Last Chance

Chapter Six

"Who are you?" His voice made me jump slightly. How long had he been there? How come I never noticed him?

"My name is Dark Stroke. Who are you?" I asked the old man as I noticed his hands moving. He was whittling away at some wood. It looked like it was supposed to be a person, I think, but it was a long way away.

"You trespass on my territory and now you demand from me. That is not how it works, young man." He replied with a chuckle.

"My apologies, sir. But you have to admit, having a house here within this jungle would peak anyone's interest. Would it not?" I responded as I walked over to him.

"True enough. So, how may I be of assistance?" He said as he continued to whittle away at his piece of wood.

"I wasn't looking for anything. Just trying to get of this damn jungle." I laughed softly.

"And you don't have a map?" The old man said as he looked up.

"I do, but in this instance, I refuse to look at it until I am out of this place." I said as I turned to the jungle.

"You're an odd fellow. But interesting, nonetheless." He replied as he placed his piece of wood and whittler on the table to his left and stood up. He was taller than me by a few inches.

He must have been just over sixty, maybe, with a white centimeter long beard and bald head. He was built for his age but age tends to win as it was showing around his midriff.

"What can I help with?" The old man asked as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Not much really. I just finished a quest and now I am trying to leave this jungle." I replied in earnest. For this situation I figured honesty would be the best option.

"Are you now? You know, you are the first adventurer to come across my cabin." The old man said with a chuckle. "It gets quite lonely nowadays that my son has gone."

"Gone where, do you need help finding him?" I asked hoping for a quest alert.

"You misunderstand." The old man said with a sigh. "My son died a few cycles backs." I had come to learn in my short stay here in Guild Stronghold that a cycle meant a year and a half in game time.

"My apologies. I have said something out of turn." I responded suddenly feeling a little guilt.

"Don't worry about it. I have come to terms with it." The old man said with a soft smile. "You know, I have a question for you. Out of curiosity of course."

"Sure, go ahead." I replied as I turned my attention to the old man.

"Between the old Gods and the new, which do you prefer. Knowing that the old Gods were weaker, I am quite interested to know your answer." He asked as he turned to me with a serious look on his face.

"Old Gods." I replied after some thought.

"Would you care to explain?" The old man asked.

"Well, although the old Gods have no sway in regards to how this world works, the way they decided the conflict is admirable. I remember reading in the town's library that when the new Gods decided to take over, they wanted war, yet the old Gods declined and let their reign go." I began as I remember what I read. "It got me thinking that the old Gods knew that a war between old and new would decimate the world and the species currently living their would either go extinct or become severely endangered. They decided that their reign was not worth the loss of the world. To me that is admirable and why I chose them."

The old man looked me in the eyes and after a silent minute he burst out laughing. "I was right. You are an interesting boy. It seems I can entrust my request to you and know it is in good hands."

"I'm sorry, request?" I asked not sure I heard correctly.

"Yes, my late son's weapon was lost with him and I would like it retrieved. It holds tremendous sentimental value for me." The old man said just before a Notification popped up in the middle of my vision.

I took a look and noticed it was a quest alert.

The Path of Mjölnir

Find the weapon of an old god and return it to its rightful owner.

"I'm sorry, the weapon is called Mjölnir, as in Thor's hammer?" I asked in disbelief. "And your son was an old God? Is this really true?"

How can this possibly be true? There is no way the creators of the game incorporated Norse Mythology into it. It was too cliche. It can't be true.

"Yes, my son was an old God, and no the weapon is not a hammer. Although that boy seemed to like hammers, the weapon can take the form most suited to it's wielder. In my hands, it becomes a spear." The old man replied with a smile as if he was reminiscing in the past.

"Are you saying that you are Odin, the King of the old Gods?" I asked staring blanking at the old man.

"Yes and no. My name is Odin but I was not the King. No, that title belonged to Uranus." Odin replied with another smile.

"But Uranus, was killed by is son, is that why there are new Gods?" I asked trying to get to the bottom of this.

"Oh, dear boy. If Uranus died, how is there still air. The sky. The winds. He was the king of them all and with his death, it would be the end of it all. No, he is still around somewhere. Even I haven't managed to find him."

"Wow. I don't know what to say." I responded as I stood there dumbstruck.

"Say you accept the quest, young man. You have a long journey ahead of you." Odin replied with a laugh. "And oh, Dark stroke, is it. The way out of the jungle it due east, that way." He said pointing to the right side of his cabin.

"Thank you sir." I replied with a smile as I begun my way east.

Ping!

A chat message popped up. It was from KnightDemon.

KnightDemon: Yo, DS, u stl thr?

Dark Stroke: Yes, I am. What do you want?

KnightDemon: Wht wit da hostility?

Dark Stroke: What do you want, KD? I'm trying to get out of a jungle here.

KnightDemon: Jungle of Roshenth, huh? fun tmes. lstn her. trnament in fw days. cme join.

Dark Stroke: Your spelling is really irritating me. And what tournament?

KnightDemon: Dnt care. Trnament in A'Baro. hld wkly. lotta strng pples. gud xp.

Dark Stroke: I'll be there. Just let me finish this quickly.

I said just before I closed the chat window. Now all I had to do was get out of this jungle and be on my way. The quest for Mjölnir didn't have any hints as to where I would find it and the rewards were still unknown. Fascinating, I thought. This quest might just be what I need to focus on.