Fantasy World Online I: New Roads

Chapter 15: The First Whispers

In a small forest, a five player party grinded on mobs when they heard loud voices. nearby. The leader, an archer called Trickster, decided to investigate. A group of bandits were positioning themselves for an ambush. There were nine bandits with swords and another two with arrows nocked in their bows. Trickster and his party decided to wait and ambush the bandits while they were engaged and positioned themselves so they could see the road. Obtaining the gratitude of NPC merchants was very helpful. A few minutes later, a heavily loaded cart rode around the bend. The driver was dressed in a hooded cloak. The sun glinted off the black sword at his waist.

As the cart neared, the bandits stayed still and made no noise. Trickster noticed a bow and several arrows beside the rider. As soon as the first bandit came out of hiding and shouted for the driver to halt, the man grabbed the bow and shot him. He fell down dead. As his companions were trying to get over the shock, both their archers had followed the lead of first bandit. The eight remaining bandits rushed at the man. One bandit swung his rusty sword at him. The cloaked man evaded the sword and grabbed the bandit's wrist and twisted it. The bandit dropped his weapon and was thrown at one of his companions. The two fell in a tangle of limbs.

The next bandit approached him, swinging a large iron hammer. The driver jump over the swing and landed between two other bandits. A swift kick to the gut of one and an elbow to the face of the other made them fall in pain. The hammer wielder swung his weapon again. The driver was able to place one of the hurt bandits in between them. The hammer crushed the bandit's back. While the bandit with the hammer recovered, the driver twisted his neck.

  There were six bandits remaining. The driver produced a pair of hatchets and threw them at the bandits. They found two marks and two more of the bandits fell. The four remaining bandits were now looking for a way to escape. One just turned and started running towards the treeline. The driver quickly drew a small knife from his boot and threw it. It dug into the runner's hand and pinned him to a tree. In the same motion, the driver ran forward. After impaling one bandit with his sword, he kicked another in the knee and trapped him in an armlock as he beheaded another bandit. The two free bandits went on the offensive. The cloaked man easily parried the attacks. He blocked on thrust with the body of the trapped bandit. The attacker became off balance and opened up to an attack. He soon joined the others. The last bandit dropped his weapon and got beheaded. There only remained the bandit pinned to a tree. Taking a large hunting knife, he slit the bandit's throat. 

As the bandit shattered into a myriad of pixels and condensed into a chest. This type of chest only spawns when one player had killed all the enemies by themselves. 

Trickster and his party were impressed in how fast he had finished off the bandits. The level of the player had concerned them. In the forest, the average level of monsters was 40 while the bandits' average level was 50. With the man's abilities, they pondered what his level might be. As the player went around, collecting the loot, Trickster wondered what a high leveled player was going in a lower level area. After collecting the loot, the player hopped back on a heavily laden cart.

The party decided to trail the mysterious player. For the rest of the day, the player rode until he stopped at a barn by the edge of a village for the night. The group disconnected for the night. At sunrise, when everyone had reconnected, they discovered that the man had set up a booth at by the main road through the village. He was selling bags of grain, seeds, clothes, wooden jewelry, and common weapons. 

He stood there all day. As he sold his wares, you talked with every person. At first, the townspeople were reluctant to approach him, but as he sold more, the friendlier they became. As the evening settled, he started taking quests, no matter how small they were. In three in-game days, he had completed every task and was now treated very nicely by the townspeople, who started conversing whenever they passed by.