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4.5% New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live / Chapter 50: Securing A Ride

Chapitre 50: Securing A Ride

There wasn't much to prepare for his trip, apart from some food for the road and a blanket to sleep out.

He took the blanket Korin had given him and shoved it into his inventory. Then he walked to the barracks to request some travel rations. The man at the counter agreed and gave him three days' worth of food.

Astaroth thanked him before heading to the old mage's abode. Aberon was walking out of his home when Astaroth arrived at the front of the house.

He waited before the stairs, letting the man turn around. When Aberon turned around, he looked at Astaroth with a tired look.

"Do you know how much trouble you are putting me through, young man?" Aberon asked him.

"Trouble? What trouble, sir?" Astaroth asked, oblivious to what he meant.

*Sigh*

"I haven't been to the capital in a long time. Too long." Aberon said with a sigh.

Astaroth could see a look of longing mixed with a tinge of melancholy in his eyes. He really wanted to know more, but he knew better than to anger the man with his inquisitive questioning.

That didn't stop him from staring at Aberon with burning curiosity. The mage could feel the stare even with his back to Astaroth.

"Don't look at me for answers, young one, for they are not mine to give." Aberon said, his tone final.

Astaroth couldn't help but wonder who he would need to question for those answers, if not Aberon. After all, he was the one that hadn't been there in so long.

They walked towards the village entrance, where a carriage was waiting. Weirdly, though, the carriage had no horses or bulls attached to it.

Astaroth could see the attachment in the front, where one would normally harness horses or bulls, but no animal was there.

He could see some of the village warriors loading some baggage on the back of the carriage. He recognized them as the first team he had patrolled with.

I'dril was leading the loading of the supplies, Korin and Aj'axx doing all the heavy lifting, while Chris was talking to Kloud to the side.

Astaroth walked to the two men with a quick gait.

"Kloud, Chris! Are you both coming on this trip?" He asked, almost enthusiastically.

"Bahahaha!" Chris bellowed.

"You don't need the two strongest men in the kingdom to reach the capital, kid." He added. Slapping Astaroth on the back.

"Only Chris is going." Kloud said, gazing at the man sternly.

"I can't reasonably leave the village without a high-level combatant, can I?" He added.

"But why is it Chris that's coming, and not you?" Astaroth asked.

Again, Astaroth could see a look of melancholy flash in Kloud's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"That's… a story for another time, boy." Kloud said, walking away with his back ramrod straight.

Once more, Astaroth was being devoured by curiosity as Kloud was walking away. A light smack behind his head brought him back to reality.

Chris was looking at him with a gentle smile.

"Be patient. He will open up to you someday." He said, patting Astaroth's shoulder.

Chris then turned around and walked to the carriage. He began helping to load it up.

Astaroth stood there for a few moments, wondering if everyone in this village knew something that they weren't telling him.

He shook his head, throwing that thought away.

'There is probably a good reason for keeping it from me.' He thought.

He walked over to help prepare the carriage for the trip, still wondering where the creatures to pull it were.

It only took a few minutes to finish packing up, and then Astaroth turned to look at Aberon.

"I think we are ready. What now?" He asked the old man.

Aberon walked by him, not responding. He looked at Chris and Aj'axx.

"Pull the carriage outside." He ordered, walking towards the village entrance.

Astaroth followed the old man, wondering what he was going to do. He hoped they wouldn't have to pull the carriage themselves until they reached the capital.

After walking outside the barrier, the old man pulled something from his sleeve. It looked like a wooden whistle with some weird engravings on it.

He brought the object to his mouth and blew lightly in it. The melody that came out of the whistle was neither aggressive nor stressful.

Rather, it was quite delicate, like the sound of wind blowing through treetops. It whistled like the rustling of leaves and echoed the sound of hollow tree trunks.

Astaroth felt it was quite a relaxing sound, pleasing to the ear.

Nothing happened for a few moments after Aberon blew the whistle. The birds started scattering from the distant trees.

Astaroth couldn't see what had caused this yet, but Genie, beside him, started growling. Her fur was standing‌ straight on her back like she was feeling the approach of a predator.

Astaroth bent down to pet her.

"What's the matter, girl? Is something approaching that is scarring you?" He asked her, gently caressing her back to calm her.

"Her reaction is normal. You will understand soon enough." Aberon said, moving forward a few steps.

He then pulled out a pouch from his robe and waited.

The wait was short-lived when two shadows darted out of the forest in front of them.

Astaroth's heart almost stopped at the sight. His hair stood on his arms, in fear so primal he couldn't control it.

In front of Aberon stood two stags of abnormal size. To call them giants was a step too far, but one could neither call their sizes normal.

Their bodies seemed coated in tree moss of vibrant green. Their antlers, made of intertwining branches, spread wide above their heads.

There were so many points to them that Astaroth gave up counting them. Their eyes were pitch black, reflecting every little detail around them.

Astaroth tried inspecting the creatures but only got names out of them.

Guardian of the Forest, Arborea:

Level: ???

Grade: Mythical

Guardian of the Forest, Teraria:

Level: ???

Grade: Mythical

Astaroth's jaw dropped. Mythical creatures.

The fear both he and Genie were feeling right now was the natural reaction to facing a greater being. He couldn't even stand up from the mental pressure the two stags were emitting.

He locked eyes with one, Arborea, and his vision swam. Visions of leaves and trees, for miles and miles, filled his head.

It only lasted for a fleeting moment, before Chris jerked his head downwards, breaking eye contact.

"Don't look them in the eyes." Chris whispered, letting go of Astaroth's head.

"You could have warned me beforehand." Astaroth grumbled, keeping his line of sight low.

"YOU HAVE CALLED ON US, MAGE. SPEAK YOUR REQUEST." A voice boomed all around them.

"I need safe passage across your forests to reach the capital of the Ash Elf kingdom." Aberon replied, bowing low.

"YOU CALLED ON US, GUARDIANS, FOR SUCH A MENIAL REQUEST?" The voice boomed again, with an undertone of anger.

"I have. I know of the dangers roaming your lands, and wish safe passage with my fellow men." Aberon answered, keeping his body at a ninety-degree angle.

"PAY THE TRIBUTE." The loud voice said.

Aberon lifted the pouch in his hand and emptied the content into his other.

In his hand now lay six acorns. They had a pristine shine to them, as if they had just fallen from a tree.

"Acorns, from the mother of the forest. One for each traveler." Aberon said, stretching his hand forward.

The stag on the right, the one Astaroth had locked eyes with, Arborea, moved forward. It took the acorns out of Aberon's hand.

A few moments passed in silence before the voice boomed again.

"THE TRIBUTE HAS BEEN PAID. MAY YOUR TRIP BE SAFE AND FORTUITOUS."

Then the two stags turned around to leave. Arborea stopped turning for a slight moment, its eyes peering at Astaroth before it resumed its action and left.

As they left, four wooden stags the size of horses grew out of the ground.

"Harness them, boys!" Chris bellowed.

The train of events took Astaroth's breath away.

'What just happened?' He thought.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

Bonus chapter for 400 PS :)

next chapter

Chapitre 51: Second Chance

***Back to before game Launch, POV David Magnus***

"AARRGGHH!!" David screamed, waking up in a sweat.

"What a horrible nightmare!" He added, panting and gasping.

He got up from bed and walked to his bathroom to refresh himself. After washing his face with cold water, he walked to his small kitchen to make some coffee.

His mind kept flashing back to his nightmare, shivers crawling up his back. It had felt so real, all the pain and the fear.

David was an ordinary man, with no exciting goal in life. Standard goals of a standard life, for a standard man.

Get a good job, buy a big house, meet a lovely woman, and form a picture-perfect family.

He was currently between jobs, so it filled his days with the monotony of job search. Wake up, look for work on the internet, send applications, make phone calls, and hope for the best.

He had been fruitless for the last week, but he knew if he kept trying, he would eventually get one.

David was a professional welder by trade. He had taken welding jobs in many spheres of work in his life. Be it structural welding for high rises, sub-nautical welding on boat repairs, to many others.

Unfortunately for him, most postings for his trade were looking for workers with more experience, or complete rookies.

So finding a job had been harder than he expected for now. But he wouldn't stop trying until he was back in service.

After drinking his coffee and eating a light breakfast, David went for a walk. The fresh air from outside cleared his mind of that horrible nightmare.

On his walk, he passed in front of a video game store. In the store's window, there was a screen showing an ad for the next game coming out soon.

The release date was for the following week. As David was looking at the screen, the name of the game flashed in big blue letters.

A migraine assaulted his head. Flashes of his nightmare resurfaced, in which he kept seeing himself inside a world of fantasy. A world filled with monsters and creatures of myth.

But the dream in question was a nightmare because of a simple fact; he was a slave to other people.

He could see a collar on his neck. It was black and lined with red shining engravings.

The migraine and visions stopped shortly after, leaving him panting and clutching his chest. He was bent over, in the middle of the sidewalk, people looking at him strangely.

He turned his head around, noticing the stares, and made a run for it.

"Hey! Are you okay pal?!" Someone yelled as he ran for it.

David ran all the way back to his apartment, but on the way, he kept having flashes. The streets were in ruins, buildings half destroyed, and bodies laying in pools of blood.

The visions haunted him all the way into his apartment, where they finally relented.

Once he had closed the door behind him, he collapsed to the ground, breathing fast and heavily, as if he had just run a marathon.

His heartbeat was like a horse on a racetrack. He felt like his head would burst at any minute from the pressure building up in it.

He knew something was wrong with him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

It took him over half an hour to calm down his breathing and beating heart. His head was still pounding, but the pain had lessened.

He forwent looking for a job that day and stayed home. He closed all his blinds and just laid down on his couch in the dark.

He tried sleeping it off many times, but as soon as closed his eyes, the visions assaulted his mind, repeatedly.

'What the fuck is happening to me?' He thought, many times.

He eventually fell asleep from exhaustion, but the nightmares troubled him through the night. His sleep was all but recuperating.

The next morning, when he woke up, he had a distinct air about him. His eyes were cold and indifferent.

He looked like a different person. His attitude was suddenly a seeping wave of icy anger, like he was out for vengeance.

He walked over to a mirror and looked at himself from different angles.

"Hmm." He hummed.

He pulled up his phone and looked at the time and date.

"I only have a few days to plan. It'll have to suffice." He said in a monotonous tone.

He walked to his computer with a steady gait. One that resembled a predator, stalking its prey.

He booted it up and opened up his browser. He keyed in Evo-Gaming.com/New-Eden.

Once the site had fully loaded, he tapped on the pre-purchase option. He ordered a VR helmet and game combo, entering his bank info and address.

Once he had confirmed all his info, the payment went through and it completed the purchase.

"Step one complete. Now to make adequate preparations." He said in a low voice.

He opened up another website, ordering a few things from it and pre-setting a recurring purchase plan.

He looked at his bank account, slowly draining away, and remedied that.

David had a car, but he barely used it these days, since he wasn't working. He drove it to a dealership and sold it off.

It was still pretty new, so he got a decent deal for it. The salesman tried selling him a new car, but he wasn't interested.

He walked back home, ignoring the surrounding people. Some people would see him walk towards them and directly change sides of the road.

He gave off a violent vibe right now, and most sensitive people could feel like small needles pricking their skin.

Once he was back home, he started moving some furniture around. He moved his computer to a corner of the room, moving everything away from it.

He pushed all his furniture out of the center of the room, leaving a sizeable space.

He looked at it with an empty stare.

"That should be enough, for now." He said to himself.

"Now we wait." He added, before eating a light lunch.

After eating, he browsed many forums and websites, trying to find an information trail on New Eden.

"I will be ready. I won't be a slave this time." He murmured, clenching his fist.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

If you liked my story, add it to your library!

This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)

I have changed format for the bonus chapters to 100 PS per week, since we are doing so good :)

We dropped 1 position again, down to 50th! We have barely been passed, but the next 2 spots are still relatively close. Top 20 is our next goal! Let's keep this going!

If you like the novel so far or think something could use work, don't be scared to leave a review :)

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