The second trip to the tree was a lot faster, and my stamina even increased by a point before we arrived.

Staring at the bloody spot on the ground and the drag marks that led into the woods, I frowned. Did something else drag it away, or did that Grablon with the red dagger on his chest do it?

I heard a familiar tinkling sound and looked back to find Agga holding out the ax to me. When I grabbed it, it felt a lot less cumbersome than only a few hours earlier. I was pretty sure I could fight that night-wight to a standstill this time.

"I'll stay close this time, and if another night-wight or something else shows up, yell, " she said as she finished folding the cloth of holding.

Sure, I'd yell like a little baby. Not! "Why are they called night-wights when it's day now?" I blurted without thinking.

Agga blinked before shaking her head with a tired look. "And here I thought I'd never had to teach anybody these things ever again… fine!"

"They are called night-wights because they are usually only out at night. We must have moved into her territory, waking her. But if there is one here, there will be more. They travel in packs before spreading out when they reach a new area."

Double pings in quick succession made me summon my status.

> 07/99: Knowledge

Grinning, I couldn't wait to find a library.

Agga was gone, and I raised the ax, slamming it into the wood. The blade bit deep, deeper than I could have done with my real body. I wondered how much I'd be able to increase my attributes before we would go back. Perhaps if I got them high enough, I could go hunt these night-wights! Keeping a constant eye on my surroundings, I began mechanically chopping the wood and planning ahead. There were so many questions. When to leave? How much time to spend with Agga? Would she teach me her profession? I must be doing some unlocking quest now. And always the elephant in the room, how long should I continue playing? Without a logout button, I'd have to die to get out, but I had no guarantee that would even work.

Old library articles about people stuck in the first versions of virtual worlds a decade earlier spooked through my head.

What if I just respawned at the start, or worse, spawned in some horrible afterlife where I had to continue playing. The buried, nagging doubt that it might actually be worse than that if I died was buried again. I needed to plan though, and for that, I needed to get out of this starter town and into the world beyond. For that, I needed to get stronger, learn what I could, and get better equipment.

Sweating, my arms shaking a little, I looked at the ax. Would I get any skill increases for using an item? So far, I hadn't noticed any increases, but I hadn't actually checked either. Glancing at the neatly piled stack of chopped branches, I decided I could do with a break.

Sitting on the now mostly cleared trunk, I looked around the dark, dank woods. I'd been keeping an eye on my surroundings, and there hadn't been even the slightest oddity. None that I could detect anyway.

Summoning my status-window, I examined it more thoroughly. After a while, I had to admit there were no areas I had missed, and I shrugged. So much for ax-mastery. Perhaps I could unlock something to get stuff like that later. Who knew.

A loud, piercing scream came from the direction Agga had left in. I jumped down, the ax raised, and all weariness vanished as I stared into the dark bushes. There wasn't anything moving. Had that been Agga?

"Dammit!"

My curse sounded forced, and I exhaled forcefully. Gripping the ax, I snuck in the direction of the scream. As I moved through the bushes, a second scream came. That was definitely Agga! Cursing under my breath; I rushed through the bushes. How far has that woman moved? I jumped out of the bushes into a small clearing with three paths leading away. The scream had come from the left one, and I rushed along it, tossing caution in the wind. Sandra would laugh her ass off if she saw me now.

You always rush in blind and without thinking, fool! She would say.

The path wound through the dark forest. The little light that came through the foliage above whittled away until it became hard to see far ahead. Turning around another tree, I saw the cause of the screams, and I felt my skin crawl.

A tall, skinny hag, mushroom growing from her flesh, had Agga pinned against a tree. Looking close, I saw vines wrapped around the old grey robe that had been ripped at one leg. Blood seeped through the cloth, turning it dark. Long cuts on her face showed why she was screaming.

The Hag turned and looked at me with yellow eyes. A worm peaked up from beneath an eyelid before slithering back away.

"See? I told you that if you screamed nicely, more would come. You civilized folk are all sooooo predictable, kekeke."

"Run, fool! Or we both die!" Agga groaned, and I almost turned and did as she asked. Then I remembered that would mean I'd get no profession and be left with an ax and my wits. Not something I couldn't do, but having a profession would be so much easier.

Besides, I'd need to die at some point to find out what would happen. It could just as well be now.

Having made up my mind, I looked at the Hag with the full intent of killing her. She was a bit taller than me, even hunched over. From the yellow puffs of smoke that came from the mushrooms on her body, I imagined she would be poisonous. Well, I didn't have any ranged weapon, and I sure as hell wasn't going to throw the ax.

"Ohh deary me! The boy is planning to be a hero! It warms my heart it does!" The Hag screeched as she hobbled towards me, her eyes burning with hunger.

"Nothing like some hero meat stew!"

Her cackling laughter made my skin crawl, and I quickly glanced around. The vines, branches, and tall grass looked ominous in my eyes. If she could move one vine, she might move them all. Feeling my mind go into overdrive, a host of options played through my mind, but in the end, one prevailed. You beat a controller by catching them by surprise; everybody knew that. If they got their hands on you, without help, you'd be a goner. Unless you were vastly more powerful, which I wasn't, or had range, which I didn't.

Holding the ax low in my hand, I looked around for the area with the least vegetation. If she used vines instead of the trees, she might not be able to use the trees. Seeing a spot with little grass, a single vine, and minimal branches, I moved towards it. I needed to find out what she could do, and I needed to know now.

'Where are you going…. boy hero?" she called, following me. I faked fear as I backed up from her, moving straight for the vine. I was looking closely at her reaction, and as soon as she saw me beside the vine, she grinned, a gleam appearing in her eyes.

I jumped back, and the vine shot passed me. Not the branches or the grass. Only some type of vine binding? Keeping an eye on the branches and a single patch of tall grass, I saw no movement.

"What are you up to, little hero?" The Hag hissed, staring at me with a shrewd look on her face.

Damn, she was figuring out I was trying something! Walking towards her, I kept a careful eye on the vine and her face. Her eyes widened a little when I moved towards her, and I stopped, taking a step back. She blinked and scowled. Good. So, she could control at least the vines, probably not the rest, and she preferred me coming close.

Backing up some more, back on the muddy path, I bent down and picked up a handfull of mud.

"What are you-" a handful of mud in the face cut off her words, and she screamed in anger.

Running forward, grabbing a second handful of mud, I knew she was probably faking it. Three steps from her, her hands dropped from her face, a sly smile on her face.

Yah, grin all you want, ugly Hag, I thought as I jumped to the side and tossed the second handful of mud in her eyes. This time I saw the mud hit her widening eyes, and the scream this time sounded real. The Hag backed off, but I was faster, clearing the distance in two steps and swinging at her legs. I had no idea how strong she was, and if this was my only cut, I'd rather immobilize her. Using all four arms, at the risk of a headache, I struck her just above the knee. It felt as if I was chopping a tree all over again. I even saw splinters shoot away. Right after the hit, I dodged back as far as I could. A loud ping told me I must have done something right, which was good because the piercing headache almost made me want to vomit.

The hag's leg buckled under her, and she dropped to the ground, howling and screaming. Her hands dropped from her face, eyes wide open, and mud still visible. Spittle and yellow clouds puffed from her mouth and all of the mushrooms. Seeing only a bit of blood, I knew right away, it would be a chore to kill her. I backed up, keeping her in view. Seeing no movement but cries of misery and clutching of legs, I turned and sprinted towards Agga. She had said, just a night wight this morning. That meant she could probably beat those easy. Here was hoping she still had something left and just been jumped by the Hag.

Agga was staring at me with wide eyes, her face contorted in pain. Rushing to her side, I slammed the ax into the vine's binding her.

"Foolish boy, you should have run! The risk…"

I ignored her, and with three more well-placed chops, the vine unraveled. Agga strode forward, a look of anger on her face as she stared at the Hag. Then she moved forward, her hand taking items from the pouches on her belt.

"I will take care of her poisonous mushrooms. You take care of her head. Aim for the neck and show me what you've gained by chopping wood all morning."

Hoping she knew what she was doing, I followed her.

Agga threw a handful of powder forward, and as soon as it came close to the Hag, it hung motionless in the air for a moment. Then it shot forward like a cloud of bees to honey and touched the different mushrooms. The mushrooms shriveled, and the yellow puffs dissipated almost immediately.

"Now!" Agga cried.

I didn't wait to think. Jumping forward, I used only two arms this time, afraid I might fall unconscious if I overdid it. The Hag tried to dodge, and I struck her in the back of her head. Her wailing stopped for a moment, and I struck at her neck. A single hit caused her to drop to the ground, shaking and shivering. Quickly placing a foot on her head, I began striking her neck.

A dozen chops later, the head rolled away from the still shivering and shaking body. I'd done it! Hah, not even a day after waking, and I'd already beaten something I most definitely shouldn't be able to beat yet.

"Quick, back away!" Agga's voice ripped me from my victory dreams, and I jumped away. Just in time too, as a cloud of yellow gas formed above the corpse. Mushrooms spread on the ground it touched, and a big one grew on the back of the hag corpse. The whole body shriveled up as the mushroom grew bigger and bigger, and within moments the body was no more than an empty sack on the ground. A large white mushroom, small puffs of yellow coming from below, stood proudly at the spot the Hag had been.

So, no loot then. I grimaced. So much for hard work paying off. A hand on my shoulder almost gave me a heart attack.

"Thank you, "Agga said, staring at me with an emotionless face. "I'd never have thought someone as low level as you could stand up to a hag and live. You must have truly been someone impressive before you lost your memory."

Staring at her, it took all my effort to remember myself; she was just an NPC. Shrugging, I grinned at her. "It's ok. Too bad she didn't have anything valuable on her, or we could have sold it for food!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, "Agga said, a shrewd smile on her face.

Again I was surprised at how much younger she seemed when she smiled. Not much older than my mother if I had to guess.

Curiously, I watched as she rummaged in her packs until she found a small flask. Looking at it wistfully, she unstoppered it and tossed it at the mushroom. It shattered at the ground, drenching the mushroom in a dark red liquid. The mushroom began shaking, yellow gas emerging that quickly dissipated. It darkened, shriveling up, and a minute later, it changed into a head-sized wrinkled shroom.

It reminded me of the mushrooms Sandra ate for lunch. Agga grabbed it, looked at it for a moment, weighing it on her hand, and then stuffed it in a pouch that seemed far too small for the whole mushroom.

"We will eat well this week!" she said with a grin.

Thinking of more bread and cheese, I felt my mouth water.

"Let's go and bring as much of the wood as we can carry, " she continued.

I groaned. I'd forgotten all about the wood.