Eleventh Chapter

Lewis Key

            Annoyed.

            Work was annoying.  Working on the day that Nutrua went live took annoying to a whole new level.  To add insult to injury it was busy, that was annoying.  Lewis had started at 4:30pm, just in time for the end of work rush.   On any other day this would not have been much of a problem.  In many ways Lewis didn’t mind the four to one shift.  Two people worked the after work rush and that helped deal with the rush.  For the most part the customers were all business people and knew the process.  Of course today they were all idiots, annoying idiots.  The second employees was new and also an idiot.  It was annoying to have to answer questions for both customers and the other employee.  Annoying. 

            After about two hours of having a line, the rush became a trickle then stopped all together.  At 7:15pm the other employee left.  He tried to talk to Lewis towards the end of his shift, but Lewis wasn’t interested.  The turnover at this branch was so high that Lewis didn’t bother to learn his name, it had been offered but Lewis chose to forget it immediately.  Then he called Lewis “Lew” for the third time and Lewis was done.  Lewis didn’t bother to return the other employee’s good-by as he left the store; Lewis doubted he would be back, never considering that he might be the cause.

.            With the other employee gone the store was empty.  Lewis had worked this shift enough to know that it would be dead now till he left at 1am.  This shift had three regular customers and on average four or five randoms.  The desire to play the game gnawed at him, but he also didn’t want to go into the game and have a customer interrupt.  The regulars who came in were professionals and they came in at the same time every night, he could schedule alarms for them.  But the randoms were a problem, one-off customers who just happened to stop by that night. It was impossible to plan for them.  To make it worse this night was shaping up to be a slow one and time was dragging.

After what most have been at least two hours he looked at the clock and was shocked to see that it was only 7:45.  How annoying.  He had to try and distract himself from the anticipation and boredom; it already felt like he had been here for ten hours and there were still five hours left, with a half hour lunch in two.  To distract himself he started messing with the interface of the TAP, electing to skip the tutorial. He navigated through the menus and experimented with changing the Sensory Engagement.  He was pleased to see that he could bring up an image and keep it there with his eyes open.  This was great he would be able to at least interact with the menus while working.  Now that he could react if someone came in, Lewis felt comfortable enough to take his time to get to know the menus. 

He accessed Internet, which opened up to Google; he let the page hang in his vision, then went back to the menus and adjusted the contrast.  This was cool and all, still all he could think about was that damn game, so annoying.  He was very tempted to just go into the game, the thought of all the other players getting to know the game while he was working drove Lewis nuts.  But even if he could play the game and keep his eyes open, he really didn’t want to, not for his first time.  Maybe there was some program that would notify him when a customer came in.  Though, he thought, my life is never that easy.

            The clock told him ten minutes had passed.  He closed the search browser and navigated the menus to Applications hoping to find something to make the time move a little faster.  The list was in alphabetic order, Lewis scrolled through slowly.  The list was relatively short, however with App Builder near the top of the list he assumed that the list would soon expand.   Aces, was a poker game which allowed you to play against other people.  The next was Alarm, an app that offered a verity ways to help you control your TAP use.  This seemed like is would be worth looking into, even better it was free.  He started to download the app and was disappointed to find that it would take ten minutes.  So he cycled through the rest of the list while he waited.  There were a few more games, nothing fancy mostly mods of old FPSs or board and card games.  There was also an app called MovieZ that streamed movies. Lewis knew that would be a decent way to kill a few hours.

            He opened the Alarm app, and started to explore the different settings.  There were three possible modes:  Timed, Proximity, and MapZ.  Timed was pretty self explanatory, you could set it for the amount of time you wanted to use the TAP, or for a specific time of day.  Proximity was exactly what Lewis was looking for.  This mode would interrupt your activity when there was movement within an adjustable range.   The app had an informational blurb that warned that this used your eyes so someone could come behind you without being detected.  The message continued that this particular program came with audio detection but that was not a perfect solution.  The blurb suggested that you sit with your back to a wall when using this setting. The small store was empty and the only was that anyone could get behind Lewis was by walking in the front door, so that was not going to be a problem.

            Lewis checked the clock again it was almost 8pm and there was a regular who came in at 8:15. He was about to go into the Alarm menu, prepared to watch a movie to test out the proximity mode, when his curiosity about MapZ got the better off him.  He backed out of the menu he was in and triggered the MapZ information blub.  It told him that this feature connected the Alarm app to Google maps and local public transportation.  You could sinc up the map of your commute and pick a point on the map then the TAP would pull you out of your activity when you reached that point.  Lewis walked to work but he could see how this would be useful for commuters.  It would be prefect for when Lewis went to his grandma’s house three clusters away, a trip that took eight hours and required four transfers. 

            Now that the mystery had been solved he was ready to play with the Proximity feature.  He had ten minutes before the regular, a funky bike messenger, was due to arrive.  Navigating through Alarm to Proximity he set the distance to 30’.  With the store being a small 20’ cube would be more then enough.  Then he closed his eyes, sort of.  Black like his eyelids descended, the store disappeared but the menus remained, shining brightly against an infinite backdrop.  He quickly flipped over to the MovieZ and selected the first action movie he came across.  He settled back in his chair.  Checked the clock, it read 8:08.  Then he started the movie.

            There were previews.  Normally Lewis would have found this annoying, but this movie was just a test, what he actually watched was not important.  He watched the previews without seeing them, waiting for the door to open.  After the first preview he was concerned that it wasn’t going to work, then he realized that he didn’t know how to get his eyes open manually.  He fretted about this through the second preview.  He didn’t want to open his eyes and have the messenger come, but he also didn’t want to be stuck without his eyes for the rest of his life.  As the third preview started Lewis was saved.  The video feed faded from view reveling the small box of a store.  This really worked great, not only was the transition smooth but the door had not even fully opened.

The messenger strode in, he may have introduced himself to Lewis once, but his name never stuck.  Lewis had always thought of him a White Dreadlock Guy, or WDG.  The acronym had stuck, as it was also an unrelated sticker affixed to the bag of said messenger.   It was always the last thing Lewis saw as the messenger left.  He always wore brightly colored pants and a leather jacket but it was the WDG sticker and the dreads that stood out. 

The dreads were typical white guy dreads, that is to say, gross.  He had used some form of wax and maybe peanut butter to make them.  This mixture had caused three main dreads, much bigger then the rest.  One stuck out to the side of his head at a slight downward angle seeming to deify gravity.  Another hung down his back, while the last hung like a dogs ear.  There were five smaller dreads that perpetually hung in his eyes causing him constantly toss his head.  Lewis couldn’t understand how he was able to see well enough to ride a bike.  Frankly Lewis thought that WDG was annoying.

“Welcome to PPC.  My name is Lewis, how may I provide you with excellent service today?”

“Hey Lewis, why do you always say that, no one is here, I come in everyday.”  WDG looked through his dreads, and then tossed his head. 

            “Company policy.”  Lewis shrugged then gestured for the other man to come close.  He whispered, “They bug the store.”

            “No Way,” WDG whispered back.  Lewis could see his eyes shifting back and forth as if he was trying to spot the device.   Then his eyes locked with Lewis’ “Ya know, your name tag says Lew.”

            “Ha,” Lewis laughed.  “Yeah, I know, it’s really annoying.”

             WDG pulled his messenger bag around and pulled five boxes and four large letters.  Lewis started to scan them in.

            “Hey Lewis have you heard of this Nutura game?  Everybody is talking about it.”

            “I can’t wait to play.  In fact I was just testing the Proximity app to see if I can play at work.”

            “Cool, does it work?”

            “Yeah, it does, surprisingly well.  I am pretty excited to start the game.”

            “I was messing around with MapZ.  It is off the hook.  It allows me to pre program my favorite delivery routes, and then it displays the route in real time overlaid on the real world, it’s so cool man.  The arrows hang in your eyes showing you where to go.”

            “Do know if you can share the route?”

            “Yes! That’s not the half of it.  It allows you to record a run, and then share it. You can compete against your friends.  Mostly races and tricks, its pretty basic stuff, but it adds a new level to riding.  But the real competition is going to be Nutura.  I already created my character, have you created yours yet?”  Lewis who was had finished the transaction was going to say something about how he was going to do it as soon as WDG left, but he wasn’t given the chance.  “I did it on a fifteen minute brake, I am a Lizard Wizard, I named him LizZard.”

            Lewis was annoyed that the guy wouldn’t leave, but at the same time he wanted to pump him for information.  He curiosity got the best of his annoyances.  “What was it like, what happened?”

            “First there were tapestries covered with templates to start building on.  Then once I had narrowed it down to the lizard I customized him.  He will control the earth magic, man!” 

            While listening Lewis came to his senses having realized that if this guy left he could just do it.  “That sounds great, I think I should sign in as soon as possible.” He said, not trying to be rude but hoping the guy would get the idea.

            “Oh I dig, man, I dig.” It seemed that he had.  “The packages are all set?  Good, I will see you in Nutura.  Look for LizZard, The Lizard Wizard.”  With that WDG turned on his heel and walked out the door, the sticker caught the light as he left.  The silence hung in the air, almost ringing.  It was time.

            Lewis settled back in his chair and accessed the Proximity menu, then using the same settings as before he activated it.  The infinite black closed in on him.  He maneuvered though the menus to NUTRUA.  Activated it.  The word rushed in on him and he entered the door nestled in the crux of the R.  He stepped through to a world of wonder.  However it was all lost on Lewis.  Quickly shifting through the myriad of character he quickly picked the standard thief template.  Agile and quick that was what he was looking for.  The brown pants and vest he changed to black, and then added a black short cape.  Lewis also kept his weapons simple, with two small daggers.  Lewis had a greater plan, the weapons were to be his means, and poison was to be his ends.

              Lewis evaluated his character; he felt there was something missing.  It just seemed too generic.  So he started to look for something to add.  Lewis decided to go big and looked at changing the race.  There were many options but he quickly settled on the Feline race.  He liked this as it allowed him to use his claws like weapons and see in the dark.  With the new race, and handy claws, he decided to mix up his weapons as well.  So he switched to a single bigger blade, a machete.   This he holstered horizontally across the small of his back.  Held this way it was easily accessible while being out of the way, functional not ornamental.

            These changes certainly helped.  But there was still something missing.  Lewis wanted to be fear inspiring.  Being a man-sized cat was threatening, but Lewis wanted to be chilling.  He maneuvered though the accessory menu seeing if anything jumped out.  Then it did, a mask that was the answer.  He settled on a light gray, almost white, mask.  It was featureless, only two slanted black eyeholes.  Lewis then added a red streak that ran from the left eyehole to the bottom edge of the mask.  The featureless mask with the one red streak certainly added a level of intimidation. He was ready.

            When he locked in the character Lewis was asked to name it.  He had always found naming a video game character annoying.  It always seemed so useless and time consuming, annoying.  Lewis never found that he had that kind of attachment to the characters that he played.   He much preferred games that provided a named character that had role to play in the story.  This game felt different.  Maybe it was the detail of the character creation process, or it could be the message that said that this character would be permanent.  Regardless, Lewis thought that he needed to take this seriously. 

            He also was concerned about how much time he had put in now and knew that some customer could walk in any moment and he wanted to get to the game proper.  Unfortunately he had put lots of thought into how he would fight, but no thought what so ever in a name.  Lewis started with names derived from his tool of choice, poison.  After eliminating names that came from arsenic as lame, then he remembered a plant he had read about.  It was a small plant with purple flowers called Night Shade.  He could do something with that.  But first he went back to the image of his character and added purple highlights to the inside of his cape.  This change actually worked better then he thought as the color helped it blend in with the shadows.  It also nicely offset the red strip on his mask.

Lewis entered the name, KnightChade.  As if summoned by the Naming, KnightChade leap into the room and quickly killed Lewis.  Which caught Lewis completely off guard.  His surprise turned to satisfaction when he opened his eyes and saw the world through the eyes of a cat.  Then Lewis stood up.  Lewis grinned as he pulled a sword from thin air.  His throat had been viciously ripped open and when he tried to talk, he could only hiss.  KnightChade sense that this was the time; this was when he got to finalize his vision.  He held up a paw and extended his black claws, watched while the black darkened and took on a purple oily shine.

            KnightChade was ready and looked up from his claw to see that Lewis was leaping to attack.  It was a frantic attack.  Lewis was swinging and hacking away with his sword viscously and it was all KnightChade could do to stay ahead of the blade.  So far he had not drawn his blade and was tumbling and leaping trying to somehow get behind his assailant.   He saw his chance when Lewis made an upward hack.  KnightChade went into a feet first slide, slipping below the blade by a few inches; he reached out and clawed Lewis’ leg as he slid past.  He could feel his claws scoring the skin, and then leaping up and into a forward handspring as the sword whistled past. 

The attack continued however now it was starting to slow.  The change started with the leg that KnightChade had scratched.  It wasn’t that Lewis started to swing the sword with any less speed or veracity.  However it was as if the leg was having trouble bending at the knee.  As KnightChade dodged away he noticed that he had some time to pause, as now Lewis was forced to drag the offending leg.  Now it seemed to have spread to the other leg, and though he could still swing the sword Lewis was stuck standing in the middle of the floor.  Soon the sword stopped as well.  Lewis stood there, gnashing his teeth and twisting his head.  KnightChade stepped forward, and with one blow of his machete he removed Lewis’ head, the only part that Lewis could still move. 

KnightChade was elated the poison worked just like he had hoped.  He turned to the tapestry that he had emerged from and walked to the door that lay behind it.  Even better the Proximity app had worked.  It had worked far better then Lewis could possibly have hoped.  In the middle of the pitched battle a customer had come and gone, one of the randoms.   Lewis had opened his eyes and dealt with them and returned to the battle seamlessly.  He was very pleased with how intuitive and smooth the whole process was.

Walking through the door he found himself in a wooded glen, KnightChade paused, and took a deep breath.  The glen was still and peaceful, with a slight breeze, leaves rustling comfortably.  It was on this breeze that KnightChade’s sensitive ears picked up the clash of weapons.  He followed the sounds of war he and came upon the sign.  It was wooden, with sloppy capital letters, which read.

Every Man for Himself Battle

Level One Only

This was not was he was looking for, sounded messy.  He turned and walked in the opposite direction.  It did not take long for him to find a second sign.  This one read.

Nutrua

Nearest Town

That seemed more like what he was looking for.  The entry into Nutrua.  The sign was placed before a massive tree trunk.  Walking closer KnightChade saw a tear shape door set in the trunk.  He pushed it open and stepped into a building lobby.

            It was very plain, a window opposite a door and a desk, not even a plant.  The wall between the window and the door were devoid of decoration just bare wooden planks.  Opposite the door was a non-descript desk; a dark figure stood behind the desk in stark relief to the sun streaming thought the window.  KnightChade, paused waiting to see if the figure was going to attack, he reached for his machete.

            “Hi there! Wow aren’t You scary looking.”  It was a girl standing behind the desk KnightChade’s sharp eyesight helped him to see her bow and quiver of arrow sitting in the corner.  He had quickly wrote her off as an immediate theat. He settled into a more relaxed stance keeping his eyes moving around the room.   She was pretty with long black hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail.  She was dressed in the deer skin skirt and vest of a Native American.  The name DreamCatCher6969 floated above her head.  Looking at her KnightChade could think of nothing to say.  He wanted to be clever or scary, but he was drawing a blank. 

            So he decided to be mute, he would never speak.  So he looked at her and remained silent.  She paused waiting.  “Umm…ok.” She said when she realized that no response was coming.   “So I am a employee of The Bank of Nutrua.  It is my job to explain how the bank works and help you get your accounts set up correctly.”  She paused again, and again he said nothing.  “Or you could just read this brochure?” she held it out to him.

            KnightChade silently accepted and opened the brochure.  With a look of relief DreamCatCher69 sat down behind the desk.  It took only a few moments to absorb the information.  The real problem was that KnightChade had limited access to funds.  He was broke.  In the World he only had $160, and 100 if it was already spoken for.  He entered his account number in the required line then indicated $40 to be transferred.  Signing on the last line, KnightChade folded the brochure and handed it back to the customer service rep.

            “Great,” she said as she filed in into a drawer, “Any other questions?”  She paused for a moment.  “Of course not.  Well good luck out there.  If you are trying to be scary, you nailed it.”  Not without a feeling of satisfaction KnightChade turned and left the building.   But now it was time to go home, leave work that is.  So he opened his eyes. 

            The shop was as it ever was.  Small and gray, empty.  Annoying.  Lewis had a few task to do to close up.  First he filed the last boxes and letters.  Then he cleaned off the counters and swept the floor.  His mind was not in the work; no he was scheming of what to do to when he was back in Nutrua.   Locking the door behind him he started the walk home.  Luckily it was not far, maybe twenty minutes, and on this particular night it seemed to take no time at all.  All he could think about as he walked, his TAP piping music directly into his ears, was what he was going to do when he got back into the world.  As he closed his door he had figured out his strategy.           

            To call it an apartment was unfair to other apartments.   Even calling it a studio would have been extreme, a coffin or maybe a closet would be more appropriate.  It was just a single room, the width of a twin bed, which is what Lewis had stuffed into the far corner.  At the foot of the bed a cabinet and a dresser faced each other with a slim walkway between them.  The dresser held a small TV; the rest of the surface was covered with game containers.  If one had looked in the drawers, they would be surprised to see that only the bottom of the three drawers was holding clothes.  The top drawer held older games, which Lewis had not played for a long time, while the middle held books. 

            The books had never been opened.  Lewis had bought them from a store that was closing.   The old man who sold them to him said they were worth money on the electronic auction market.  The old man had also said that they would be burned if they were not sold, so Lewis was pretty sure that they were not worth the paper they were worth.  He had never bothered to put them online to see if they would sell.  The combination of his laziness and the money spent never failed to annoy him when he accidently opened the drawer.

            The cabinet held a mini fridge and a single table setting.  The surface was covered with a microwave and a hot plate.  Normally he would watch some TV and eat, then play games till he fell asleep.  Tonight he was too excited to eat.  He grabbed and energy bar from the fridge and consumed it while he stripped off his work clothes.  He checked his work schedule while and was thrilled to be reminded he had the next day off.  Naked he flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes, mentally preparing for an epic session, Lewis TAPed into Nutrua.

            KnightChade entered the bank from the same doorway he had come from before. DreamCatCher69 was gone, replaced by a dwarf or something; KnightChade ignored him as he exited the building.  It was night in the town.  Of the dozen buildings in town only two had lights on.  The bank that he had just left was one, judging from the noise issuing from the other he assumed it was a bar or tavern.  KnightChade thought for a moment about checking it out and mingling.  Then he considered that with him playing mute and that he thought that other people were annoying.  That would probably be a bad idea.  Instead he turned to find the way out of town.

            This turned out to be easier then expected.  The town consisted of a short main street that turned into paths at either end.  KnightChade flipped a mental coin, and then headed to the path that lead north. However before he reached the edge of town he found a third trail running off to a forest roughly northeasterly.  As this was the path unknown, this was the path he chose.  The path branched off from the main road, between two buildings.  The windows on both buildings were dark, and the doors were open implying that at this point they were unclaimed.  The effect was a dark valley that once he had entered he realized that he was vulnerable to an ambush.  Already he was please that his feline eyes allowed him to see in the dark.

            He approached the end of the buildings carefully, seeing that no one was in waiting started walking down the path.  After the buildings there was a field of thigh high grass the length of two buildings, whether this was room for expansion or killing ground, KnightChade was not sure. The field transitioned into forest and far in the distance mountains rose like shadows on the horizon.  The plan had been to find a tree to hide in and then pounce on any unsuspecting victim who came in range.  But the darkened path from which he had just emerged from presented an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

            It took a moment to climb up one of the buildings and get into position.  KnightChade flattened himself on the edge of the roof.  From this vantage point he could see anybody approaching either direction, and also kept him out of sight.  His sharp vision could easily see into the valley between the two buildings and this was the direction that he expected his pray to come.  He did not have to wait long, as tall humanoid figure had found the path and turned to follow it.  When KnightChade focused on the figure the name BrutAl flashed above its head.

            BrutAl seemed to think he was safe as he nonchalantly made his way between the buildings, from the way he walked with his held his hands out it was clear he could not see in the dark.  KnightChade waited till BrutAl took his first step out of the shadows to pounce.  He dropped into the shadows between the building, behind his victim and sinking his claws into both shoulders as he landed.   BrutAl reacted by squealing in surprise then leaping forward a move which pulled the claws from his shoulders but leaving deep scores across his back. 

            BrutAl then rolled and struggled to his feet facing his assailant with a long sword in his hands.  Having caught his victim by surprise, KnightChade was just able to step aside from the first overhead swing the sword.  BrutAl followed this attack with a horizontal swipe, which KnightChade easily avoided by leaping back.  The down side was that he found himself backed up against the wall of one of the buildings.  BrutAl smiled, thinking that he had KnightChade trapped then tried to reveres his swing for the killing blow.  His smiled turned to a look of surprised dismay as his arms refused to move, leaving his sword pointing off to his side at the terminus of his last swing.

            Quick to take advantage of the pause, KnightChade dove to the opposite side of BrutAl, pulling his machete as he rolled back to his feet.  BrutAl turned and lunging sideways tried to skewer KnightChade with his blade.  KnightChade had become tired of the cat and mouse game, waiting for the poison to take its full effect.  He side stepped the awkward lunge and brought his machete around in an arch that ended in BrutAl’s neck. 1 kill +1 xp, flashed across his vision immediately after his blade cut into his enemy’s neck.  KnightChade pulled his machete free, and the body dropped to the ground.   It landed sprawled out, KnightChade searched the body, and in the wallet he found twenty Ngs.  These he put directly into his stash account.  That was the best $20 he had ever made.  This game kept getting better and better.

            Stepping back from the body he almost tripped over a small statue that had appeared by the body.  It was a credit to his cat like reflexes that he was able to catch his balance and not fall on his face.  The statue was about six inches tall and under closer inspection KnightChade saw that it depicted the moment at which he had hacked into BrutAl’s neck.  He reached out and touched it, suddenly the fight started to play itself out before his eyes.  The projection of the fight moved faster then it had actually taken place. It ended when KnightChade withdrew his blade from the then defeated BrutAl, the image froze, Rate the Fight, thumb-up and thumb-down hung in KnightChade’s vision.  KnightChade reached out and touched the thumb-up symbol, which flashed once and then the image dissipated as if sucked back into the statue, which grew about a half an inch taller.  The implications were clear; first every fight would be recorded and visible to anyone who stopped to look.  Second, once watched the fight could be voted on and if more people like it the statue would grow, hence attracting more attention.  If it was disliked the statue would shrink eventually disappearing.

            KnightChade was just thinking that he had spent too much time with the statue when he heard voices. 

            “Be careful!  He was on the roof before that was how he got the drop on me.”  This must be BrutAl, back from the dead. 

            “What a sneak.”  A second voice implied that BrutAl had gone, most likely to the bar to find help.

            “Not only that,” BrutAl continued, “he uses poison, it induces some kind of paralysis.  So make sure that he can’t get you with his claws.”

            KnightChade had dived into the grass at the first sound, waiting to see how many of them there were.  As they passed he saw that there were only two.  If he was careful he thought that he might be able to take them both out.  That would really show that pissant BrutAl.  The two shadows paused at the edge of the clearing. 

            “Well it seems that he has moved on.”  BrutAl said,  “Look there is a small statue? Did he leave that?”

            “No,” the second voice said, “I have seen one before, they appear after a fight, you can watch the fight and then rate them.  Its actually a pretty cool system.”           

            “Ok,” BrutAl replied, “Let’s go find the bastard and then we can come back and check it out.  I bet that he is in the woods over there, waiting for someone to sneak upon.  I think that we should come up with a strategy so that he doesn’t get the jump on us again.”

            “I’ll hit him with my fireballs, he wont get the jump on them.  What more strategy do you need?”

            “Can you still hit him if you are being paralyzed?”

            “You said that it took a few minutes to set in, right?  Well I think that I can get off three or so fireballs in that time.  So no matter how agile he is I will hit him with at least one.  Then you can finish him off, if he’s still alive.  So the strategy should be that I’ll head into the woods first, and you follow a little way back.  But you can’t be too far back, because if I do miss I don’t want to be left hanging in the wind.”

            This had all been said as they tromped along the path towards the forest.  KnightChade tracked them silently, eavesdropping to there conversation.  When his new pray put their plan in action KnightChade was also ready.  He pulled his machete out of its holster.  The first time that he had attacked BrutAl he had used his poison to test how it worked in game.  This time he wanted to see how quickly he could dispatch both adversaries.  After listening to their plan he knew that speed would be the difference in this fight.  Speed and surprise.

            His first move was to pounce on BrutAl, driving the machete straight down into the triangle between collarbone, shoulder blade and neck. 1 kill +1 xp.   He left the machete hilt deep as he sprinted the few yards to the owner of the second voice.   This was the first opportunity KnightChade had to see who he was attacking, as he had been hiding in the grass till the right moment to make his move.  It was a tall pale elf wearing the dark robes of a mage, with black hair pulled back in a tall topknot.  His face and hands were covered in tribal tattoos.  Tattoos that turned red as he began throwing fireballs towards KnightChade.  Unfortunately for him KnightChade was expecting them. 

            When talking before the mage, whose name was ZephEr32, had said that he would be able to get off three fireballs.  However under the direct attack he was only able to get off two, and both missed.  KnightChade was on him as the second fireball left his hand.  KnightChade lunged forward and with one swipe of a claw he tore out ZephEr32’s throat. 1 kill +1 xp, Double kill +2 xp.  ZephEr32’s body crumpled to the ground.

            This took KnightChade by surprise he had not expected that this would be considered a double kill.   However when he turned he saw a statue rising from the ground.  This one was different from the statue from his first battle.  That one had been small and had depicted the final moments of the battle.   This one was significantly bigger; the scene depicted a completed battle with one figure standing vigorous.  The three figures rested on a pedestal, two on the knees heads down back to back.  The hilt of a blade jutted from the shoulder of one, the others head hung much lower then it should.  Between them stood a statute representing the victor.   In it’s out stretched paws a scroll sat as if being offered to KnightChade.  First he looted the bodies, collecting another $60. Then he took the scroll and unrolled it on the pedestals, reveling two columns of writing on either side of an empty field. 

You have gained a level  !                                                                        Or create a new Skill now [    ]

You have reached Level 2                                                                       Once KnightChade checked this  

You can build on your SK                                                                       box, new writing appeared.

Check here to build  [      ]                                                                       Illustrate skill with stick figure

            KnightChade did this quickly, using two stick figures with arrows showing directional movement from one to the other.  He then labeled this new skill, Shadow step.  After the skill had been named, the image shifted.  The empty field was replaced with two images, one was a smaller diagram of what he had just completed.  The other was a stick figure swiping with claws; this one was labeled Poisoned Claw.  New writing appeared below the two skills.  To finish return scroll to statue.  DON”T FORGET TOKEN.

            This last sentence was flashing.  He twisted the scroll together and placed it in the paw from whence it came.  When it had settled in its proper indentation, the scroll changed to match the color, and material of the statue.  KnightChade heard a “click” and noticed that there was disk of gold, nestled among decorative ivy, front and center on the side of the pedestal upon which the figures stood.  This must be the Token.  Reaching out he gingerly took it; he also took a scroll that was hidden behind.  This scroll was directed to the mind behind his eyes.

           

This is your Token, protect it, because you only get one.  Place the Token anywhere to create a safe place for your character to save and recover.  Experience gained through fighting will only be credited if you have your Token during the battle.

            KnightChade looked at his Token.  There were two spaces on the Token, one above the other below a picture of his face.  The top was a bar divided into five units, two of which were filled.  The filled boxes glowed lightly.  Below was an empty space; reaching out with a claw he saw that it was a dial that he could spin to the left or right.  Poisoned Claw appeared in the space when spun to the left, the new skill Shadow Step appeared when spun to the right.  He guessed that the skill that was displayed in this space would be improved by leveling up.  He wondered that if he left it blank would he be able create a new skill.  He wanted his poison to work faster so he set the dial to Poisoned Claw.

            With that set up KnightChade was ready to find what it meant “to place it anywhere.”  He carefully placed it on the ground.  He was almost afraid to let it go, the scroll had said to protect it.  However he did let it go and as soon as it touched the ground it began to grow.  It continued to expand till it was about three feet in diameter.  When it had stopped growing a light rose from it.  KnightChade stepped into the light.

            Lewis opened his eyes. Back in his small stuffy apartment, clocked in gray shadows. Annoying. So the Token was the exit point from the game, that made sense, he thought.  He looked at the clock; he had been in the game for about and hour and a half.  He had so much more time to explore Nutrua.  Lewis felt something that he had not felt in a long time; excitement and maybe he was a little happy.  Just a little.  He closed his eyes and re-entered the game.

            KnightChade stepped out of the light.  The night air was clean and sharp, the wind played with his fur.  He breathed deeply, feeling alive.  He picked up his Token, and then placed it in his wallet.  He looked to the looming shadow of the forest up ahead.  BrutAl had though that he would be hiding in the trees, which was really a pretty good idea. The statue now that he had leveled up and taken his Token from had shrunk to about a foot tall.  The figures making it up had also shifted, showing a miniature KnightChade nearly decapitating ZephEr32 as he lunged past him.

            Turning his back on the statue, not bothering to watch or rate the battle, KnightChade started towards the forest.  He was surprised to find that he was grinning behind his mask, contemplating his next ambush.   His next kill.