Thursday, November 28th 2052, 14:39 OWO Server Time

Archer and I stepped through the barrier side by side. The barrier felt like absolutely nothing. No resistance. No tingle. No temperature change. Nothing. I looked over my shoulder to see a featureless, entirely opaque, grey surface where Rowling Valley had been. Reaching out I lightly ran my fingers along the barrier. It felt smooth, solid, and as I tested it a bit, utterly unmoveable.

“So PKers can’t see when or who’s coming through ahead of time,” Macha explained without me asking. “It’s the last favor the game devs will do for us on this side.”

New notifications awaited my attention.

Welcome to the County of Aclium! A UniFrontiers creation.

Recommended Level: 5-8

Trust UniFrontiers to build your world.

Good Luck on your adventures!

Achievement Earned: Path Less Travelled - You have departed Rowling Valley via an uncommon path! - 600 EXP

I blew out another breath and tried without success to force my shoulders to relax. Leaving Rowling without Lemorak felt wrong, and quite dangerous. After all, he’d been my friend and mentor for almost my entire time inside the game. Lemorak would be respawning in the OZ sometime tomorrow with a new avatar after dying in the tomb. Despite not having had a perception filter during the quest, he’d survived the fatal blow. At the time, we’d all been worried about him though.

To my relief there’d been a message from Lemorak that morning. He’d assured us he had logged out safely and was just waiting on the 48-hour cooldown timer to allow him to generate a new avatar and rejoin the game.. If you died in the OZ, you couldn’t just respawn your existing avatar. You had to start from scratch. Outside the OZ, if you died, you could pay for a respawn if you died. Lemorak would be starting over again at Level 0 and wouldn’t be able to join us on the next part of our journey, but had said he’d do his best to power level out and come meet up with us. Elias had written Lemorak a reply on behalf of the entire party, and we’d sent him his share of the gold we’d been awarded from the quest. Hopefully, it would help speed his leveling.

“Best we don’t hang here long,” Elias reminded us, pulling me from my silent reverie.

Without further discussion, we got back into motion, this time deploying the combat marching order that we’d planned when we broke for lunch. Macha stayed on point since she’d used this route during a previous jack-in. Bolton and Elias stayed close behind her, while Archer and I dropped back about a hundred feet as a rear guard. I had my new Elven Hunter’s Longbow in hand and kept an arrow on the string. Bryn activated her superior Stealth skill, making her nearly invisible to the rest of us. She would switch between scouting ahead of us for threats and dropping behind Archer and me to check for any tails.

***

After passing through the OZ barrier, the path became narrow and rugged. To our right stood the snow-packed peak of the mountain we were skirting, and on our left a sheer cliff dropped into a deep ravine. It felt dangerously claustrophobic and exposed. If we were attacked we’d have little cover and no room to maneuver.

Sure enough, moments after evaluating our vulnerabilities Bryn dropped from her Stealth amongst us. “Hide!” was all she said before she dove to the ground and all but vanished.

I watched as Bolton grabbed Elias, pulling him close and casting an Invisibility spell over them both. Macha dropped prone and pressed into the mountainside, activating her own Stealth skill, blurring out of focus.

Drawing my ranger’s cloak closed, I dropped to a crouch in a shallow divot in the cliff face and Archer crowded in beside me. The dire wolf and I both activated our respective Stealth abilities and went as still as possible.

A few racing heartbeats later, from around a bend in the steep mountain path came the deepest, most horrifying, basal roar I’d ever heard, in or out of the game. It was unmistakably the eruption of a predator; a very, very big predator. A shiver ran through my entire body and my jaw clenched so hard it cramped as I felt warring desires to either flee or curl into a fetal ball. High overhead appeared a terrifying creature vaguely reminiscent of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the classic Jurassic Park movies, but about one-thousand percent more real and gliding on massive, bat-like wings.

Adult Red Dragon, Level 63

Conditions: Flying, Fear Aura, Elemental Immunity (Fire)

The dragon’s body, from tooth to tail tip, was longer and thicker than two city buses end to end. Its scales glittered like blood-red rubies in the afternoon sun. The talons at the end of its clawed feet were easily as long as sword blades and looked as sharp. Clutched in one of the dragon’s rear feet hung the entire limp carcass of a cow, dwarfed in the dragon’s grip. Still high overhead, the monstrous head of the dragon turned towards us, it’s long neck bending as it flew past.

I felt the creature’s eyes laser-focused on me and I felt entirely certain that my attempt at hiding had done jack shit. My mouth went dry and I trembled as instinctual, overwhelming terror crashed over me. Somehow I fought the urge to sprint away in mad panic. Beside me, Archer let out a whimper and shifted closer to me. I only later noticed the notification that appeared in that moment.

Conviction Save Failed versus Dragon Fear! Terrified Condition Imposed!

Terrified - 25% penalty to attack accuracy. 25% penalty to concentration. +10% to Movement Speed while fleeing from the source of the condition.

Then, at my hip I felt the sudden thrum of soothing power pulse from the Sword. I hadn’t even realized I’d clutched the blade’s hilt in a white-knuckled grip. The tremors of fear faded, and I found breathing somewhat easier. While I still felt an entirely reasonable level of nervous apprehension at being under the dragon’s gaze, I no longer felt like wetting myself.

Whether we didn’t pose any interest to the dragon, or it was just more interested in enjoying its bovine snack, didn’t really matter. It’s head lazily turned away and the dragon continued soaring up into the mountain range.

I felt another pulse of power from the Sword and a notification screen filled with text appeared before me, obstructing my vision.

More than a powerful blade you carry,

but it is not a key for the foolish or unwary.

Locked beneath a temple in the bleakest bog,

is one locked away akin to the terrible Smaug.

Best at a game of riddles in the dark,

will free my blade's secrets if you have the heart.

For nearly ten minutes after the dragon flew out of sight, no one moved, even after the terrified debuff had expired. Not every emotion was a result of game mechanics after all. Though I found myself mostly trying to process the words of the poem. When I finally dismissed the screen, a new notification appeared

Quest Update!

Discover and Complete the Attunement Ritual for the First Player’s Sword in order to unlock its full potential in your hands.

You have received a cryptic poem regarding the attunement ritual for the First Player’s Sword. Decipher its meaning and unlock the Sword’s potential!

“S-s-shit a dick,” Macha stuttered, finally shattering the silence and pulling me away from the notification. She dropped the concealment of her Stealth and cautiously stepped back out onto the path.

I forced myself back to my feet and stepped out from my hiding spot. Elias and Bolton reappeared from behind the sorcerer’s Invisibility spell. Merciful for once, Bryn lowered her Stealth well away from anyone and without any antics.

Achievement Earned: Witness the Mighty - 500 EXP

“That was close,” Elias sighed with relief.

“What the actual hell?” Bolton seethed. “A full-sized dragon is way too overpowered to be this close to Rowling! That thing shouldn’t be anywhere near this zone!.”

“Let’s not hang around, in case it changes its mind,” I said.

“Thanks for the warning Bryn,” Elias said genuinely as we all got back into motion.

“Yeah, good looking out.” The words sounded bitter in Macha’s mouth.

“I’m starting to be fond of a couple of you.” Bryn winked and slipped back under the concealment of her Stealth skill.