Spirits of Mithzara - 4. Troubles in Lankin

He still felt the ghost of water on his skin.

Kyle sat in the library at lunch, mind wandering. That game was so real. It made him wonder exactly how real it could get.

He was supposed to be editing his paper, but the screen on the computer in front of him spoke of other things.

The magic system in Mithzara was different than any he had seen in other games. Here the rule of intent was the guiding force of magic, within certain parameters. There seemed to be two or three different uses for many of the spells he found, based on what the caster intended when they cast the spell. The shield spell he had learned could block against magic and physical attacks, but not both at the same time.

He also found something hidden in the depths of a forum, a book on crafting runes. This book did not seem to be part of a series like the other skill books, but instead seemed to be a guide to creating runes for weapons and armours.

Adding the title of the book to the list of books he wanted to check out that night, Kyle glanced at the time. He was going to be late for math.

On second thought, he still needed to finish that paper. And the class was only a refresher course on algebra. He could skip one class. But there was going to be no more messing around with the game.

Editing the essay turned out to be a lot easier than Kyle thought. There were a few words he had to change around, but it read well enough. An hour later he sat back, satisfied with his work. And he still had an hour to kill before he needed to go home. Time for more noob friendly research.

By the time he was ready to leave, Kyle had a plan for the night. Namely picking flowers and buying books. Hopefully Garyn would forgive him for not heading out of Lankin yet.

“You installed it, right?”

Jacob rubbed his eyes, studying a screen on the side of Laura’s Cube. Why he was the voice of technical reason was beyond him, but he’d do his best.

The room around him was filled with posters of female athletes. The only break from them was a hung copy of Brisingr, the sword from one of Laura’s favourite books. The place spoke of Jacob’s girlfriend, and he felt almost as comfortable here as he did in his own home.

“Yeah, just like the horse game, right?” Laura asked.

“Not exactly. You have to keep this one connected to the internet.”

“Oh…”

Jacob chuckled quietly.

“I did the same thing,” he admitted. “It’s kind of obvious, but not many seem to think about it, with all those commercials telling us not to sleep with the internet on.”

“You would think they’d mention that little detail.”

“Why? It would just give people ammunition to use against the game. Demon game allows hackers to access your mind, and all that crap.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Laura shrugged. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

“I can’t. I need to get some shopping done before I go to bed tonight. I’ll meet you in Lankin around eleven?”

“That’s the elf starting town, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’ll see you there,” Laura smiled.

Kyle was starting to understand why cats sat in sunlight all the time. It felt great on his fur. Already an hour into gathering marigolds, and he figured he had enough for the books he wanted. But he’d keep gathering a while longer. The sun felt amazing. True, he hadn’t gotten this game just so he could pick flowers, but who cared? He was enjoying himself.

There had been no word from Garyn, and when he had last checked, the elf had still been offline. Kyle hoped he was okay, though maybe he was just taking a break from the game.

Almost as if summoned by his thoughts, Kyle heard the buzzing of a call in his head. Holding his hand up to his ear, the kitsune answered.

“Lankin Mortuary. You tag them, we bag them. How may I direct your call?”

“Very funny,” Garyn said. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to head out today. My girlfriend is starting the game tonight and I want to make sure she gets a good start.”

“Awesome. I’m actually gathering flowers for another book right now,” Kyle replied.

“You should find the guard barracks actually. I heard you can get a cheap weapon there. It’s never too early to start practicing.”

“Thanks, I’ll get right on that. Later dude.”

“Later.”

The kitsune ended the chat with a small sigh. It appeared his gathering was over. But it was probably for the best. Who knew how long it would take for him to find the books he needed?

Fifteen minutes later Kyle stood in front of the chemist, handing her a bunch of flowers.

“You’ve been busy,” the chemist noted, counting the plants. “Did you have a good awakening?”

“A good… what?”

“Awakening. You’re one of the spirits, right? You spend the nights in another world.”

Kyle stared at the other kitsune, stunned. The NPCs knew they weren’t from here?

“Uh, yeah…” he stammered.

“That’s good.”

The chemist slid over a silver coin with a smile.

“Have a good day.”

“Thanks, you too.”

Kyle hurried from the shop, a little disturbed by the experience. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense though. Allowing the NPCs to discuss the real world allowed players to talk about the real world too, without causing strange looks from the NPCs.

The kitsune opened his inventory, taking out his staff. If he was going to the barracks, he should look like he could handle himself. Even if he felt otherwise.

Jacob sat against a wall, watching the spawn point. He had seen two elves enter the world, but neither had been Laura. He had given her his name, so she would be able to recognize him immediately. Not that his character was that different from his real self.

The door to the spawn point opened and Jacob looked up, watching a slender elf leave. Dark green hair, cropped short, the same grey tunic and staff everyone started with… If the elf hadn’t been a guy, Jacob would have thought-

“Jacob!”

The elf grinned, hand raised in greeting. Jason-Elliot Lachlan, said his nameplate. But he sounded just like Laura.

“What…?”

The elves stood facing each other, Jacob’s face a study in confusion.

“Hey,” Jason said uncertainly.

“Laura? How did…? They let you play other genders?”

“N-not exactly,” Jason said. “I… uh, when I first set up my Cube, I set my gender as male. It makes me feel better that way.”

Jacob shook his head.

“You’re a dude? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know what I wanted. I’m still not sure what I want…”

He felt lost. Laura… wasn’t Laura any more...

“I… I need some time… I’ll call you…” he stammered, before hurrying away.

Jacob had no idea where he was going, he just needed out of here. The elf soon left the village behind him, making his way up the marigold hill. As he moved, a message appeared in front of him.

“Your heart rate is elevated. We suggest a break soon.”

He let out a strangled laugh. The system warning just seemed so normal against his new truth. Laura was a guy. Jacob wished he could take a break from that.

“Fuuuuccck!”

He dropped to the ground, laying flat in the flowers. What the fuck happened to his life? Did this mean he was gay? Could he be gay? He still loved Laura, or Jason or whatever her- his name was.

Did he have a problem with her becoming him? Jason thought about it. He wanted Laura to be happy. If that meant she needed to be a guy, then he would accept it. But he didn’t know if he could be with a guy. He had never really thought about it before. Not that they had ever done anything other than kissing. He knew why now.

“Fuck…”

Opening his menu, Jacob logged off. He wouldn’t get anything done tonight.

The captain of the guard scowled at Kyle.

“A cheap weapon,” he repeated. “Damn it, the guard is not a fucking store for you spirits to buy weapons from.”

“Do… do you know where a store is?”

“Ugh…”

The elf rubbed at his face.

“Look, just follow me. We had a shipment of goods come in, all of them trashy weapons. Maybe you can find something there.”

Silently, Kyle walked behind the guard, afraid the elf would change his mind. They entered a shabby looking storeroom, weapons set haphazardly all over the place.

“Pick one and get out,” the guard grunted.

Scanning the room quickly, Kyle grabbed an unstrung bow and a quiver with five arrows in it.

“Thanks!” he called as he was hurried back outside.

The kitsune placed the bow in his bag, marveling at the inventory system as the bag swallowed the bow. The quiver he buckled around his waist, the arrows rattling.

A shadow passed overhead, and Kyle glanced up, seeing a large cloud passing over the sun. That was strange. There were no clouds earlier…

“Shit…”

He knew what happened. By collecting that weapon, he must have triggered a quest. Shit was about to go down.

A bell began ringing and several elves and kitsune hurried out of the barracks.

“Gnolls at the walls!” one of them yelled.

A knot forming in his gut, Kyle pulled out his bow again. He took a moment to figure out how to string it, before chasing after the guards. Garyn had said he was unable to fight goblins, and he had real world training. What was Kyle going to do against gnolls?

Still, maybe he could just hide behind the guards.

The village seemed empty of players. Only NPCs were running around, trying to escape into their homes. Just his luck, stuck in an instanced quest with no idea of how to fight.

“You! Spirit! Follow me!”

Looking around, Kyle saw a cloaked kitsune with a bow in hand beckoning toward him. He ran toward the fox, arrows clinking at his side.

“We’re heading onto the wall to provide support! Can you use that bow?” the archer asked as they ran.

“No ma’am,” Kyle replied.

“No trouble there then. I can teach you, but you need to learn fast.”

The two ran up a flight of stairs, emerging on the wooden wall. Kyle doubted the wall would stand against a determined assault. He just hoped their opponents weren’t too strong.

There were at least fifty gnolls gathered in the fields outside the walls. He was so fucked…

“Okay, here’s the plan. Do you see the ones with the flags on their backs? Clan heads, each responsible for five to ten of the gnolls. We take them out, we weaken the army and give the defenders at the gates an easier time defending,” the kitsune said, setting an arrow to her string. “Let me see how you hold your bow. Quickly.”

Kyle held out his bow, setting an arrow to the string as the other fox had done. This was the first time he had ever used a bow. But he had read about shooting with bows before. Maybe he could use that.

Drawing his arrow back on the string, he set his elbow high, anchoring the string to his ear. His muscles immediately started burning, and he brought the bow back down, wincing.

“Good start, and it will have to do. Take out the chief to the left, the one with the horn.”

He could see the gnoll, see the creature raising the horn to signal the start of the assault. Pulling the arrow back again, the fox focused on that gnoll.

“A little lower…” he reminded himself, dropping the tip of the arrow just slightly.

The string slipped from his fingers, scraping against his arm, and he yelped as the arrow flew forward. Squinting, he saw the gnoll flinch as the projectile hit the ground next to his foot. A blue bar appeared in the corner of Kyle’s vision, showing him at five of six stamina

The other kitsune fired her bow, the arrow sailing through the air until it landed in another chief’s head. The gnoll exploded in a cloud of sparks, his curved sword dropping to the ground.

“Again,” the fox said.

Kyle drew another arrow, aiming carefully. He released it, watching it fly into the gnoll’s chest.

“Holy shit, I actually hit him…”

He heard a gasp and looked over. The other fox was doubled over, an arrow sticking out of her gut.

“Shit!”

Kyle dropped next to the kitsune as she dissolved into dust, leaving her bow and quiver behind.

“I’m fucked… I am so very very fucked…”

Grabbing the fallen bow, Kyle peered out over the wall. The gnolls were swarming in the field, confusion spread all amongst their ranks. He nocked another arrow back, aiming at a chief on the right flank. Sucking in a deep breath, Kyle loosed the arrow, quickly setting another on the string. He found another target and sent an arrow at them, before dropping low once more.

Sweat poured all over his body, his breath coming in ragged gasps. This was hard.

“Just two more…” he breathed, setting another arrow up.

Standing, the kitsune loosed the arrow, ducking as an arrow flew his way. He heard a loud cry and a horn blow, feet stampeding in the field.

This was it, his last point of stamina. After this, he was done.

The arrow flew, catching a gnoll in the back of the leg as Kyle slumped against the wall. They… they were running, fleeing the field. It felt too easy, even if Kyle felt exhausted.

Below him, he heard the cheers of the guards as they chased after the gnolls. There was a beep in his ear, an icon appearing in the centre of his vision.

“Stamina plus one? Sweet...” he breathed heavily.

A message appeared after the icon, reminding him to take a break if he felt too stressed. The kitsune laughed weakly at the suggestion as an elf ran toward him.

“You saved us!” she cried.

“I did, didn’t I?”

“Come on, the mayor wants to thank you personally.”

The elf pulled at Kyle’s arm, the kitsune following slowly as he recovered from the fight. His stamina was refilling slowly, already back at three points of seven after two minutes. He’d have to find a way to increase that number somehow, and fast.