able to readily identify each other. Neither your name or guild can be concealed in the Proving Grounds. Their administrators would have provided them with your name. The first woman who addressed you is Lauren Chambers, and the second woman is her sister, Beth. The bearded man is Bayan Storm, and the youngest human is Jorge Cullen.”

I digested this information in silence. “Can they see my player profile?”

“Not without using the insight skill, or you making the information public.” Before I could ask her to explain further, Adi went on, “By default, your player profile is hidden from others.”

That was a relief. Turning my gaze outwards again, I addressed the two women. “Ah, I see what you mean. Pleased to meet you, Lauren and Beth.” I deliberately excluded the two men from my greeting.

“At least he has learnt to use mindspeech to converse with his admin,” Jorge muttered.

Paying his words no heed, I answered Lauren’s original query. “I have bloat fly legs and wings to trade.”

She wrinkled her nose. “What are those?”

Turning my gaze inwards, I willed a sample of both items out of my inventory. Picking them off the ground where they had appeared, I held them out to Lauren.

She leaned away. “Urgh, those look disgusting.”

I couldn’t disagree. Disappointed, I pulled my hands back.

Bayan was eyeing me speculatively. “Where’d you get those?”

“Trade with me and I’ll tell you,” I said.

His gaze slid up and down my tall frame, taking my measure. “No,” he said finally. “I don’t think I will.” He turned away. “Now, get out of here.”

Angered by his casual dismissal, my face reddened. I clenched my fists and almost stepped forward. 

At the last minute, I stopped myself. Responding with violence would be childish, and besides, they had every right to refuse my trade. Wordlessly, I spun about and began walking away.

“Dace,” Beth called out, stopping me. “I wouldn’t try trading with anyone else in the field. Everyone is wary of strangers, and most will react worse than we have. Try one of the vendors in the town. The System will not give you much for your spoils, but you may be able to buy yourself supper with whatever you get.”

Nodding gratefully to her, I turned my back on their party and walked into the town.

✵ ✵ ✵

In contrast to the field outside, the town was dark. Yet it was not unoccupied. As I walked through the streets, I noticed shapes lying on the floor or huddled against the walls.

“Why are they sleeping out here, Adi?”

“I do not know, Dace, but it is likely they are unable to afford the cost of a room in the tavern.”

I was troubled by Adi’s answer. It hadn’t occurred to me that I would need to pay for my own lodging. It explained why so many had chosen to sleep out in the fields, forming groups for their own protection.

“Where is the tavern?”

“Twenty yards to your right. It’s the only two-story building in the town.”

I made my way in silence to the building. The area outside was busier than the rest of the town with many more people moving in and out of the tavern. Most of those coming out, I saw, bore angry faces.

I climbed up the building’s steps and walked inside. The entrance opened into a wide-open dining area that was filled with wooden tables. At the far end, running the length of the room, was a bar countertop with another of the ubiquitous stone altars laid upon it. 

The room was packed. But very few people were eating or drinking. Which was strange. “This is the right building, Adi?”

“It is the tavern, Dace.”

Frowning, I strode across the room to the ‘vendor,’ and placed my hands on its metal surface. A trade window opened in front of me.

Trade Window

Vendor 12-54 Available Stock

Money: 640 gold.

Vegetable soup: 401 available, cost: 3 silver.

Roast lamb: 498 available, cost: 1 gold.

Steak chops: 500 available, cost: 2 gold.

Ale: 352 available, cost: 3 silver.

Small room: 10 available, cost: 1 gold per night.

Large room: 5 available, cost: 3 gold per night.

Dace Tolman Available Trade Goods

Money: 0 gold.

Bloat fly legs: 23 available, value: 1 copper.

Bloat fly wings: 23 available, value: 1 copper.

I blinked as I saw the prices. “Adi, how many silver coins to a gold?”

“Ten, Dace.”

I groaned. That’s what I had thought. “And it’s ten copper coins to a silver, too?”

“Correct.”

I sighed. Now I understood why so few were eating. The prices were awful. Even after selling all my loot, I could barely afford a single measly soup! 

A room, though, was completely out of the question.

But I was starving, so despite how much it rankled to pay prices that seemed like daylight robbery, I made the trade.

You have sold 23 bloat fly legs and wings, and received 4 silver and 6 copper coins.

You have bought a bowl of vegetable soup for 3 silver coins. You have 1 silver and 3 copper coins remaining.

Ignoring the hungry gazes of the other tavern-goers, I sat down on the closest bar stool and gulped down my bowl of soup as fast as possible.

Alas, it was finished too quickly. 

Your recovery rate has been buffed by a vegetable soup. All regeneration rates increased by +1 per minute, duration: 2 hours.

Good, I thought, dismissing the System message. My health would be close to max again soon. I burped indelicately and hurried out of the tavern lest any of the occupants thought I was good for another bowl.

Where to next? I wondered as I surveyed the town from the top of the tavern’s steps. My hunger was only partly assuaged, but I wasn’t going to get any more food anytime soon.

I stifled a yawn. And I was tired. Where do I sleep? I eyed the other unfortunates slumming in the cobbled streets and sighed. 

It looked like I would be joining them. 

Hurrying through the town, I found the quietest alley that I could, then laid down and closed my eyes.