‘Quest received: Rescue the Priestess! Kidnappers killed 0.’

“What should I do. What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO!” I banged on the table in front of me. She’s the first friend I made in this world. I don't care if she's an NPC. She's as real as anyone, at least to me she is. These fuckers can log out whenever they want; they can go home. To Kain, she’s just a chunk of XP and a way to fuck with another player. They don’t know that I am in this game permanently. Shit, I doubt they would even care. I mean, what would I say? “Hey, Kain, I’m a loser who can’t leave the game, please oh, please don’t murder this NPC; she was so nice to me.”

There's no way in hell I can acquire 100 gold before they kill her. If I ask the Chief for help, they will most likely kill her and leave the area. She's just an NPC, and killing her has no consequences to them. I started thinking about getting other players to help before realizing it. They are probably watching me.

I stood up and looked out the church window. A bush rustled in the distance. “Yeah, they are watching me.” The only thing I could do is try and rescue her alone. I took confidence that the odds of them being at a higher level than me are slim. All I needed was to be as strong as three brand new players. I had a whole night of XP on them and assumed I had better gear.

I will go level today and rescue her tonight, but shit, there are too many variables to consider. I don't know if they only have three players. If there are any more, then I am toast. What if they got lucky and found some strong gear? I punched myself. “Get yourself together Grey!” HP: 83/87 Shit, I actually did some damage, I chuckled.

I grabbed my pack and as many potions as I could find. Hopefully, Yolanda wouldn't be too mad that I'm stealing from her. I searched around her room for more until I found a locked wooden compartment in her dresser. The compartment was hidden underneath some shoes and clothing, so the thugs missed it. Should I open it? I thought about it and realized she was as good as dead if I failed to rescue her. The game showed no signs of restricting NPC killing, so; It was in my best interest to get all the help I could. I took my dagger out and set to work cracking open the drawer. The wood was of excellent quality, but I finally managed to get it open with sheer force.

Inside was what I hoped. The drawer contained an old leather-bound book and a beautiful white gold ring. Also, wrapped in a handkerchief, there was a strange-looking black playing card. I examined the book, and it was an arcane spellbook. The book contained a spell called “summon familiar.” Interesting, summoning a familiar is a pretty basic mage spell, at least it is in other games. Generally, following game trends, the spell would summon a weak minion like a bird or lizard that gives a slight buff to the summoner. I opened the book, and upon reading the first page, the spellbook turned to ash.

‘New arcane spell learned: Summon Familiar. The user reaches into the magic realm and summons a creature to be the mage's companion. Once bound, the user may not bind to another familiar. Cast time: 3s, mana usage: 50.’

Damn, just like the Mage’s specialization, the familiar is permanent. I'll use the spell after I finish examining Yolanda’s stash of items.

The White-gold ring was what I was most excited to check out. It was a thick white band that had the weight and texture of 24k gold. Carved into the sides were symbols I could make out but couldn’t understand likely magic runes of some kind. I looked at the description of the item. ‘Ring of the Divine. Heal’s the wearer for 10% of maximum HP. Holds two charges. Charges refresh every 24 hours.’ At the very least, the ring would give me healing during the fight. I out level them and can out heal them now, I said with a wicked smile on my face. They have no chance at beating me.

I started to get up before I noticed I hadn't grabbed the black playing card. The top was pitch black with a few faded crimson lines and patterns resembling the backside of a standard deck of cards. When I turned it over, my heart sank. I became uneasy and stressed out. The picture on the face side was a black void that was darker than any darkness I have ever seen. Peering into my very soul, the dark void on the card looked into me and me into it. The number 9 was written in all four corners in gold lettering, I wanted to put it down, but I couldn't take my eyes away from the swirling void depicted on the front. I looked at the description of the card. In a dark red font that I had not yet seen from the game, Read: ‘Nine’ It had no description at all. Nothing to explain what it was. I managed to avert my gaze and put the card away in my bag. Almost instantly, I felt better, immediately forgetting the intense dread and unease that had just plagued my mind.

I will need to ask Yolanda what the hell that playing card is if I rescue her. “WHEN I rescue her.”

I left the church with all my belongings. While looting the church, I found five lesser health potions, a lesser defense potion, and a lesser agility potion. Also, I had my Ring of the Divine, a new spell, and “9”. I had plenty of beef leftover from my starter kit and the gear I bought at the market. It was time for the final preparation.

I pulled out my spellbook and opened it to the third page. “Please be strong,” I whispered into the book. “Summon Familiar,” I said nervously. Mana circled me. It felt like my body was connected to the world with a million strands of pure energy. The spell only took a few seconds, but time slowed to a snail's pace as I could feel my mana connect to another plane of existence. All of a sudden, something latched on to my mana. It yanked and pulled like it was a fishing line, fighting to break free yet reeling itself in at the same time.

Time went back to normal, and a small blue portal appeared in front of me. I put my hand up to it, but before I could touch it, a small snake-like creature the size of a baseball bat slithered out. Its entire body was formed from shimmering blue plasma, and it had two crimson slits for eyes.

‘You have summoned an Infant Mana Wyrm.’

‘Would you like to name Infant Mana Wyrm?’

‘Yes/No’

I selected yes and thought about the name. The first thing that came to mind was the name of the dog I had as a kid. A white pit bull mix, He was the only thing that made me happy when I got bullied at school, and he would growl at my stepdad when he yelled at me. It made me tear up thinking about that drooling stupid face again. My Stepdad made me get rid of him after my mom died, saying it reminded him of her or some bullshit. Why not name this mythical creature after my legendary dog? “Set name as Romeo.”

‘Familiar is now bound to you, in the event of its death, familiar can be resummoned for the cost of XP proportionate to players level. The Familiar will gain experience alongside the summoner, unlocking skills and abilities based on the summoner’s growth and actions.’

The blue snake creature flew around my head and wrapped itself around my neck like a scarf. He was actually kind of cute in a plasma-filled reptile kind of way.

“Ok, Romeo, let's see what you can do.”, hearing his name, he looked up at me. I opened his information sheet.

Name:

Romeo

Level:

5

Race:

Mana Wyrm

Skills:

Mana Leech 1. Mana Strike 1

HP:

25/25

Mana:

90/90

“Not bad, Romeo,” I said, scratching under his chin. “Let’s save my priestess!”

I walked out of town for about half a mile until I saw a small pathway off to the side heading North-west. This path was most likely the way to get to the windmill. A low-level player would have issues going deep into the forest away from a road, even if there were three of them. One of my main worries was finding the place, so seeing a pathway reassured me a bit.

“Five miles should take me roughly two hours if I go at a decent pace,” I said to my wyrm, who had taken position floating above my head. I walked down the dirt road for about an hour stopping every few minutes to make sure no one was stalking me. “If you see anyone warm me, Romeo. We might be getting followed.” The Wyrm made a quiet hissing sound that I assumed meant he understood, and I kept walking.

Another ten minutes went by, and I stopped in my tracks. My mana shook and vibrated, and I realized it was my link to Romeo. He saw an enemy. I looked into the direction he was facing, and just as I did, an arrow flew by my face missing narrowly. I heard the attacker curse to himself as he readied another shot. The tall bow user I saw earlier with Kain sat in a bush about fifty feet behind me. He had been following me after all. Another arrow flew by, this time missing by a couple of feet. I opened my book and cast a magic missile. Unlike the tiny orbs of kinetic energy I had typically been firing, this one glowed with a blue plasma and was much faster. It struck my target right in the chest.

“Fuck, that hurts! You’re a dead man!”

He fired another arrow missing by miles.

“You're pretty bad with a bow when you're under pressure, huh, you lengthy shit!”

That definitely got to him because he pulled out a pair of daggers and ran at me. “Magic Missile!” This one was going right for his head. But somehow, right before impact, he sliced with his dagger, and the magic dissipated. “You can do that?” I yelled at him. He said nothing and continued closing the distance. “Try this on for size.” And I cast Mana chains. Two large chains of mana wrapped around his legs and anchored into the ground. He squirmed and yelled, trying to break free. “Magic Missile, Magic Missile, Magic Missile.” I sent three of the big blue plasma balls into him. He attempted to slice again, but he was too slow this time. The sound of bones cracking filled the air as he took my attack. He sat on his knees, unable to move from having his entire rib cage broken. He looked at me with a defeated look.

“*cough* You...won't...*cough*...be...Ahhhhh!” Romeo had decided to wrap himself around the man's head.

“What are you doing Romeo?” The mana wyrms plasma body lit up, and the man’s scream got louder and louder.” I looked at his face. It was beginning to wither and contort until he looked like a mummy and his screams stopped. I looked at Romeo, and small strands of blue mana spilled out from the Wyrm and into me. I checked my mana, and it was going up at a ridiculous rate. So that's what mana leech does. “Good job Romeo.” I felt the Wyrms' happiness at my praise through our link, and he went back to floating above my head. A message appeared in front of me.

‘Level up! Character Level 6 acquired. Arcane spells are now level 7. You have unspent skill points.’

‘Level up! Character Level 7 acquired. You have unspent skill points.’

“Jesus, so that's why people kill players. The experience is crazy.” I admired my twenty new skill points, thinking of what to spend it on, and closed the menu. I’ll worry about spending my skill points after I save Yolanda.

I then watched as the mummified corpse disappeared. But then something interesting happened. Unlike when Kain died in the square, Bow guy left all of his gear behind. I rummaged through the pile of clothing and found some interesting things. His jacket was made of leather and had some protection, unlike the starter clothing I still wore. He also left behind his bow, daggers, and ten bronze arrows. I inspected the blades to see if they could cancel magic, but it seems it was one of his skills after all.

The daggers were just slightly better than the starting one I had. I put on his jacket and equipped one of his daggers, putting everything else in my bag. I set off on the road, “one down, two to go.” I said happily.