Dreaming Orora Read online

  Maia stood up from her lovely fishing spot and thought about leaving, unsure to where as of now, but anywhere should be better than here. In the distance the ferry from Ra Varra sliced its way towards the pier. It slowed midway and came to a stop. A small boat disembarked off it and peddled its way to what remained of the pier. Maia contemplated going to Ra Varra for a second, but what for? The assassin’s job held her interest no more.

  She walked away from the pier when someone’s screams stopped her. At first she heard her name accompanied by gargles, like a drowning voice trying to spit words. She turned around and managed to make out four people swimming towards the pier.

  “Maia,” the man waved. His head went below water. His hand still waving.

  She took few steps forward squinting, “Rain?” Maia felt a tad happy seeing him, then she recalled the old man and blood started to bubble inside her again. Payback time.

  The four guys took their sweet time getting out of the water. Borg got out first and pulled Rain. The other two man and woman, Maia did not recognize, followed out of the water. Maia just settled for watching from a distance waiting for more people to come out of the water, the old man in particular. Didn’t feel like getting herself wet, virtually or otherwise.

  “You idiot,” Maia said and walked towards Rain. She raised her fist.

  He jumped back and she punched the air. He put both hands on his knees, clasping for air. “Take it easy girl. We are the ones who should be mad, right Borg?”

  Borg folded his arms nodding in agreement.

  “You?” Maia said, “that old geezer killed me and you two abandoned me.”

  Rain and Borg exchanged a confused look, “Say what? We saw neither of you after that day in Aargal.”

  Their confusion looked genuine to Maia, reminded her of how she looked when that senile old man doped her. “Damn it, sorry guys, I was not able to play for two days afterwards, so I wasn't able to PM you.”

  “You got a friend request from Rain” message flashed in Maia’s display.

  “Problem solved,” Rain said, “sorry we couldn't get in contact.”

  “Water under the bridge,” said Maia, “Not for the damn old man though. Any ways, you recruited more members to your manhunt? You didn't introduce me to your friends,” Maia looked at the two new guys.

  “Oh sorry,” said Rain, “This here is Eb,” Rain pointed at the young man, he stood a good foot or so taller than Maia, then again who didn't? Slender figure and a jet black hair. He smiled and Maia smiled back. “And this here is his girl Jade.” Jade also towered over Maia, curvier with bigger features to boost. With a blond hair and a fair complexion. The girl smiled and Maia returned it.

  “And yes,” Rain said, “They are part of our newly formed guild the B-Hunterz,” the four of them struck an embarrassing pose. Borg crossed his arms, Eb and Jade stood back to back while Rain gave an ok sign. Surprisingly, of all the people in the world, those two found more people like them.

  “Original,” Maia rolled her eyes, “you know while naming the guild I’m sure you meant the Bounty Hunters, it really just sounds like you are B class hunters.”

  The four of them exchanged some quizzical looks, “damn it,” rain said and Borg slammed a palm on his own face. “We can’t change it now. Thanks a lot Maia, you really got a way in bringing us down.”

  “Sorry, just say it how I see it.”

  The five of them walked away from the pier. “Anyways,” Rain said, “glad we finally found you. What you been up to while away?”

  “Fishing and helping the locals here. What about you? I take it you didn't find Hok?”

  “Nah,” Rain said and Borg just shook his head, “after you left us we decided to go to Ladara in hopes of finding you or the old man. No luck, and that place was a hellhole. We stayed there for some time and met lowly Eb here,” He pointed a thumb towards Eb.

  Eb looked at them and smiled, his right arm around Jade’s shoulders. “Yeah,” Eb said, “We got to know each other in the time we waited for Ladara’s dome to come down. My girl got trapped inside while I was out. What terrible time,” he touched his forehead with Jade’s.

  “That’s awful,” Maia said, “and you decided to create the guild?”

  “Yes,” Rain said, “I created it. Got Borg and Eb aboard. Then Jade once the dome came down. Went in Ladara to look for you two or Hok at the very least, but you know how that usually goes.”

  Maia raised both hands and smiled, “I didn't say anything. So, what brings you here?”

  “Two things,” Rain said, “One is you, and the second is Galawar.”

  “I’m flattered that I’m before Galawar, but what have you got there?”

  Rain looked around suspiciously and whispered, “Rumor has it that the dark army is heading there.”

  “You don't need to whisper,” she stretched her arms around, “this place almost got wiped. I saw the last remnant of them.”

  “And where there is the dark army, there is Hok,” Eb said.

  “Plus the old man,” Maia said, “He won’t get away with what he did. By the way, am I not invited to the guild?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Rain invited you to the B-Hunterz Guild” message flashed on Maia’s display. She shook her head and smiled.

  28 – The cat is out of the bag

  “It was all Ivan’s doing,” an old man in a fancy embroiled garment said, “there were no direct instructions from the governing body for the army to seize Ladara. They acted under the command of General Ivan who was acting on his own accord and I assure you is now relieved from duty and will be trialed and imprisoned when found.”

  The Ladaran government took no time in throwing Ivan under the bus once their plan went to shit. More surprising though, which Hok witnessed firsthand, was the Dark One’s lack of involvement in all of this. If anything he stood against it. Did Ivan orchestrate the whole thing in hopes of getting the Dark One in his side?

  “They are really trying to make amends here,” Murad said.

  “Won’t work,” Hok said. The two of them stood from afar looking at the crowed surrounding the spokesperson of the royal family of Ladara. The man stood surrounded by few soldiers and a larger group of players on dais Hok knew all too well. “The tournament is over, there is no chance of reviving it. And as you can see,” Hok raised his hands pointing at his surroundings, “the place is a far shot from what it was few days back. They are just trying to save face now. Cool the anger of the world. Damage control if you will.”

  Ladara looked like a former shell of itself before the dome. One of the biggest events in Orora just abandoned the place. Now they faced the wrath of the world. What easier way but to blame the maniac who led their army and started it all?

  “It’ll take time before people get back to them. They done fucked up here,” Murad said.

  “True,” Hok turned the other way, “no point wasting more time here. I have more pressing matters to attend to.”

  “Ok,” Murad extended a hand, “let me know when you are ready for the battle.”

  “Will do, thanks for the help man. See you when I see you.”

  “See you,” Murad said and both men went their separate way.

  Hok pulled his friends list and called Eric. “Hey man, any news?”

  “God I hate those role playing guilds,” Eric said, “Anyways, I have good news and really bad news, which one you want first?”

  “The really bad one?” Hok chuckled.

  “Well, I guess it’s really more like two news rolled into one. They agreed to tell me the name of the guy with the Trent King pillar, only after I promised them two slots in the fight.”

  “That’s good isn’t it?”

  Eric produced a sound akin to someone throwing up, “I hope they are up to the level. Anyways, I’ll try to find this Fitch guy.”

  They ended the conversation soon after and Hok pulled out a map to confirm his route. His next destination, Galawar. Kensin, as per him, ma
naged to find the Warden of the East but they separated on bad terms. Now the Warden should be in Galawar and Hok volunteered to try and make amends with him.

  Normally, Hok would just port there, but after what happened in Ladara, the teleports were heavily monitored to prevent any Ladaran army from escaping. The general public decided to confine them within their city until a proper punishment decided. Hok should not have an issue with passing the guards at the teleport, but why risk it? Better head to the closest city. So, he decided on Aargal. Plus, he could say hello to his friend, Halvar, and find out their plans regarding Ladara.

  He took to the main road on his Vagrant, full speed. He liked traversing this road. Very few and far between interactions with humans. The monsters posed no threat to him so he enjoyed a nice breeze while galloping towards the floating city.

  Thirty minutes in and his shoulders started to complain and his back ached. He had no idea how people rode for hours on in, and this was just in Orora. Real world horse riding must be a pain, thank God for cars. Even those he didn’t ride for quite some time now. Not in the driver’s seat at least.

  Few more minutes in, a peculiar thing few feet ahead brought him to a stop. An improvised trap on the road, few tiny spikes covered with foliage. People who made those were either extremely amateurs or worse; they meant for the trap to be seen. But it won’t be the first or probably the last time he run into bandits.

  Hok jumped off his Vagrant and approached the make shift trap. He stepped off the road and saw what he feared. A magic trap waiting for the unsuspected clever people who tried to avoid the obvious trap on the road. He looked left and right trying to spot the culprit. A magic trap won’t last long; meaning whomever casted it lingered close. The surrounding area looked somewhat open with few trees on both sides of the road, some stray dogs and a heard of a bison like creature loitered nearby. He could easily avoid those traps, but it would mean going a bit off the road and risking running onto those bandits.

  He took out his sword and selected his invisible ability when a paralysis spell hit him. His body did not respond. Damn it. His eyes darted left and right, no one approached. He opened the menu and got his eyes ready on some smoke bombs.

  The paralysis wore off and still no one approached. With a swift move he threw four bombs around him. A huge grey smoke formed a cloud around him. He unsheathed his sword and braced for what’s coming. Trying to take a step back, his foot felt heavy; an area binding spell. He smiled, whoever this was; it’ll prove to be an interesting encounter.

  “Well, well,” a voice came from a distance, Hok looked around trying to locate him, “we expected no less from the legendary outlaw Hok Seven to make this interesting.”

  “You know,” Hok said, the smoke obscured whatever lingered behind it, “I admire your guts, coming at me alone. A bounty hunter I presume?”

  The silence lingered for some time while the smoke cloud gently dissipated into the air revealing the emptiness behind it. The stray dogs scared away the bison heard leaving Hok and his assaulter the only creatures in the area.

  The voice laughed, “oh, you think it’s only one person?” the voice said.

  Hok looked around trying to locate the speaker. The voice came from his right side, but he kept the illusion of not knowing the general directing of the voice. “I know that because otherwise you, and your people, would’ve been attacking me by now. You are just buying time.”

  A slow clap came behind the trees to his right and a man walked towards him, “you just keep impressing me by the second.”

  The man had a light armor on with a bow strapped to his back and a short sword to his side, an interesting combination. He casted spells few seconds back, but his light armor meant he used some kind of a melee job. Unless he lied about being alone. Hok looked around again doubting himself.

  As if to confirm Hok’s thoughts, the man casted a paralysis spell and stood few feet away. His mask gave nothing for Hok to read. “I only have to keep you here long enough for the others to come,” the man said, “you know, stop you from fleeing or using any teleport item,” the man took out his sword and casted a ground bind spell again.

  A mimic. That made sense. A mage sub job at half the level of the main won’t have a snowball chance in hell to stick a spell on Hok, but a mimic, borrowing spells from enemies sure can.

  “Do you really think you can keep me here till your friends show up? We are talking thirty minutes give or take from Ladara or Aargal. With each cast my resistance is building up to the point your spells won’t stick no more. They are barely holding me for a minute as is.”

  “We’ll find out won’t we,” the man said and raised his arm casting a gravity spell. Hok knees buckled trying to keep up with his increased weight. “I got more where those came from,” the man raised his hands again and vines broke from the ground twisting and pulling at Hok’s legs.

  So far, the man looked prepared for this. His arsenal of spells seemed to only consist of ways to restrict or slow down his enemies. “I’m curious,” Hok said, “how did you find me?”

  “Are you kidding me?” the man said casting yet another paralysis spell, “after Ladara, you were all over the net and I just took a shot on you passing by here.”

  Hok smirked, “now it’s my turn to be impressed. You know something, you do know my name, but I did not catch yours.”

  The man laughed, “Are you looking to become my friend or just want a label to put on my head?”

  “I just want to know the name of the person I’m going to kill.”

  The man bellowed, “Tick tock Hok Seven, tick tock.”

  The paralysis wore off and just like clockwork, the man renewed the ground-binding spell. The vines twisted and pulled some more on Hok’s legs.

  “You know what,” Hok said pulling a sword out of his inventory, “as you said, the cat is already out of the bag. No point in trying to hide anymore. You’ll have the pleasure of witnessing first hand why they call me Hok Seven,” Hok took out his sword and a rush of energy took over his body, “Oh how I missed this, I’m going to enjoy every second of it.”

  The man took a step back and threw another paralysis spell; it didn't stick. “What the hell?” he threw another one, no dice.

  Hok looked at the vines shattering off of his legs. He raised his head, smiled and dashed towards the man dragging the sword behind. The ground below him cracked with every step. Getting close enough he slashed. The man jumped to one side avoiding the sword, but not the energy blast trailing it. He stumbled down to one knee. Hok turned around and followed with another slash. This time it connected.

  The man jumped away, “Damn it,” he said between his breathe, “what the hell are you?”

  The guy grasped for breath. While his real body probably didn’t do any physical movement, his brain thought that it did and so it reflected it on the character as well. An issue new players took time to overcome. Once you realize that you need not breathe, eat nor sleep in this world, your reactions should completely change and it elevate you as a player. When you don’t need to worry about basic functions and just focus on your task, be it fighting or whatever, you could excel in that task far better than you could actually do in the real world.

  Jack never carried a sword in his life, yet in Orora he was a master swordsman who occasionally dual wielded. He could achieve feats and moves he wouldn’t dream doing in the real world. Of course all of it grounded by the rules of Orora. Because of his job, Hok could swing a sword designed for this particular job, but he could not use a bow and an arrow like the man before him unless he switched to a job that could. Keeping all that in mind really differentiated the good player from the great. This man started to show some heavy breathing and panting. Given what he just witnessed, he was doing pretty well.

  Hok smiled taking his anon off, “Go ahead, analyze me.”

  It took the man few seconds before his eyes popped out, “What the hell? One O seven? Your level is hundred and seven?”

 
Hok extended his sword holding arm, pointing the weapon downwards. An edge so sharp the blade could barely be seen looking at it straight, a grip crisscrossed with a black and silver threads ending in a dark silver pommel and a cross-guard no larger than the blade itself. It was a beauty to behold. “Seven, my weapon and the sake of my title. It has the ability of granting extra seven levels to whoever wields it.”

  “No wonder the spells are bouncing off. But the max level, It’s hundred, How are you above it?”

  “It doesn't care.”

  The man extended his arms and two chains flew through and twisted around Hok’s arm. The other end of the chains tethered to the ground next to the man in an attempt to stop Hok. He smiled and pulled his arms shattering the chains to million pieces.

  The man’s eyes widened, “that’s a level ninety Tethering Chains.”

  Hok dashed forward and slashed through man, grass and dirt, tossing everything few feet back. He stabbed the ground and few swords spewed around the man stabbing and forcing him to cower back few feet.

  “I…” the man lowered his head, barely standing, “I’m not prepared for this.”

  Hok sheathed his sword and called his mount. A grey wyvern crashed to his side with a thud. The man on the ground crawled back in a frantic frenzy. The beast purred and lowered its head to Hok’s hand. It had a light scaly body with dark crimson-scaled back and a spikey tail with a saddle on its back. Its wings spanned double his size and five times that of Hok, while the feet ended in crooked talons that dug to the ground. Hok petted it, “You missed me boy?” the wyvern growled in pleasure.

  “What the hell is that?” the man said getting up admiring the beast.

  Hok mounted the wyvern, “Like I said, the cat is out of the bag. I wasn't using him earlier to not draw any attention. No point now.”

  The wyvern spread its wings, kicked the ground and leaped in the air few feet. It stopped above the man flapping furiously, “I’d call your friends off if I were you. No point in them coming to find you like this.”