Beta Launch

I was lying on the grass with a naked Reyas next to me. I could have pulled a fur over her, but I just watched her sleep while admiring her form.

My helmet did come off, but I had to use qi to detach and reattach it. It was both adhered to my skull and removable. It was fun to ravage them both with it on because I didn't have to kiss them when I was done. Only afterwards did I remove it as mother had instructed.

Reyas stirred and her soft parts jiggled adorably. I leaned over and kissed her until she woke. My hand wandered down her shoulder and grabbed a handful of breast. The earth moved.

She sat up.

"That wasn't me," I said and looked out the side of our tent. It was a lean-to and half of it was open.

She reached for her leathers and began wiggling and jiggling into them. I didn't have any clothes to worry about. I crept out of the tent and looked around.

Within moments Gisael landed on the ground in front of me. One foot touching the ground followed by the other, her features calm. Her bow was strung over her shoulder with a quiver on the other in a crisscross fashion. Her blade was strapped to her hip in one of the weaver's silky brown belts.

Her alien eyes gazed upon my head. "It's not in the forest."

I went back in the tent and attached my wooden mask. It congealed onto my head, its wooden roots burrowing into my skin and skull. Strangely it did not hurt at all, I barely felt it. The wooden antlers added another foot to my height, I looked over seven feet tall.

I growled at Gisael and she giggled. Reyas followed me out of the tent decked out in her leathers with her wicked knives on her hips and axes on her back.

"Is it south?" I asked.

Gisael nodded. "It fell from the sky. I saw the purple clouds from the treetops."

"Gather the troops in case it has a taste for our sweet fruit it might head this way." I stretched while Gisael called. To a stranger it sounded like a birdcall, but we all knew it was her.

Within moments Talila arrived and then Ailen and Sakaala a few minutes later. I peered at Talila. She was definitely a peeping tom.

"News," Ailen said and I knew what he meant.

"Gisael will lead the way and gather enough ammunition for a small war. If it caused a quake like that it when it landed in the plains it must be huge. Ailen and I will be at the rear while he tells me his news from his dream walk."

They accept my words and quickly gathered as many quivers as they could carry. We had a fully stocked outpost to the south, but it was best to come prepared.

"We should bring a gatherer," Gisael said and I nodded. We headed south, the eight of us, including Nej and my demon bird. The little scamp flew rather than ride my hip. He still didn't have a name that we agreed on, and he'd healed nicely with care from Soora.

But it was after the ceremony when he started to grow. In just a few days his wingspan spread, and he grew in size. His black eyes glistened, and his plumage shined. He was a healthy demon bird now. He flew above the trees and shared his vision with me. His senses were sharper especially his sight.

We let the others gain some ground on us and ran with Sakaala. Demon bird would track Gisael for me so there was no need for her to stop and wait.

"The players are logging in today," Ailen said.

"Oh," I said, "Do you think they're connected?"

Ailen nodded. "It's probably a boss mob, so we better be careful. If it is it probably won't roam, but I'm only guessing."

"Noted."

"There's something else," he said and glanced at Sakaala. "They kicked out all the subjects like you. I think we should thank Sakaala for them not pulling the plug on you. She argued hard for you. Pointing out how many discoveries you made, and they should appreciate you more."

"So, they're keeping me in to keep you two happy?"

"No," Sakaala said. "They're keeping you in because you make discoveries and the others are useless."

"How do you know?"

"They showed me. You made as many discoveries on your own than the rest of the MPP combined."

"MPP?"

She smiled. "I forgot you're a noob in business. Military Private Partnership."

"What sort of things did they discover that we don't have?"

"Oh stoneskin, the auras, qi barrier and qi bolt."

"Holy," he said, "Next time tell me this sort of thing. What's an aura?"

"No idea."

"Hmm, stoneskin and qi barrier are self-explanatory. What's qi bolt?"

"Same as qi-arrow but with a crossbow bolt."

"Oh good. I thought we might be up against creeps who could throw pure qi around like magic missiles."

"They won't have the reserves we do. Not at first," Ailen said. "But if they kill and eat qi cores their reserves will grow."

"Like the mountain men. Ulfgrim had a core the size of my fist."

"There's something else in the starting information. They're going to have regular tournaments with prizes - five verses five."

I laughed. "We could send someone to spy on them and see what they can do."

"No," Sakaala said. "We want to beat them. Can we. Please."

Ailen jumped a root and said, "It's what we're here for."

I looked at the pair. "Okay. It's the least I can do for helping me stay inside."

Ailen grinned. "And five is the perfect number for us."

"I will stick out too much, Look at me. You know where I'm from if you don't blend in it dangerous. I'm a black man from America remember. I can only imagine how much a bunch of white knights will feel threatened by a brown forest monster."

Sakaala glanced at me while we ran. "But you can take that off. And they will have to accept us, we're players too. Ones who paid much more than this new bunch."

"How will we know when the first tournament is being held?"

"We get updates when we log out, and we already know. It's at the end of the first month."

I swung from a low hanging branch and kicked out over a stream. "We need to pick up the pace, Gisael is already closing in on the southern border."

They gawked at me and I pointed to the sky. "Magic demon bird."

"Another discovery?" Sakaala said and Ailen shrugged.

"No announcement, and there's nothing to add to the quickbar. We share a connection and vision."

"So cool," Ailen said.

"Did you know that would happen?" Sakaala asked.

"No. I just decided to help him." I stopped. "He sees it. Holy. It's a massive boar, like the size of a big truck."

"Normal eyes or red eyes?" Ailen asked.

"Red, why?"

"Well typically if it has normal eyes it's an animal and if it has red eyes its demonic."

"Oh and let me guess - demonic is worse."

"Much worse. Expect it to be intelligent and have powers."

"What sort of powers?"

"No idea."

When we reached Gisael I pointed. "It's this way. A giant red eyed boar and it's roaming. It just killed a dozen spiders."

Gisael peered at me and then up in the air.

"Yeah demon bird. Do you want me to try and bring it back to the forest?"

"Can you outrun it?"

I shrugged.

"If it is big it can charge down a tree and cause damage for no protection. We go and fight it in the plains."

I nodded. "Everyone needs to keep their distance and I'll try and keep its attention."

"Everyone?" Reyas said.

"Not you - but be careful."

Gisael paced. "And we cannot leave it be?"

I shook my head. "It has red eyes and is roaming, its only a matter of time before it turns its attention to us."

Gisael said, "Everyone bring two quivers and Nej will carry six." She stared at him. "Keep your distance and eyes sharp." He nodded.

"If someone gets hurt drag them back here," I said. "If it goes badly, I will lead it away."

"What if you're hurt?" Reyas said.

I laughed. "Then you're all fucked."