51 Adventure Time

Alex, Eri, and I had left the city and were traveling to the ruin's location. The grassy plains had spots of trees and tall vegetation that had awoken my wanderlust. These were views that were very hard to see in the concrete jungles of my world.

We passed by many animals that were wandering the plains and grazing. Of course, I wouldn't be fooled by the horned rabbits I saw. They were evil creatures ready to pounce on you at a moment's notice. That was one thing I noticed was this game was realistic enough that your character could develop scars, as I had a very faint one from that rabbit attack.

Alex had spotted something on the road ahead of us. I could make out an overturned wagon and possibly a person. Once I started to squint, however, my eyes did something as I seemed to get a telescopic zoom, and I could see things in much better detail.

In front of us was what looked like an armed caravan, as there appeared to be dead mercenaries on the ground in addition to the caravan's owners. Possibly husband and wife with a young adult daughter, but that was all conjecture.

"Alex, you think that was from the kobolds?" I asked Alex. I didn't have any prior experience to base this on, so I relied on her knowledge if she had any.

"Possibly. Kobolds are known for things like this. They would have only won if they had trapped the place beforehand or largely outnumbered their enemies. I've fought them on a couple of occasions. They take after their dragon ancestors and collect shiny things, like armor and gold." Alex responded.

"I can use this to level up my survival skill to track where they went then," I said to Alex. We picked up our pace quickly, reaching the small battlefield.

"This is most likely kobolds. The arrows used are about the same quality they would have. They aren't known for maintaining their weapons. It's odd that they left some gold and weapons here. Those are usually looted first." Alex said as she was inspecting the mercenaries.

Eri was kneeling beside what may have been the family. "The wounds on these people are a bit strange. Most of them are in places a kobold can't reach." Eri said with concern.

I was looking around the battlefield using my survival skill. "Alex, what does a kobold footprint look like?" I asked her.

"They are a bit flat-footed and have four clawed toes. Their foot size may be around the size of your hand, give or take." Alex responded.

I continued looking around but failed to see any kobold footprints fitting that description. "I am not finding any kobold footprints. I am seeing some human-sized ones that looked like they walked from that tree line to the road. Then they get all jumbled up, probably from battle, but there are no footprints leaving either." I spoke.

Alex and I look at each other for a moment before reality dawns on us. "That means that those mercenaries…." Before I could finish the sentence, the supposed dead mercenaries spring to their feet with their weapons drawn. I also see several more people walking out of the nearby tree line.

"Shit! It's a trap!" Alex curses out loud. Taking stock of the situation, I realize we are surrounded. I also noticed that the caravan owners are still dead, which is most likely the only true thing we deduced.

"What do you want?" Alex growls at the thugs.

"That woman has something our boss wants. Hand over that sword and the information on your magic, and we will let you go. Or don't. I wouldn't mind capturing you and making you squeal." A large muscular man says who I now realize are all players.

"You're with that asshole from earlier. I will not hand over my sword and my magic." I yell as I start to cast a spell, but it doesn't get very far as it fizzles out.

"Ha! Give it up. We set up an anti-magic field, so you can't use your spells. Cost us a fortune for it but worth it. Boys! Looks like it's the hard then." The man says.

Alex quickly arms herself with her giant ass axe and, with surprising quickness, cleaves one of the players in half. The level of detail in this game has made me nauseous, but I held it in as there was a more pressing matter.

I draw my sword and parry an attack that came from behind. Eri was holding her own as if she was in those old kung-fu films. It was still three versus twelve. I swung my sword, trying to shoot the beam out from earlier, but nothing appeared.

"I told you, girl. There is an anti-magic field up. Even your enchanted items won't work. They are just normal items." The man said as he tried to swing his sword at me. I was being pressured from all sides and had no choice but to parry the blow again. To my surprise, it looked like the other player had hit a stone wall when I did. I could see the shock on his face.

"You are supposed to be a mage type. What with this ridiculous strength?" The player asked while rubbing his wrist.

I didn't have time to answer him, not like I would anyway, as I saw someone sneaking behind Alex. In a moment I can only call desperation and stupidity, I threw my sword at the player. The blade struck true as it was embedded in his back up to the hilt, launching him away a bit.

Seeing an opportune time to attack me, the leader swung his sword at me. I reflexively throw my hands up in front of me and channel the psionic weave. Moments went by when I realized the blow never came. Looking up, I saw the player stopped as if held by an invisible force. A quick inspection revealed that my psionics was working.

"Good to know. Psionics isn't magic." I thought to myself, and a smile formed on my face.

"Impossible! Magic is blocked! How are you doing this?" The man yelled as he tried to free himself from the invisible grip. The other players became wary towards me, except the one player I saw trying to pull the sword out of the back of the dead player.

Using my psionics, I pulled the sword to me into my hand. I then lifted the player in the air and twisted his head around. His body hit the ground lifeless. The other players rushed towards me as I was now the larger threat.

I used my psionics to hold players in place or disable them as Alex, Eri, and I swiftly took them out. It was over in just a few minutes. No one was able to escape our onslaught. After everything was over, the realization hit me. Even though they were just players in a video game, the realism was there, and it made me a bit sick. I held on to the overturned cart and dry-heaved for several minutes.

"First time killing another player? Happened to me too." Alex said as she rubbed my back.

"Yeah. I know this is just a game for the moment, and they will respawn, but that was still a bit much." I said as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"I got the players' names so we can report them when we get back to the city. Let's finish up this quest." Alex said as she was wiping her axe clean.

"What should we do with the player's bodies?" I asked as I was motioning to the bodies strewn about.

"How about we loot them of all their stuff. Their bodies will remain here for a while. When they return to their bodies, they will find all their gear is gone. Plus, we can sell it." Eri said as she was already looting the bodies.

After everything was looted, which was a pretty good haul as we got a decent amount of money from the players, we continued on our way to the kobold lair.