Chapter 4

Satan’s Army

-Aaron-

I waded through the brush and trees outlining the clearing. Pausing, I opened my inventory and mentally equipped my Rusty Iron Sword and Wooden Shield. I paused for a moment, in awe at how real everything seemed. The smell of the pine, the crunch of my shoes on the underbrush and the rustling of the leaves were exactly as they should be. I swiveled my head left and right as I continued on, looking for anything I could use to increase my level. I did my best to be attentive to any sounds, but all that stood out was the crunching of my shoes with no creatures in half an hour of searching.

Must be making too much noise. I thought to myself.

My lack of experience hunting in the real world did not bode well for my success. I spotted a squirrel running up a tree and stopped in my tracks. I focused intently on the squirrel, hoping to see any sign or message that would announce a level or difficulty; none appeared. I did notice that this was no normal squirrel. Tufts of rough looking hair sprouted from each large ear and furred skin connected its limbs to the rest of its body. Its eyes were beady little black dots, but I could tell that intelligence sat just behind them. One inch claws dug into the tree from both little paws and feet, leaving large cuts in the tree where it had previously climbed. If I had to guess, I’d call it a gruffy-looking flying squirrel.

I moved in closer, sighing and hoping not to spook the squirrel. The squirrel paused midway up the tree, well out of my reach. I looked around for anything to throw and found a small cluster of rocks, varying in size. I moved slowly to the rocks and sheathed my sword before bending down to pick one up. The squirrel remained still with arms and legs in an x formation on the tree. I hefted the rock in my hand, assessing the weight. As I took aim at the squirrel, I became acutely aware that other squirrels had appeared in the canopies of the nearby trees. All were watching me intently, as if daring me to do something stupid. I couldn't help feel nervous as I tossed the rock up and down in my hand.

The squirrel’s tail began to twitch back and forth as it began to chirp and moan. Movement caught my eye and I glanced back up to the canopies where the other squirrels were. They continued to watch, and much to my nervousness, began to chitter and communicate. My eyes squinted as I began to wonder about their level of intelligence.

“Are you all talking about me?” I inquired.

They continued to ignore me, chattering excitedly. The sun was beginning to set and I was getting largely impatient. I cocked my arm back and threw as hard as I could, aiming for the little rodent’s body. The rock struck the tree just a foot away from my target. The forest quieted once more as every little head turned towards me.

“Uh…” I said intelligently.

An enormous screech like sound came from my target squirrel. The horde of verman began to leap from their trees toward me, gliding through the air. I made eye contact with my squirrel and could swear I saw it grin. Screeching, my furry enemy leapt from its perch. I pulled my sword from its sheath and turned to run.

“What the hell have I done?!” I screamed as I pumped my legs as hard as I could.

I heard the screeching grow closer as I ran.

“eeeeeeEEEEEEEEE!” My target screeched as it drew nearer. I felt several sharp points of pain on my shoulder as it made contact. Panicking, I jabbed my sword over my shoulder. The little shit let its front paws go and leaned back, avoiding the blow. Moving quickly, I slammed my sword into the ground and reached behind me. Blood began to seep through my shirt as Satan’s loofah chittered excitedly. My hand met fur and I grabbed with all of my might. The pain intensified as I pulled my arm back and bent forward, trying to detach the squirrel. Screeching filled the forest and it was not lost on me that the rest of his tiny family was closing in on us.

I felt relief as the bastard lost its perch allowing me to loosen its grasp on my back. I brought the squirrel around to my front, squeezing with all of my might. The squeeze toy's eyes bulged as I tightened my grip. Not going down without a fight, It bared its fangs and bit into my hand. Pain erupted from my hand and I yelled, shaking my hand furiously. I brought my shield-arm back and began punching the squirrel in my right hand.

“You! Little! Fucking! Prick!” I yelled each word as my fist landed.

Finally, the squirrel went limp and I could feel a sense of accomplishment seep into me while feeling a surreal sense of absurdity for the brutality I had to enact on a squirrel. The screeching grew much louder and I knew I had no time to run. I dropped the dead furball and quickly pulled my sword from the ground. Turning, I flung my sword arm out wide, metal whistling through the air. Schlick! My sword made contact with a second squirrel mid-air. I aimed as well as I could and timed my swings with each squirrel as they glided closer. As multiple squirrels began to close in, I began to use my shield as well, batting every second one away.

I felt a surge of excitement as new feelings of accomplishment flowed through me with each kill. A message popped up at the top of my view:

Congratulations! You have leveled up!

Level 2 Paladin

A small amount of strength flew into me making me feel as if I had slightly more potential than I had previously. I continued to time my swings and bashes with each oncoming squirrel, but soon realized their numbers were only increasing. To add to my horror, they began gliding closer in larger groups. I swung and bashed as hard as I could, piling small furry evil little bodies around me.

Congratulations! You have leveled up!

Level 3 Paladin

More and more of the feeling of accomplishment flowed through me, but sharp pain quickly brought me to my senses as more of the squirrels made it past my sword and shield, scratching my face and shoulders. Deep gashes appeared everywhere the wild animals touched, leaving trails of fresh blood trickling down my wounds.

Panic began to climb in my chest and I started backing up, one foot at a time. The horde of squirrels were now arcing wide; one flanking for every two that I struck down. I began to back pedal as quickly as possible, heels catching on limbs and rock. Soon, my back struck the trunk of a nearby pine tree where devil-squirrels attached themselves, just feet above my head as I thinned out the gliders to my front.

“Thaaaat’s even worse!” I managed to yell, my arm burning with the effort of repeatedly swinging the sword.

Thinking quickly, I twirled my body around the tree and flung the shield onto my back, managing to tighten the leather strap as I sprinted. The gashes throughout my upper body began to sting as cool, crisp air flowed around me. Chancing a glance behind me brought fear into every fiber of my being. Hundreds of fanged, furry nut-hoarders climbed every tree visible. The trees seemed to move with hoards of the bloodthirsty squirrels as they leapt from canopy to canopy and trunk to trunk.

“This was sooo stuuuuupid!” I yelled out loud as I moved my legs as fast as I could.

A much larger, muscular squirrel plummeted past my face and attached to the tree in front of me with a loud thunk. Without stopping, I grasped my sword with both hands and swung; a complete miss. Chattering in a laughing manner, the large squirrel jumped and opened its mouth, fangs bared. I dropped the sword and reached out with both hands, attempting to grasp it. My fingers wrapped around its body, barely enough to completely wrap around it. It veered its head back and with a sharp screech, bit down hard. I could sense the impending doom closing in as I pulled my right hand away and slammed the squirrel into the tree trunk with every ounce of strength in my left arm. Pain shot up my left forearm as it tried to claw its way out of my grasp, its strength weakening with each trip into the trunk.

With the squirrel barely clinging to my left forearm, I reached down quickly and grasped the hilt of my sword. I slapped the flat of the blade on my bicep and straightened my left arm, angling my hand to expose the creepy-critter's arms and head. I swiped the blade forward, cutting through the squirrel’s shoulders and clean through its body. A large amount of accomplishment erupted into my body and I dropped the squirrel, continuing my escape.

Congratulations! You have leveled up!

Level 4 Paladin

“Damn!” I said breathlessly.

Must’ve been the lead Satan’s henchman! I thought. If the demon-spawn cared that I had just "offed" their leader, they didn’t show it. Multitudes now bounced from tree to tree in an attempt to cut me off. The sun was almost completely gone now, with only the smallest amount of light showing through the tree tops. I continued to bat and swing through hoards of squirrels as I ran straight, killing as many as I could. Up ahead, a line of shrubs guarded the way. I leapt pitifully, falling through the middle of the line of shrubs, clawing my way through as squirrels bit at my heels and calves.

Kicking, I made my way to the other side of the shrubbery. A moonlit clearing rested before me, filled with balls of light floating aimlessly. I used my arms to pull the rest of my body through to the clearing, now out of strenght and breath. As I stood, I noticed the forest had quieted. Panting, I looked behind me to see squirrels flying into the surrounding trees and shrubbery. They grasped at me but made no effort to continue following. Perplexed, I looked behind me again. Nothing but floating balls of light filled the clearing. I turned back to the squirrels and made a weak challenging motion.

The squirrels did not seem impressed, simply hugging their trees and chattering quietly as if hiding a secret. I plopped down onto the grass, exhausted. As I tried to gain control of my breathing, I noticed the squirrels started to leave by the 10’s. After a few minutes, only a few squirrels remained, glaring just beyond the clearing.

“Take…that….dickheads…” I panted.

I allowed the sense of relief to envelope me as I leaned back into the grass.

This place is a lot more dangerous than I remember. I don’t ever remember coming across those damned squirrels when I played the game.

As my breathing slowed and my mind began to clear, I focused on the slowly blinking spell book. I had gained 3 levels during the fight with the critters and knew I was due a spell or two. Blind, Sense the Dead and Stand Your Ground now filled the first page; The first two spells were self explanatory. A vague familiarity came to me as I looked at the three spells. When playing on my level 50 paladin, I had a set group of spells that I used. It had been a very long time since I had even bothered to look these spells up.

A new icon flashed slowly on the bottom of my vision. I focused on it and the very familiar status sheet came into my view. I had three new stat points to distribute among a list of all of my stats:

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 6

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 9

Charisma: 8

Constitution: 9

Knowing wisdom and constitution were my primary and secondary focus, I pumped 2 points into Constitution and 1 into wisdom. Wisdom affected my mana pool; the amount of mana I had available to me at any time. Constitution directly related to my health and toughness. A new feeling flowed through me, refreshing me as it moved through my body. It was as if a hidden pool of energy had been lay behind a curtain, waiting to be released.

This must be my mana pool, I thought intuitively.

I felt a stoutness envelope my body as if I was built to take hits. I noticed another section of my status page: Abilities. Sense was the only ability currently on the page. I focused on sense and a window appeared explaining the ability: Inherent ability to sense the toughness of a being.

That’s new. I thought. This must be my ability to sense a creature’s level.

In my days playing Sylvaria Online, the levels of each creature or humanoid were always displayed just below the name. Now that I was in Sylvaria, it was not lost on me that the levels were largely absent; This created a unique problem. How was I to tell whether or not I could hold my own in a fight? This new ability would at least allow me to asses each situation in order to prolong my life.

I stood up slowly and took the clearing in. Medium and small orbs of light floated carelessly around the large clearing, leaving me with a calm sense of ease.

Why the hell did those damned furry nut-jobs stop? I highly doubt it was because they feared my endless endurance, I thought.

I stared intently at one of the floating balls of light and a sense of caution filled me.

This must be the sense ability.

A thought occurred to me: What if I could harness the light from these floating light bulbs, allowing us to see at night time or in dark areas? My level had only increased to four and I knew I couldn’t return to Lisa without a healing spell.

Come to think of it, I could sorely use a heal right about now. I thought as throbbing and stinging pain filled my arms and face.

The pain had subsided gradually, but nowhere near the realm of what I would call comfortable.

My life was in real danger for the first time since entering Sylvaria and I knew things were only going to get worse. I knew the only way to survive was to continue to gain strength.

The squirrels were cautious enough of these balls of light to leave me alone after pissing them off. They’re obviously passive, as they haven’t attacked me yet. They emit light, so I know they’re going to electrocute me or blind me, maybe.

None of the creatures I had encountered were familiar to me, which was strange. I had played Sylvaria for almost a year, leveling up largely by filling the role of tank for group after group of players. The only real way for a Paladin in a game to level up was to tank dungeons for groups as we could never really put enough damage out to solo fight. After I hit level 50, I only grouped up with others to delve into dangerous dungeons to find materials I otherwise couldn’t find on my own. I couldn’t wrap my head around it, but these creatures seemed so much different in person than behind a computer screen that I had a hard time identifying them.

You would think that after all of the hours spent playing a game I would be able to tell a squirrel from an asshole, but real life is much different. I thought.

There were no floating words telling me what a creature was called or what level it was; everything simply felt more real.

I tentatively moved towards one of the floating balls of light, carefully sensing any change in its direction. As I came closer to the ball of light I focused on it once more; A sense of caution was still prevalent. I reached out slowly towards the ball of light and began to feel my fingers tingle.

“A Will-O-Wisp” I breathed.

I knew Will-O-Wisps to be dangerous, electric/light type creatures when I played. These floating orbs of light didn’t even come close to what my computer monitor displayed. They were absolutely beautiful, calm and brilliant sources of light; floating endlessly. I brought my hand back to my side and sighed, wondering if I should attack one.

So beautiful and dangerous. I don’t have anything else to fight and we need that healing spell.

I brought my hand to the hilt of my Rust Iron Sword and slowly drew it. I sensed a more cautious attitude from the Wisp in front of me as my blade came free of the scabbard.

I really hope they don’t swarm me like those furry assholes.

I brought my sword above my head, bringing my left arm to grasp the sword hilt as well. I poised myself, ready to strike, tensing as I expected the worst. I let my eyes wander around the clearing one last time, energy welling inside me; I was ready to run this time. I brought the sword down in a smooth arc, slicing it through the center of light. A paralyzing amount of energy burst through me, causing me to gasp. My sword froze, pointing down my left leg towards the ground. My focus became blurry as the paralyzing sensation intensified. The ball of light bounced through the air with the force of my hit, leaving a trail of blue light in its path. I saw the wisp flicker, registering the hit. The ball of blue light turned a deep red color, stopped midair, then hurled itself towards me with incredible speed.

A buzzing and ringing sensation filled my ears as the momentary paralysis wore off. I turned my attention towards the zooming Wisp. My sword arced back through the air as I aimed a perfectly-timed swing causing the Wisp to fly back the way it came, light now flickering. My body froze again, the pain more intense this time, followed by the buzzing and ringing as the paralysis returned.

This must be why those damned squirrels avoided this area. These things electrocute and paralyze. If they hit any one of these, they would’ve dropped like flies.

I recovered and returned my attention to the Wisp. The wisp was hovering just a few inches above the ground, light just as bright as it was only seconds ago. I approached the unmoving light source cautiously and knelt down in front of it. I focused my attention on the Wisp once more and felt calm. Focusing on the wisp brought up its inventory window.

Lightstone of the Wisp

Rarity: Uncommon

Description: A great source of light! The once heart of a Will-O-Wisp will never dim. This light source will float near you for as long as you desire.

Bingo! This will come in handy. It wasn’t nearly as hard to kill as I thought. The paralysis is dangerous, though. If I’m not careful I can imagine these things keeping me paralyzed while shocking me to death.

I mentally moved the lightstone into my inventory and stood up. Confident that I wouldn’t be swarmed, I moved to the next Wisp. Continuing my strategy, I moved through several wisps in the same fashion as the first, feeling the familiar sense of accomplishment move through me with each kill.

This feeling must be experience. With each successful kill I feel closer to my next goal.

I continued my trend of paralysis-baseball until a familiar sense appeared.

Congratulations! You have leveled up!

Level 5 Paladin

Finally!

I glanced down to the flashing windows and put my new skill point into Constitution once more. I felt my stoutness grow, feeling as if I could almost withstand one of the wisp’s paralysis.

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 6

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 8

Constitution:12

My skill book began to blink slowly in my vision and I sat down in anticipation. Focusing on the book brought up a new spell: Minor Healing.

Finally! Let’s try this bad boy out.

I closed my skill book and cleared my mind. I considered how to cast, not seeing any spell icons in my view.

Hmmm. How do I cast spells?

I tuned my mind towards my skill book and thought about the minor healing spell. My hands began to glow with a blue light not unlike the wisps. I touched my arms and nothing happened. Sighing, I lowered my hands back into my lap and refocused healing onto myself. My hands glowed once more and I began to feel a soothing sensation envelope my stinging body. Aches and pains I had gathered throughout the previous battle receded slightly before my hands stopped glowing. I had to repeat this process several times in order for all of my pain to fully subside. I finished healing myself and felt a sense of calm return.

“It’s about time to get back, if I can even remember the way. This is going to take a while.” I breathed aloud.

“-ron! Aaaaaaarrooooooooon!!” I heard faintly in the distance from the direction I came.

“Lisa! Is that you?” I yelled.

No response.

“Aaaaaaaarroooooooooon!! Heeeeeeelp!” The voice called once more.