part0016

Dogs are evil. Relentless. But we outran them. Mundy proved remarkably fast on his feet, with just as much stamina as the horses. The dogs showed they had heart, but we had the greater stride.

My HUD map labeled the road as "Jeddia Pass Trade Road." At best, it was half as wide as a single-lane road in the real world, and mostly consisted of deep muddy ruts. We actually rode to the side of the road, there being worn trails to either side of it for horse and foot traffic.

After the Jeddian City Guards gave up the chase, Mundy repacked the loot on our spare horses. He had a talent, reducing the bulky size down to small blanket covered bundles. And just in time, since we started passing other travelers who looked us over with mercenary eyes.

You couldn’t trust anyone in that world.

We spent five days on that road before we arrived at a walled market town in the Wykar Mountain foothills. The road split at the town of Nibbly Bridge, which sprawled along both sides of the Nibb River. One branch of the road continued due west across the Steppes, and the other veered off to the south through the middle of town and over the single stone bridge. Mundy wanted to continue west, since the Markhah Desert lay to the south. Deserts, not fun.

The town was surrounded by farmland, though mostly it followed the river westward. To the north and west were thick, dark heavily forested foothills. To the south and east were open steppe lands. For some strange reason I thought Nibbly Bridge as the Denver of that world.

"What's to the north?"

"Forest," he said. "The Great Northern Forest, to be exact. It's endless."

We stood on the road, high above the market town. We'd arrive in Nibbly Bridge before sundown, so we'd have time to sell off our loot. A town that size had to have at least one inn. I longed for a proper bed. I had no bedding inventoried, and all Mundy had were the two blankets wrapped around our loot and his cloak. I had to sleep curled up, while he spooned me and kept me warm in that frigid mountain air.

Well, Mundy had a knack for keeping me warm. He screwed me blind before going to sleep, and then woke up a few times during the night and warmed me up with more sex. In five days and four nights, I leveled up to player level 12. Thanks to the oversexed minotaur, sex remained my highest Skill: Sex 10 . But we sparred during our frequent rest and feeding stops for the horses, so my martial skills rose as well. Swordfighter 9 . Shield fighting 7 .

My Health and Stamina stayed down. I wasn't used to riding that much, so stayed saddle sore the entire time. Sometimes I thought walking easier than riding, but I wasn't used to that much walking, either. Artimus' curse truly changed me back into a newb.

I tried not looking, but I couldn't help myself. Charisma 1 . I wouldn't be on the run, a hunted woman, if I still had 12 points there.

The closer we got to Nibbly Bridge, the heavier the traffic became. And by traffic, I mean peasants. That road slowly became a river of brown, green, and gray clad peasants. They walked slowly. Their carts moved slowly. Their only saving grace was they deferred to us and moved aside, slowly, to let us pass. Most even bowed to me when our eyes met, and addressed me as "milady."

Yeah, the shiny armor fooled them.

The town gates and walls were strongly manned. At least thirty soldiers stood arrayed before the gate, and I could see armored men atop the walls. Whereas Jeddia had one soldier every twenty feet or so, in Nibbly Bridge they stood about ten feet apart.

"Declare yourself," a gate guard demanded, and rather hostilely, too.

They weren't challenging anyone else. I assumed since they were locals, the guards knew them on sight. It reminded me that strangers weren't always welcome in that world.

"I am Isobelle D'Arcy," I replied. "A battle-maid and free sword."

"Mundy. A warrior," my companion declared proudly. "Champion of the Qooka Tribe."

The soldier wasn't impressed. The other soldiers turned away when we didn't offer any trouble.

We showed him our purses weren't empty. The fact that most towns and cities hated vagrants with a passion made me wonder if that was true in actual medieval times. Personally, I thought it a jab at cheap players who never bought anything. Throwing vagrants into jail, and sometimes selling them into slavery, probably made the game developers feel better.

"What do you have packed on the horses?"

"The arms and armor of our two slain friends," Mundy said.

That got the soldier's attention. Several others turned to regard us suspiciously.

"They died bravely like true warriors," Mundy declared. "We also got some of the better weapons we got off the dead orcs that attacked us."

The soldiers' suspicions went away at the mention of orcs. I shook my head. Orcs probably got blamed for a lot more than they were truly guilty of, though most of them weren't nice people.

"Are you at war?" I asked the gate guards. "You have twice as many soldiers guarding the walls as they do in Jeddia."

"We're always at war with the goblins and orcs," he said. The soldier looked northward and scowled. "The savages are constantly testing our mettle."

The soldier passed us through, after we asked a few questions about the town. I found the town looked remarkably like Jeddia. They built everything out of the local dark gray field stone, with no render to give them that stucco look. A few buildings were whitewashed, and I noticed one large structure painted a dark red. I did see a few half-timbered homes. All of the roofs were wood shingles.

"I hate cobblestone," Mundy said. "Is every street in this town paved?"

I preferred cobblestone, since dirt streets meant mud ninety percent of the time. Mundy didn't care if his feet got dirty or muddy. I cared if my boots got muddy. Leather had to be cared for or it would rot away. Boots were not cheap in that world.

"There's the trader the gate guard mentioned. Jarla's place," Mundy said, pointing at a two-story stone building on the corner. It was one of the few places with something other than white shutters. The red stood out. "Let's sell these arms and armor, and then sell the horses."

He pointed to the stable down the street.

"You mean sell two of the horses," I corrected him. "I prefer riding to walking."

"Horses are expensive luxuries," he said. "If you keep it, you're paying for the beast's stabling and feeding. I won't waste my coin on a stinking horse."

We left the horses at the hitching post out front and entered the trader's shop. It proved much larger than I expected, with row upon row of armor laden shelves. The weapons were racked in back behind a counter. The trader stood behind that counter polishing a helmet.

Half-orc warrior floated above her head. I estimated her age at late twenties, early thirties. She stood at six four, with broad shoulders for a woman, yet there was no doubt she was all female. Those boobs and tiny waist didn't lie. The most striking thing about Jarla was her dark, grayish-brown complexion and bright fire-red hair.

"Greetings," Jarla called, her face lighting up. "Come in. Come in."

She waved us over, while clearing away a space on the counter for our bundles. I noticed the missing thumb on her right hand. Up closer, I saw numerous scars on her face, neck, and arms. But it was her yellow eyes that made me pull up short.

"What do we have here?" Jarla asked.

"Armor and weapons," I said. I pulled out the three swords I got from Xavier, too.

The trader went over ever piece. She liked most of it. A few pieces got only a cursory look. Jarla seemed to favor the armor over the weapons.

"I already have more knives and daggers than I can count," she said. "I'll buy yours, but I can't give you much for them. You might be better served selling them elsewhere."

"Well, they are heavy and bulky, so…" I replied.

And that's when Mundy took charge. That big ass bull-man could haggle like a dwarven merchant. Jarla gave as good as she got, and a few times I thought they would come to blows. But in the end, my friend got us a good price for it all, and Jarla seemed pleased as well.

We divided up six gold crowns, thirty silver, and I don't know how many copper crowns. All I knew was my cut of just the copper coins were more than my purse would hold. So before leaving the shop, Mundy and I redistributed our coinage. We kept a little more than we expected to need while in Nibbly Bridge in our purses, and stowed the rest away in our inventories.

Nibbly Bridge was large enough to have thieves and cutpurses galore.

We took ourselves straight over to the town stable. The owner was an attractive human woman dressed more like a man in trousers and tunic, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked my age. Human horse trader.

"Hello, I'm Isobelle, and my friend is Mundy," I called as we approached. She was cleaning the hooves of a horse. "We'd like to stable one of our horses, and sell the two spares."

"I'm Kath," she said.

Since I knew more about horses than Mundy, I took over the haggling duties. I kept the best horse for myself. Kath examined the other two and their tack, while I tried to make her think they were better than what she saw. Unfortunately, we didn't take care of them like we should've, and the horse trader gave me a disapproving look more than once. In the end, she gave us thirty silver crowns for the two of them, and their tack. I was pretty sure I got the raw end of the deal.

"I swear, the stress of haggling wears me out more than a fight," I said. "Go over and get us a room. I have to take care of my mount first."

I actually enjoyed taking care of horses. After I killed Artimus, maybe I could buy a stable and do it full time. But I'd forgotten just how long it could take, so by the time I entered the Bridge Inn's common room, Mundy was halfway to drunk.

The inn's common room was smaller than I expected, and crowded. The three long tables seated quite a few humans, dwarves, and minotaurs. Really, that was the most minotaurs I'd ever seen together off the battlefield.

"Here's my little friend," Mundy shouted to the room. "Isobelle! These are my friends."

A dozen drunken minotaurs called out their greetings, most of them looking at me with lusty eyes. Since I only wore my sweat-soaked tunic, no underwear, I felt a little self-conscious. As soon as I noticed them all staring at my tits, my nips started tingling and rising up.

It had to be that battle-maid of easy virtue character Artimus stuck me inside. I'd come to discover my libido had a hair trigger. And the higher my Sex Skill rose, the easier I became aroused. And the more I thought about sex, or speculated on how every male character I saw might perform in bed. Yeah, it was a curse.

"Looks like you started having fun without me," I said. He just picked up a mug and drained it in a matter of seconds. And then he turned back to his friends, forgetting about me. "Great." I shook my head. "Mundy, which room is ours?"

He didn't hear me. Mundy and his bull-headed friends began singing a battle song. Okay, more slurring than singing.

"You're on the second floor, room 2," a serving wench said. "He's already paid for it."

"Thanks. Can I get a bath here?"

"No," she said. "But the river is right below us."

I just stared at her. I bathed in rivers while on the road. In town, I expected a tub full of hot water. I began not liking Nibbly Bridge. So I went up to check out our room, and to set my respawn site there. By the time I returned to the common room Mundy was line dancing to an energetic drumbeat. I found a seat across the room and at the end of a table to sip my beer and watch him play with his small herd of friends.

"Your friend appears to have forgotten you," an elderly man said as he took the seat across the table. It was hard to judge his height since he walked stooped over and leaned heavily on his staff. "And you're such a pretty thing, too."

I checked him quickly. Human wizard. His robes were gray, travel stained, and a little threadbare. His gray beard was the longest I'd ever seen, though a little thin.

"Thanks, gramps," I said. I winked at him. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

His grin was infectious. "Probably, but I can't remember why."

"If you keep making me laugh, I might show you what you've forgotten," I teased, surprising myself. I've never flirted with someone so ancient. What if it led to his bed? But I couldn't help myself. "I bet you have all kinds of sexy spells to thrill a girl."

Bedric of Hawkdale. I was once the Grand Wizard of Markhah, but that was before you were born."

The game didn't exist before I was born, but I wasn't going to correct him. NPCs all had their "pasts" that they believed.

"If you buy me a mug, maybe I can show you some magic," he offered with a hopeful look.

I signaled a passing serving wench to bring him a mug. I didn't want to see any tricks, but being a wizard he might know of magical items that could permanently kill a player.

"So, Bedric, were you a fighting wizard? Or a healing kind of wizard?"

"I'm more of a lover than a fighter," he said, giving me a wink.

I squealed and clapped. "I like you, Bedric. I bet you were a naughty rascal in your day."

"I was!" he said. Then he looked all around me. Mobs didn't usually do that. "You're a player, right?"

"You're aura is odd."

"I've been permanently trapped in the game by an evil wizard," I said.

"Oh? I've heard that happened to a few of you. Are you still immortal?"

"Pretty much," I said. "I've respawned a few times since. Indeed, my curse is what brings me to your little town. I'm looking for an epic or legendary weapon that will permanently kill a player."

"The wizard that cursed you?"

"You know it. He's very evil, and is responsible for every player that is trapped," I said. "I want to put an end to him, once and for all."

His mug arrived, so Bedric sipped on it a bit. I left him alone since it looked like he was deep in thought. Honestly, Mundy's antics were entertaining. Who knew a minotaur could sing so well? His dancing needed work.

"It would have to be legendary to kill a player permanently," Bedric said at length. He gnawed on his mustache a moment longer, and seemed to come to a decision. "If I knew of such a weapon, what would you do?"

I thought he was going to ask me what I'd give him for the information. Answer: everything. My horse. My money. Hell, I'd even sleep with him, and I bet I could get his wand to work wonders.

"I would try to get it, and then if successful, I'd go and do my best to slay Artimus."

He hesitated again. My heartbeat tripled. I swear, I started to sweat. He knew of a weapon, or some dark magic item, that would do the deed. For some reason, he resisted telling me.

"Artimus is a very bad person," I said. "He's also trapped in the game. I killed him once, which is why he cursed me to be trapped."

"I like you, and believe your quest is just, but the weapon I know about is owned by the Sultan of Markhah, whose father I served loyally for fifty years," Bedric said. "Until his son usurped the throne and cast me out."

Really, that was half of the information that I needed. I could figure out the item's name once I reached the sultanate's capital. But the more I knew, the better, so I gave Bedric my best pleading look. That broke him.

With a resigned sigh, "There is a Legendary Sword called Reaper. It's in Sultan Salman Al Tariq's treasury, in the city of Arukh. I must warn you, the Sultan's palace guard is formidable. I fear you will be slain trying to steal it."

I touched his hand, "Don't worry. I respawn."

"There is that," he said with rising spirits. Then his face fell when he looked into his mug. "It's all gone."

I told the serving wench to keep his mug full. Then I spent the rest of the evening pumping him for details about the palace layout, and about the city of Arukh. Of course, I flirted outrageously with him to keep him interested.