Tripper jolted awake, the night was silent and a slow breeze blew through the trees. In the darkness, Tripper could not see the outline of Jag’s sleeping form and a feeling of panic set in. He stood up, confused and ashamed that he had fallen asleep after volunteering for first watch.

“Jag,” Tripper whispered, “where are you?”

A low humming sound filtered into the campsite from the trees. The little light that was coming in from the stars through gaps in the canopy of oak leaves began to darken. Smoke wafted over Tripper as if an ancient beast had breathed and a feeling of doom wrapped itself around his heart.

“Jag?” Tripper whispered again.

Tripper stood up and charged a spell, casting a blue light across his face and lighting up a few feet around him. Static electricity crackled around his hand and he took a step forward toward the darkness, carrying the ring of light with him.

The air grew heavier, weighing on Tripper as he searched for Jag in the clearing. Tripper got more and more tense as he journeyed farther out looking for his friend. The electricity in his hand flickered around in his palm as he walked.

An owl hooted loudly behind Tripper. He jumped, releasing the spell and launching it through the forest. The blue light of the spell lit up the trees and revealed a few strange creatures slowly moving towards Tripper. The creatures, tortoise-like with thick shells and reptilian scales slithered along the ground. Two legs protruded from holes in the opening of their shells and a long tale trailed behind their bodies.

One of these creatures was moving in the other direction, as the light from the spell cut off, but there was a body lying on its back and Tripper began to chase it.

“Jag!” Tripper said as he chased after the retreating monster and attempted to weave through the others.

The ID tag [Shellkin, LV6] hovered over their heads.

The three Shellkins whipped their tails at Tripper, knocking him over and pressing him into the ground. Caught between them, Tripper struggled to stand up, rose to a knee and charged two fireballs and launched them at the creatures.

A hiss of pain came from two of the Shellkins at the impact but little damage was done because he had hit their shells.

He cast the spells again, aiming for the fleshy tails that kept him on the ground and dealt more damage. Both targets backed off slightly while the third Shellkin lunged at him.

The form of the Shellkin rippled and rose up. The bones of its midsection and arms cracked and the body took a more humanoid shape, balanced on its whip-like tail. Tripper jumped back, casting flame spells on the ground between them.

The other two Shellkin transformed as well and towered over Tripper’s crouched body.

A roar sounded from the direction that the final Shellkin had taken Jag and a small explosion lit up the forest for a moment. The light from the fire reflected off of a sheen of slime coating each of the transformed Shellkin’s skins.

Tripper cast a higher level lightning spell, [Storm Shatter], sending arcs of lightning into the three creatures before him at the cost of 150 mana. Fatigued from the effort, Tripper saw the monsters’ health go down to 50 percent.

Switching back to more basic spells, Tripper charged a [Frost Spear] and a [Lightning Bolt] and launched them at the most forward of the Shellkins.

The lightning bolt hit first and the effects of the spell crackled across the slime-covered skin of the Shellkin. The frost spear followed up a second later, freezing the creature solid. The humidity of the forest caused the ice to crack. Tripper threw another lightning bolt at it, causing the body to shatter.

A yell came from behind the remaining two monsters and an arrow erupted through the neck of the Shellkin on the left.

Tripper repeated the lightning and frost combination again and killed the last one.

After a few seconds, one Shellkin body lay on the ground and the other had pulverized to ice and dust. Behind the fallen enemies, a worn out and beat up Jag stood hunched over to catch his breath. He stood up for a second and gave a half-hearted “Whoo!” before hunching over again.

Tripper tried to appear more calm than he was and leaned back against a tree nonchalantly.

“You good dude?” Tripper asked.

“Am I good? Am I good, he asks, as if he hadn’t seen me get kidnapped by some gross mix of turtle, snake and sweaty gym rat,” Jag yelled. “That was louder than I meant to be.”

“So, should we try to just kinda push through or say fuck it, climb a tree and try to sleep up there?” Tripper said.

“I’m wiped dude, but I don’t trust the trees, there could be monster birds, or worse.” Jag said.

“What would be worse than monster birds in a tree?”

Jag shuddered, “Squirrels. Let’s try to keep going I guess.”

Tripper nodded and the pair continued more slowly through the woods.

A few hours went by and light finally began to filter through the tree canopy. Tripper and Jag had managed to avoid running into any major monsters, instead getting lucky and catching a few rabbits and mice to cook over a campfire.

Stomachs growling, the two continued to walk, this time they looked for a spot to rest and cook the rabbits. Eventually the trees thinned and they made their way into a field overlooking a river. Settling down, Jag pulled out some wood he’d collected while traveling and Tripper lit them with a spell.

“Not the best use of magic, but starting a fire from scratch is too much fucking work,” Tripper explained with a shrug.

“No complaints here bruh, I’m starving. We should probably see if we can update our maps. During beta they said that main locations would be labeled and we haven’t gotten any quests that would have a hidden spot yet. I’m also gonna try and hit up Z or Rae again,” Jag said.

“Think we could get away with a nap now too? Not trying to be lame, but I’m kinda slogged at this point,” Tripper said.

“Me too, Trip. Yeah, it’s still daylight. Creep spawn is supposed to be lower in daylight for this area according to my field guide,” Jag said.

“Field guide?” Tripper asked.

“Yeah, everyone in beta got one as a prize when we moved into live mode. Basically a special notebook that casuals didn’t get to help us educate the noobs,” he said, pulling out a green notebook.

The two friends sat silently as Tripper and Jag traded off cooking the rabbits over a poorly made spit and looking over the field guide.

The smell of cooking rabbit wafted over them and after about 30 minutes, the small meal was ready.

Tripper gazed into the flames at the rabbits. The skin glistened a moist golden brown, the smell of animal fat, similar to bacon, wafted slowly over the campsite. It felt as close to Earth as he’d seen since entering Experia.

Jag leaned back, stared up at the sky, and blinked slowly. The clouds overhead were fluffy and large, as if out of a painting or a photo from a younger part of Earth’s history.

“You know,” Jag said, “we don’t get clouds like this back home anymore.”

“Yeah,” Tripper said, “it’s mostly gray and dark now, all of the smog builds up before anyone can see the sky. Do you think this is what it was really like back then? Blue skies, I mean.”

“I’m not sure, but I want it to be true. My grandfather used to tell me stories about going to the beach and seeing blue skies and blue oceans when he was a kid. I think he was one of the last generations to see the sky before everything turned gray,” said Jag.

“Z and I heard on a couple of forums that there were still a few areas that had missed the dust. We should all go once we get out. It’d be a cool trip to take,” Tripper said.

Jag started whistling and a few birds drifted down from nearby trees and sat on a log nearby, watching the two players as they ate and chatted.

The rabbit smell must have attracted the birds, their eyes were fixed on the meat in Tripper and Jag’s hands.

When they were full, Jag tossed a few morsels of rabbit on the ground and the small birds attacked it as if they had never eaten before. Tripper laughed at the sight, then stood up and dusted off his pants and robe.

Jag stood up too and crunched his boot into the dirt next to the fire. He kicked some of the earth over the fire, covering it. Smoke rose from the fire lazily but the heat and embers were snuffed out after a few seconds.

“Let’s go,” Jag said. He turned and left without another word.

By the end of the day, Jag said they were starting to get close to Tameron’s surrounding quest zones, so the loot drops and hostile creeps would be a little closer to their levels but the gold and magic find would be slightly higher.

Night fell and with the thinner trees, Tripper and Jag saw the moon on Experia for the first time. The large orb was bright. The celestial sphere gave off a faint-blue hue but provided plenty of light for Tripper and Jag to see into the distance.

"So," Jag said, "I'm going to take first watch this time. No offense, but you're kinda shit at staying awake and keeping us safe."

"I--well, fair enough. Go ahead," Tripper said.

Without another word, Jag climbed a tree, crossbows in hand.

"You coming up or staying down there?" Jag called down.

"What happened to scary squirrels?" Tripper asked, then walked up to a tree and tiltied his head back to see how high up the branches went and how thick they got.

"Different woods, different creeps. I think we'll be okay up here," said Jag.

Tripper shrugged and climbed up, worming his hands into the cracks of the tree's thick bark. He settled on a branch and leaned back. His pack was cradled in his hands and a small dagger rested on his knee. It only took a few seconds for exhaustion to overtake the mage and he fell asleep.

Jag kept watch, a bolt readied on each crossbow and a slim chain hanging down from the branch he sat on, looped once around the wood, a hook and mesh net resting on the ground where the chain's slack coiled loosely.

Clouds drifted slowly over the night sky, then paused in front of the moon to block some of its light. Down below, a pair of red eyes opened and fell immediately on the chain, then followed the line up to where Jag sat on the tree branch. A wicked set of claws that came out from a blood-matted paw moved across the ground, then flexed, cracking a large rock.

The sound of bones crunching and rocks breaking broke the quiet hum of nocturnal rodents and insects and a heavy silence settled over the copse of trees where Tripper and Jag rested.

As Jag settled into his watch, a low growl came from the brush where the matted paws waited.

The clouds moved away from the moon, letting light come down more steadily over the forest again. A hulking furry body rose, revealing a massive bear with cunning eyes and large teeth. He stretched quietly before looking at the chain and Jag's tree again. Drool dripped to the ground from his mouth in thick rivulets.

"Umbra," the bear growled.

A thick haze drifted from the forest floor and obscured the bear's form as he approached the chain. A low laugh seeped from his mouth and the night darkened. Jag's eyes grew heavy and he squinted but saw nothing.