BladeDust Online: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 1) Page 7

  “So when is he going to get drunk? What time exactly?”

  “He's very predictable. I have been watching him for weeks now. As soon as the sun goes down, he leaves his cave. It's like clockwork.”

  “That's kinda creepy that you are always watching him,” Tommy replied.

  “Give me the map,” I said with one hand out. “So we go in there, and get the gold? Then what?”

  “You give me my share. That's what.”

  Give him his share? Sometimes I almost forgot that this was a game. In a normal console game, I might be tempted just to steal his share. But, it just seemed wrong in this world. It just seemed too real. “So we just bring it back here?”

  The elf laughed. “Do you really think I am that dumb? Of course not. I will be there. Undetected of course. My stealth skills are quite good.”

  Follow us? Crap, this little quest of his was barely even worth the hassle. In fact, I was almost regretting meeting this elf in the first place. Surely the official NPC type quest must be better than this? Still, I decided to go along with the elf just because I was desperate to get my first gold coins. “So you are coming with us?”

  He waved his hand into the air. “I will be there, and I will be watching. Just go. I will be waiting for you outside of his cave in my usual spot.”

  I looked at the map. It was a piece of crap. It had scribbles and all sorts of junk that made it hard to read. “Just show us where his cave is,” I said.

  “I can't. I'm busy at the moment. Are your map reading skills poor?”

  “Well, you just have a line leading to a big tree. I mean, there are thousands of trees. How am I suppose to know which tree this is?”

  The elf rolled his eyes. “You need to use your imagination. If you look closely, you will see that this is a very large tree. And look here,” he said with a shaky finger. “Those are golden balls. The tree has golden balls on it.”

  “Okay. So where is this tree?”

  “You have no sense of adventure do you?” he asked with slanted eyes. “Just leave the village entrance and take a left. Walk about one thousand feet and you will see the tree. My cousin's cave is under the tree stump. Are you happy?”

  “Yes,” I replied while heading towards the door. “Lets go Tommy.”

  Suddenly, I stopped. “Wait. Where is his gold hidden?”

  “Under his bed. He has dug a hole that is around three feet deep.”

  “Three feet? Aren't we going to need a shovel?”

  “The dirt will be soft. He checks on his gold every single day.”

  I rolled my eyes and hoped I wasn't going to regret taking this quest. Tommy and I left the elf's home and quickly made our way out of the village.

  Chapter Ten

  “That ugly little elf was kinda annoying,” Tommy said.

  “I know. He was weird too,” I replied. “I think he really believes he's an elf now. Like, he must live in the game full time.”

  I stopped walking. Maybe he was an elf? Maybe he had been here for so long that he actually believed he was a real elf? It seemed so strange to consider that some players actually lived a “second life” in the game world. I could see how it could happen though. I even had moments where I would lose myself and forget about the outside world. I suppose if you spent enough time here, it could happen to anyone. My feet continued moving but I didn't see the tree yet.

  “Two hundred and four feet,” Tommy mumbled.

  “You are counting?”

  “Yea. He said around one thousand feet. Remember?”

  “Good idea,” I replied.

  We continued walking until we saw it. The tree was absolutely massive. Easily a few hundred feet tall. It wasn't the height that was so impressive though, it was the width. It must have been nearly one hundred feet wide. On top of it, were huge golden balls. Under it, was a dark hole. “We have to go down there?” Tommy asked.

  “Yes. But first we have to wait for him to leave.”

  I looked up at the sky. It wouldn't be long before the sun set. “Don't we need to hide?” Tommy asked.

  “Let's sit on top of the cave. It's the best spot.”

  “This makes me kinda nervous.”

  My stomach growled as hunger had suddenly hit me. “I hope he has some food in there.”

  Tommy got excited. “You wanna eat his food?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Why not?

  We climbed on top of the cave and located a fairly flat spot. Suddenly, a large creature blazed past us from above. “What was that?”

  “I think it was a griffin! This game has griffins?”

  “I guess so,” Tommy replied. “We gotta be careful because a big bird like that would probably have fun eating us.”

  The big beast flapped its wings and got further and further away. There was a roar. The sound of the roar sent chills up my spine. “I'm glad it didn't see us.”

  A few moments passed while I watched the sun get lower and lower in the sky. Then, I had a message alert pop up in front of me:

  New Message Alert:

  Accept Message From Todd The WordSmith? Yes/No?

  Todd was sending me a message? That was pretty cool. “Todd just sent me a message,” I yelled.

  “Really? I thought he was dead.”

  I opened the message and began to read it aloud:

  “Hey! Are you guys okay? I need your help. After the mage killed me, I lost my body. I cannot find it without the help of a living player. I am a “lost soul” right now and I need someone to take me to my body. Can you guys help me? I can give you quite a bit of gold. I have it hidden at a secret location and will give it to you when you save me. Can you do it? Please? Thanks

  Todd The Wordsmith.”

  I looked at Tommy. “How can we find his soul?”

  “I don't know. But it all sounds kinda scary,” Tommy replied.

  I itched my nose. “We gotta help him. Besides, he said he could give us gold.”

  “But, what about building the army?”

  “We are still going to do that. Without our army, I doubt we will find Todd. It would be too dangerous for us to go alone.”

  I began to think. Should we even complete the elf's quest? One part of me wanted to leave, but another knew we needed the gold. We were already here, so we might as well get the gold. The sun began to set as I eagerly watched below for any signs of someone leaving the cave. Darkness came while insects chirped around us. The chirps began to string together. It was almost as if the bugs were playing a song. It was actually really pleasant. I looked up at the tree above us and noticed the amazing glowing golden balls. Wow, it was beautiful.

  “He's leaving,” Tommy whispered while elbowing me.

  Below us, a lanky elf held a lantern. We froze. If he looked up, there was a chance he would see us. Thankfully, he didn't look up. Instead, he continued to walk and within moments he went into the village. “Let's go,” I yelled.

  We both climbed down the hill and headed to the entrance of the cave. “It's so dark,” Tommy said.

  He was right. Why didn't we get a lantern first? I felt like a total noob. But, I didn't care. I could deal with a little darkness. We entered the cave and noticed a faint light in the distance. “His bed must be over there,” Tommy said.

  Our feet moved quickly. How long was he going to be gone? That was something I had forgotten to ask. We got closer and closer to the light until we were right next to it. I looked around and noticed a worn out bed. Then, there was a growling sound. “What the crap?” I asked.

  “What is that thing?” Tommy asked.

  “Thing? Who are you calling a thing?” a voice asked.

  In a bronze cage, was a small troll like creature. He had big brown eyes, and looked very friendly. He wasn't green though. Instead, he was a beige color and was rather cute. But one of the most amazing things about him, was his hair. He had very thick orange hair that stood straight up. His hair was beautiful and had plenty of moisture in it. I had never seen such beauti
ful hair before. Wait? Why was I so amazed with this troll's hair? In some ways, it didn't make sense. I quickly tried to forget about him and began to think about the gold. “It's under the bed,” I said. “Push the bed.”

  Tommy propped himself up against the bed. He tried to push it but his feet just slid in place. “Push harder,” I said.

  “Why don't you help him,” the troll replied.

  Actually, the troll had a point. I quickly ran beside Tommy and got into a strong pushing position. We both began to push but it still wouldn't budge. What the hell? Did this little cave dweller nail down his bed? I didn't know. Dropping to my knees, I tried to see what the problem was. “It's like part of the ground or something,” I said.

  “What are you two doing here?” The troll asked. “My master doesn't allow guest here. So, why are you here?”

  “Are you a mini troll?” Tommy asked.

  The troll seemed offended. “What? I am not mini. I am a full size troll.”

  “We need to crawl under the bed and start digging,” I said with my head under the bed. With a pound, I tried to see how hard the dirt was. “It's not soft,” I yelled.

  “Are you a pet? If so, are you happy here?” Tommy asked from behind me.

  “Tommy? What are you doing? I need your help.”

  Tommy continued talking to the troll. “I can give you everything your owner is giving you and more. I am actually considering becoming a pet owner myself. Do you think you would enjoy living with a guy like me?”

  “I barely even know you,” the troll hissed. “Can you provide the security that my master provides?”

  Tommy let out a long sigh. “It's hard to say. I'm really just starting to get back on my feet. I had a little rough patch, but now things are getting better.”

  “Are you seriously doing this right now?” I asked with frustration. “The elf's cousin could be back any minute. Help me get this gold!”

  “Gold?” The troll asked with surprise. “You are taking our gold? I should have known that was what you two were after. You can't do this to us. We'll starve down here without any gold.”

  Tommy crawled under the bed and began to dig. “This dirt is too hard.”

  He was right. The dirt was as hard as a rock. That stupid little elf didn't even know what he was talking about. I knew I should have never trusted him. If we were going to get this gold, we needed a shovel or some sort of digging tool. I jumped up and began to look around the cave. “Is there a shovel around here?”

  “That's our gold,” the troll hissed. “I will remember your face and name. I will tell my master who you are. He will track you down and kill you both.”

  “So I guess that means you don't want me as your new pet owner?” Tommy asked.

  I stopped. Crap. Could this beautiful little troll really see my name? “Oh yea? What's my name then?”

  “Walker. Walker Williamson.”

  Shit. The little bastard wasn't bluffing. “How did you know that?”

  “It's simple. I can see every character's name.”

  Damn. I guess it did make sense. That was pretty basic AI and the NPCS in this game were super advanced. “You can't tell your master. Okay?”

  “Oh I will,” he replied. “He will find you and kill you. You'll just be another lost soul.”

  “What happens to a lost soul?” I asked.

  “It's not pleasant,” the troll laughed. “Your soul is sent to a depressing place called UnderDead. It is contained there until someone comes to find it. Once someone finds your soul, they must take it to your dead body. But, this isn't an easy task.”

  “Damn. That sounds like it sucks.”

  “Yes, and I will make certain both of you are sent there,” the troll replied.

  Tommy crawled out from under the bed. “Should we kill the troll?”

  I nibbled on my fingernails. “Kill him? We can't just kill him. Can we?”

  “Oh I wish you would try,” the troll said with a growl. “Open my door and see what happens. Just open it. I dare you!”

  Tommy's eyes became bigger. “What are we going to do? We shouldn't be here without any weapons or experience. I think we need to go rat hunting or something. This is too advanced for us.”

  Tommy was right. We were in over our heads. Maybe we were moving too quickly? Maybe we should have done more rat hunting before we took on a quest like this? I always hated the whole grind thing in MMORPGS. But this wasn't a normal game. I didn't know what dying felt like, and I didn't want to experience it. The rat bite was painful enough. I couldn't imagine what dying would actually feel like. Plus, the whole glitch thing added an extra layer of fear to the situation. I paced back and forth. “Should we leave?”

  “You better leave,” the troll replied.

  I began to think. Leave? But, we had made it this far, and we were already in danger. Who's to say that the troll wouldn't tell his owner about us anyways? After all, he lived in a cave and must have been bored. In fact, I felt confident that him and his owner probably talked for hours and hours each night. Was he not going to bring my name up? Was he not going to tell his master about the most eventful day of his pathetic little life? I doubted it. “Will you keep your mouth shut if we leave? Pretend like this never happened at all?”

  The troll smiled. Man, he was cute. “Yes,” he replied with a soft voice.

  I squinted my eyes. I didn't believe him. He was being too nice about it. “Let's quickly find some food and get out of here.”

  “But he'll know,” Tommy replied. “We can't take anything.”

  Crap. Tommy was right. If we took anything, the elf's cousin would know someone had come to his cave. Suddenly, I heard a sound I'd never forget. The sound of a fire erupting. “Master,” the trolled yelled. “They have come to take our gold!”

  I couldn't believe it. He had caught us. A dark shadow approached from the cave's entrance. As it got closer, I saw the outline of his hand. Right above his hand, was an orange fireball. Fire? Was he a mage?

  Chapter Eleven

  The shadow got closer until his face was revealed. Wow. He was a fairly pleasant looking elf. Yellow eyes, a sharp nose and no hair. He was tall, wore a blue robe and looked like he hadn't taken a bath in months. Right away, I could smell the alcohol on his breath. But, he didn't look to be drunk. His name popped up over his head:

  Dante of Lucidity – Level 119

  Elf

  Level 119? Wow, that was pretty impressive. He took a few steps forward. “What's going on here?” he snapped.

  “These two came to take our gold,” the troll squealed.

  “Is that right? You came here to take my gold?”

  Me and Tommy didn't say a word. “Answer me!” he commanded.

  “Your cousin sent us,” Tommy replied.

  “Which one? Which idiot was it?”

  “Samson the Elf. That's what he is calling himself,” Tommy replied.

  Dante looked confused. “Samson? Samson sent you here to do this?”

  We didn't answer as his fireball grew with intensity. “That little bastard. He wants my gold does he? Is that what he sent you for?”

  Dante became quiet and placed one hand under his chin. “Why? Did he give a reason?”

  “He said you stole his gold,” I replied.

  “That little weasel. I never ever stole his gold. In fact, he stole mine. If he'd stop living in his own dream land he might actually realize that.”

  I looked at Tommy and gave him a nod. “Well, we are sorry about the confusion. It's just all one big mix up then.”

  Yea,” Tommy said. “We actually gotta go look for a quest now. But, it was nice meeting you and your mini troll.”

  “My size is completely normal,” the troll replied.

  “Wait,” Dante boomed. “You two aren't going anywhere. Did you think you could try to steal my gold without facing any consequences? Do you really think I would let you disrespect me like that?”

  “Your cousin tricked us,” I replied. “We tho
ught he was telling the truth. We thought you stole his gold. We just wanted to get it back for him.”

  Dante went into deep thought while pacing back and forth. “We are going to teach him a lesson. Is it gold you want?”