Dreaming Orora Read online

  ~

  The next day the three of them ported to Galawar, the closest port point to the mines that remained not in turmoil, yet. The place crawled with soldiers. Galawar and the surrounding small towns recognized the dangers associated with this Dark One and they were now preparing for the worst.

  They rendezvoused with Tala and her brother, Talion, a Paladin in a bulky blue set of armor, outside the gates of Galawar on the one bridge crossing the moat. Fitch wanted to get this set when his level was high enough, but he could not afford it at the time. Still couldn't.

  Anybody seeing the both of them wouldn't pass them for brother and sister at first. Tala with her brown hair and dark eyes, Talion short blonde hair and light blue eyes. But that’s the thing about Orora, you could change your eyes color, slight change in shape or style. Fitch looked at the siblings again, he could see some similarities with the skin color and rounded face, but that could be tweaked as well. He forgot about it soon after, because eventually, no one could tell and it made no difference. He could be siblings or parents to Paragon and Oz for all anybody else was concerned.

  “It’s getting worse by the day,” Tala said, “if players remained impartial to it all, these invaders would take over the whole continent. And the world soon after.”

  Where they stood, just outside the city gate, more people crossed the moat heading inside, carrying their belongings on bags and baskets. Soldiers were herding them inside. Fitch, thankfully, never experienced a war zone first hand, but this pretty much resembled whatever he saw on TV or movies.

  “Invaders? I thought it was just the one?” Fitch said.

  “They are led by the Dark One, an army of NPCs and players.”

  “Players?” Fitch said stopping in his tracks .

  “Yes, some people are helping him in this,” she said turning around to see him. Fitch glanced a serious look on her face.

  “That is badass,” Oz said stepping between them.

  “Really?” Paragon looked at Oz, “Badass? That’s what you think?”

  “Yes, you have the freedom to join the bad guys, that’s awesome,” Oz said.

  “Yeah, just like those PKers?” Paragon said.

  Pker, or Player Killer, were players who found joy in killing other players. They got bad reputation and some cities even blacklisted them. Few players did this for a living and enjoyed every second of it. They were generally hated amongst the player community.

  “Come on man, you know what I mean. Besides, it’s their prerogative,” Oz said.

  “Anyways, what’s the deal with the Anon?” Paragon asked as they walked outside of town.

  “Where we are going, we don’t want people to know. Otherwise they’ll flood us with requests,” said Talion, “I suggest you go anon as well.”

  “But this is a tough quest, we actually need more people,” Paragon said.

  “It’s not really tough,” Tala said, “I can solo the boss. Getting there is the hard part. Had it not been for this Dark One, you guys could’ve done it alone. We are planning to sneak our way in. so the less people the better. We’ll try to get in and out undetected.”

  A white armored Vagrant appeared next to Tala. She grabbed it from the side and jumped atop it. Another black Vagrant clad in armor Fitch couldn’t afford for his character appeared and Talion jumped on it. “Come on, let’s not waste more time.”

  “Oh, kinda like the Lord of the Rings,” Oz said, he turned to Fitch and said in a private chat, “with a sexy Gandalf on our side.”

  Fitch laughed, “You know this is not real, right?”

  “I know,” Oz said, “but the game forces you to keep your proportions,” he looked at Tala, “just look at them man.”

  Fitch shared a glance with him, “I think you can still modify their size a bit.”

  “Only a tiny bit,” Oz raised his hand with a small gap between his thumb and index finger.

  “And that’s her brother right there man. Don’t ruin this for us.” Fitch called his Vagrant.

  Oz raised both hands in the air, “I know, I know. Hands off the merchandise, for now. Or do you want her for yourself Fitchy boy?”

  “Move it both of you,” Tala beckoned them, “we have a long way to go.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Oz said and whispered to Fitch, “You know we are missing the tournament for this, but I think it’s worth it with her on our side,” he winked and bounced on his mount. Fitch couldn’t help but smile.

  In those dangerous fields in Orora, you need to understand some monsters behaviors.

  There are aggressive monsters, or agro. They’ll attack on first sight. Thought, they won’t bother you once they realized you are too high a level from them.

  It’s worth noting that there are sight, sound and smell agro monsters.

  There are monsters that link. They are not agro on normal circumstances, but once they see one of their kind being attacked, they’ll join the battle.

  The others are the opposite or combination. None agro, none link, amongst others.

  .

  11 – The quest 2

  For the last few days, Maia spent her time in the small port town of Paya. Had it not been for the port where the ferry disembarked, this place would be a village or an outpost at best. Few locals lived in shanties built on the river mouth leading to the ocean. They were mainly fishermen and merchants. She later came to know that some NPCs used the ferry to export their main commodity, fish, between this town and Ra Varra. And apparently pirates were a big concern of theirs.

  She completed few quests and managed to pull another level in her assassin job, she was nine now. Unfortunately, none of the locals knew about the wizard profession. After the display of power the old man showed in the ferry she decided to check that job, but it did not appear as a selection in her menu. It could be one of those advanced jobs that required the player to finish a quest to unlock it. The locals here knew nothing about it, which was to be expected from a village dominated by fish catchers.

  She researched online and again, the Wizard job was nowhere to be found. Some people and rumors talked about sighting Wizards around Orora complete with screenshots and videos, but no one offered solid proof of its existence or how to become one. This intrigued Maia to no end. It peeked her interest in becoming a wizard earlier, but now it became her goal.

  In any case, she would not be able to change her job in Paya. Changing jobs could only be done in the private residence or in rented private quarters and Paya offered neither. So she had to move to the next big city, Arandal, one of the three big settlements in the northern region of the Falagan continent.

  Before making her way there, Maia did some research on the city. Where Yomaria was considered an Elves closed community, Arandal’s Elves welcomed strangers far before the age of Recruits. In fact the early settlers who built what was known now as the Arandal’s Federation were considered outcasts from Yomaria who advocated the culture of openness towards the outside world. The early settlers departed from Yomaria to build a city on the next continent they reach. Their travels took them South, thus Arandal was found. It was considered the first settlement in Falagan, even before the great Kingdom of Galawar.

  While a rich lore always interested Maia, for now she cared about whether or not the city offered a private quarters and if any guilds were available there. Being one of the big cities in Orora, Arandal offered both.

  The Black Mage and Dark Knight guilds built their headquarters in Arandal. Not exactly what she was looking for, but if she wanted to be a wizard one day, the Black Mage job would serve as a good Subjob.

  She pulled the map one more time to confirm her route. North keeping the beach to her left. It’ll take her longer to get to the city this way, but she would avoid stepping into most of the Wendell Marsh surrounding Arandal. The marshlands were a cesspool for monsters in the late teens and early twenties. Most of which will have no problem chewing and spitting Maia out in no time. The coastline had mobs in the teens and should be easi
er to traverse.

  On the way, she had to deal with few agros, but nothing forced her to respawn. She reached the beach and gaped, mouth open, at the scenery. All her life she lived in the Santa Monica Bay area, never did she happen upon such beauty. Granted, whatever stood before her was artificial, but it eclipsed anything she ever experienced.

  She ran towards the water and let it flow around her boots. The kid inside her smiled and she took them off. The cold water tingled between her toes and her feet dug in the sand. She run on the shore splashing water with every step and laughed all the way through. After a minute she stopped and looked at the horizon, contemplating a dip. She shook her head, not the time. Besides, who’s to say high-level monsters weren’t lurking there. So she just enjoyed the beach for now.

  Few more minutes and near escapes from agros and she reached the outskirts of the marshes. The towers loomed behind the city walls in the distance. Between her and the city, trees sagged and blades of greenery stabbed their way up. The pure blue water at the beach gave way to the brown and green goo.

  All right, time to make a run for it. She blew air few times and dashed forward. The fluffy feeling of stepping on sand replaced with sticky steps on mud. Her feet sunk deep and swallowed mud along its way. She started to feel heavy; her boots were pulling her down and sucking the wind out of her with every step. Two more minutes of this and she realized that she totally misjudged the distance. She stopped, lowered her head to catch some deep breaths. Mental note: need to do some exercise, real life exercise.

  She took a deep breath and continued walking. Carefully calculating her steps. The beasts here looked menacing and unfortunately for her, she did not research what did agro and what not. Trial and error won’t cut it here. The mobs ranged from the mud like Bigfoots to the cute and cuddly dog like creatures. Few players were fighting and some passing by on their mounts. How she envied them.

  She stole a glance at the city, another five hundred feet and she’ll be at the safety of its walls, so she decided to throw caution to the wind and run for it. Her pathetic stamina should hold, although she did notice the lack of a stamina gauge. It must all be in her head.

  She passed few players and other, thankfully, none-agro mobs before standing below the open wooden arc of the city’s main gate. The two soldiers assured her that she reached her destination in one piece.

  The wooden wall stretched on each side of the gate as far as she could see arching inwards. The city was built on the outskirt of the marshlands at the far northeastern edge of the continent. The area near the gate stood on a floating wooden platforms leading to huge wooden structures towering above the city walls. The city looked like a huge tree house built on water.

  She took few steps in before hearing a voice shouting at her back, “Hey, you.”

  She turned around and pointed at herself, “me?”

  “Yes you,” the thin man wore a bandana and light armor pieces covering his arms and legs. On his chest a dark brown boiled leather tonic. His eyes hollow in deep sockets and a sharp nose and chin, he stood a foot or so taller than Maia. “You mind taking off your anon?”

  Next to him stood a buffed to the brim man with a huge morning star. He had tree trunks for legs and a huge belly. All that covered with loosely connected slabs of armor. A spread nose dominated his otherwise round peppered face.

  Maia just noticed she had the anon on ever since the pirate incident in the ferry. That didn't mean she had to take it off because those guys said so. “What’s it to you?”

  The men took few steps forward, “we are in pursuit of an outlaw that goes by the name Hok Seven. I’ll say it again before we engage, please take your anon off.”

  Maia sighed, “and this Hok is a man or a woman.”

  They both exchanged a look, “a man.”

  Seriously? She knew her boobs were small-ish and the clothes she wore weren’t complementing her figure, but anyone should be able to tell her sex, “And you can’t freaking tell that I’m a god damn woman? Do you want me to strip here?” The big man smiled and Maia stepped forward and punched him in the face.

  The thin man jumped back and the fat one staggered and rubbed his face.

  “Sorry ma’am,” the thin one said.

  “Don’t call me ma’am.”

  “Sorry m… I don’t know what to call you,” the thin man slumped his shoulders.

  “Maia. My name is Maia.”

  “I’m Rain,” he said then pointed at the big man, “and this right here is Thunder.” The big man raised a fist and punched Rain on the head, “Aw aw aw,” Rain rubbed his head, “I’m sorry. This is Borg, as you can see he doesn’t talk much. And we are bounty hunters.” Rain turned to face Borg, “you got to admit man, it would’ve been cool if your name was Thunder.” Borg raised his hand and Rain flinched. He was only dismissing him though, no punch this time.

  “Ok, Rain and Borg. Nice to meet you. Who is this Hok guy you are looking for?”

  Borg jolted in surprise, “Oh man, you don’t know Hok? Hok Seven?” Rain said, “The infamous cheater that got banned from Orora? Many clans and organizations are placing a big bounty on his head.”

  Was she supposed to know this guy? Or was this part of a quest? It sounded like an easy one shot deal to get some gold, “I’m sorry but I’m as noob as they come. Only been here for a week or so. So this Hok dude is a player I assume?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see.” She stood there thinking for a moment, finding a player in this huge world was no easy task, let alone someone who’s probably professional in concealing his identity, “and I assume he’s full time anon?” the two bounty hunters nodded. “And you are here harassing anon players to get this guy? This is your plan?”

  “Yes.”

  “So you don’t know what he looks like?” the two men exchanged a look then nodded in agreement, “you don’t know where is he?” another nod, “and I assume you don’t even know if he is actually back or not?” yet another nod. “You guys suck at this, don’t you?”

  “Hey…” Rain started then shrugged, “we kind of do,” Borg hanged his head.

  “I bet you don’t even know what to do when you find him. He’s a player, so what’s to stop him from porting away? Or logging out?”

  “We didn’t think that far ahead.” The two exchanged a look, “Oh God, we really do suck at this,” Rain said. “Damn it lady, go away.” He waved her off, “Go. We don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

  Maia walked away feeling sorry for the guys. She just destroyed their hopes and dreams in a fast track to riches. They needed a dose of reality though. How could you possibly bound a player to one place and make sure that he or she doesn’t move? Maybe you could restrict magic, but teleport or logging out? Doubt it.

  “Hey, hey, you,” she heard Rain shouting, “old man, take off your anon.”

  Damn, they don’t give up, or they don’t learn. She turned around and saw her old friend, the wizard, being the next victim of those two’s stupidity.

  “I, sorry but I can’t,” the old man smiled.

  Maia got close and stood between the old man and the two hunters, “you guys just flat out bad at this aren’t you?”

  “My God lady,” Rain said, “just let us do our job.”

  “Seriously? Is this Hok guy an old man?”

  The two exchanged another one of those stupid looks, “Err, I don’t think so.”

  Maia sighed and turned to the old man, “sorry about these two. You can just ignore them.”

  The wizard smiled and moved his head to face them, “You said you are looking for Hok? What a coincidence, me too.”

  ~

  The three men and the lovely lady sat in a small dingy motel. The rent was steep for what they got, but the old man took care of it. Save for the wooden squeaky bed, a small uncomfortable wooden chair made the bulk of the furniture in the room. Maia found out just how uncomfortable it’s since they offered her to use it while Rain and the old man sat on the bed. Borg
stood next to them after trying to sit, but the bed complained with threatening noises to break any second.

  “Well, I have other questions I’m interested in, like this wizard thing, but now is not the time,” Maia said.

  “Wizard?” Rain said, “What wizard thing?”

  “Like I said, now is not the time. I’m sure we’ll have plenty later,” Maia said, the wizard just smiled and nodded, “tell me you are not looking for this Hok guy for the same reason as those two?”

  “I’m not sure why are those guys looking for him, but I don’t think so.”

  “Two hundred k gold, at least, is why we are looking for him,” Rain said puffing his chest with a smug of a smile on his face, Borg was beaming and nodding.

  “I believe we are after the same goal. Me and Hok that is.” The old man said.

  So far he preferred to keep his name a secret from them. Calling him the old man or the wizard would suffice. Even when renting the room he gave the money to Rain to book under his name.

  “And that is?” Maia said.

  “Defeating the Dark One.”

  The Orora Champions Tournament crowned a champion in each of the four divisions based on their level.

  Max level for those on their max level in Orora.

  Master level for those eighty to ninety eight.

  Junior level for those sixty to seventy nine.

  Apprentice level: for those below sixty.

  Each division came with their own rewards and perks. Be sure to join and have fun. And remember, don't just come for the games, make it you home.

  12 - The Champions Tournament

  The Druid took another cautious step forward. He had to make a decision, and fast. The firetraps blocked his way to the mage. He could either wait for them to wear off, or take the risk, and damage, associated with it to break the mage’s rest opportunity. The mage generated HP and MP with every passing second, while the Druid’s SP dwindled. Every second compound his problems.