LOOT DROP Chapter: 13

  Cold, shirtless, and munching on some red berries scavenged by Faith, Fisk exhaled as he watched his SP meter slowly fill while his hands weaved together fibers scavenged from nearby leaves into his tunic.

  “What are you making?” Faith asked, the woman sitting across from Fisk with curious eyes as she sat across from him surrounded by deep shrubbery.

  “A Ghillie suit,” Fisk said, wrapping more plant fibers together to form strands.

  “Ghillie?”

  “Gaelic word, supposed to refer to servants that used to hunt wearing suits made of plant fiber and leaves. It helps to blend into your surroundings,” Fisk said, pausing as he realized his words weren't censored.

  “What's wrong?” Faith asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

  “Nothing, can you begin digging a pit? About two, maybe three feet deep?”

  “Uhm, okay,” Faith said immediately going to work with her hands. “Why am I digging a pit?”

  “For the fire, the suns going down and we'll need to obscure the flames, trees will help block the smoke but we'll need to strip the wood we use of bark for a lower smoke profile,” Fisk said.

  “Oh, I see… How do you know all this stuff?”

  Fisk's hands stopped working, a memory of his SERE training and trudging through the snow for days on end tying knots.

  “I… I was a soldier,” Fisk replied, smearing mud on his shirt and placing leaves onto the mud before placing the shirt in the sun to dry.

  “A soldier?” Faith tensed up, “Like for Atharva? LE VEDA?”

  “No uh… no kingdom you'd be familiar with,” Fisk said before pausing. “Speaking of… how many nations are there in this world?”

  “That's pretty common knowledge, there's five. You don't know this?”

  “I'm…” Fisk paused to pick his words carefully, “Not from around these parts.”

  “You… really are from a different land…” Faith said, before wiping her sweating brow, her eyes focused on Fisk.

  Fisk responded but his words were gibberish, prompting only a nod from the man.

  “Well… from what I know, there are five nations; Mmmh, there's Agni to the west, Sama to the north, Vuriksha in the south, Atharva in the central plains, and LA VEDA to the westish. Each region is blessed by a different god with their people utilizing their god's gifts.”

  “They're all theocracies?”

  “Uh… I don't know what that means.”

  “They all worship gods?” Fisk asked, wondering if these were spiritual beings or monsters he would have to fight.

  “No, not all. Only LA VEDA is super religious. But the other countries' gods don't really play much of an active role. After shaping the world, they made a pact to divide it equally so that each god could have their own territory.”

  “I see…” Fisk said, opening his map and zooming it out to display the markers of each token. “And where are we now?”

  “Liurnia Mountains in Vuriksha, it's the natural barrier that separates us from Atharva and Agni.”

  “Nearest town? City?”

  “Talahar is a days away but the central city is located way south. Though… it would be hard to go anywhere without an adventurer permit or pass.”

  Fisk frowned, his map mostly obscured by fog, but if he was in the most southern nation and the continent was divided equally…

  “Shit,” Fisk muttered, noting the pattern of tokens he'd have to destroy.

  From the looks of things, he'd have to go to each country, however, there was one token that was way further away, almost to the edge of his map.

  “It's done.”

  Fisk looked up, eyeing the pit that was dug into the earth.

  “Good, you know how to start a fire?”

  “Sure,” Faith said, grabbing the bundle of peeled twigs and dumping them into the pit.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “What are you-”

  “Fira.”

  Fisk blinked, watching as bluish energy coalesced around the woman's open palm before igniting into a red ball of flame.

  “There! One fire,” Faith beamed, proud of her work as Fisk sat stunned.

  “Incredible…” Fisk muttered, much to Faith's dismay who grew flustered as Fisk continued to stare at her, “You're… you're a wizard,”

  “Oh no! Nothing that fancy!” Faith said, waving Fisk off, “I only know a few cantrips and healing incantations, nothing so fancy as a wizard or mage!”

  “But you can cast magic. Can you teach me?”

  “Me?! I'm not that advanced to teach, sorry,” Faith said, holding her wrist and looking away, somehow unable to meet Fisk's gaze.

  There was something there. Something she wasn't saying but given their current situation, Fisk decided not to push.

  With the fire pit, Fisk went to work crafting their sleeping quarters as he opened the forums.

  -Instant Killed by Workshop collapsing????- by FemboyRadagon

  -One Leg Found!!!!!- by Temu Snake

  -Not a hoax, One Leg found! Now with two legs!- by fOOD

  -If he has two legs do we call him Two-Legs now?- by ShouTuckerDidNothingWrong

  Just as Fisk expected, news of his appearance had circulated quickly with even photos of himself on display of Faith leading him to safety through the chaos.

  Great… just what I needed… maybe I can stall.

  -One Leg issued a quest!- by Nobody

  Fisk posted on the forum, a millisecond passing before streams of comments began to flood his thread.

  -liar.

  -Fake News.

  -Whats the quest?

  -Where is he?!

  -This the guy that posted seeing him?

  -Wait I thought this guy was banned?

  -WHATS THE QUEST?!!!!

  A small smile showed itself on Fisk's face, the man, recalling the furry player that had shoved Faith down and was now pursuing him.

  -I have to kill a guy named Sonichu? Apparently he pissed off One-leg- By Nobody.

  -Sonichu?

  -If I help will you split the reward?

  -Share me the quest!

  -Where did you meet him?

  -WTT for Quest.

  -Lul this is just doxxing

  Immediately a slew of comments began to flood his thread, dozens of players growing into hundreds as people clamored for information.

  While he enjoyed the show, Fisk walked over and dragged a log towards the fire pit, along with several thick trees he could find.

  -I see Sonichu! Guy’s by the Nameless Bridge!-

  -Everytime I click on this dudes profile it says he doesn't exist.

  -Oh, I exist. by Nobody.

  Fisk smiled at the replies to his comment, the players in a frenzy throwing out various conspiracies.

  This outta buy me some time.

  “What are you doing?” Faith asked, peeking over at the three foot hole that was roughly six feet long with a little dip on both ends of the hole.

  “Making a sleeping pit,” Fisk said, laying several branches down with his hands holding large bundles of bushes. “If we're found at night I don't want us being caught off guard, at least this way we won't be visible.”

  “Oh… just… just one?” Faith asked.

  “Yeah? Our body heat will keep us warm and if any threats occur we can help each other quickly,” Fisk replied, the woman a bit pensive. “Hey.”

  “Hm?”

  “I'm sorry. For all the trouble I caused. It wasn't my intention to put you in harms way. Or…” Fisk glanced over to the side, “Destroy Sam’s workshop.”

  A moment of silence past, both staring at one another in an almost awkward yet tense way.

  “Yeah… I don't think she'll be happy,” Faith said before walking over and laying down in the pit. “You can make it up to me by telling me more about your world.”

  “Sure,” Fisk said before covering the woman with branches and a log.

  “Wait? How are you getting in?” Faith asked as Fisk covered her face.

  “I'll take watch and stay in a tree.”

  “Oh…”

  Fisk could have sworn he heard a tinge of disappointment, but he ignored it, instead turning his attention to the green moon above.

  Then, he eyed his mana, his stats now at full and ready to finally get a class as he donned his ghillie shirt and lifted his double barrel.

  *****

  In a white sterile room lined with the illumination of computer screens, two men in labcoats stood over a monitor.

  “You think it's her?” A red-haired man said, adjusting his wire-rim glasses that reflected the image of a man with a metal leg fleeing through a crowd.

  “Unless there's someone who understands neurological quantum code and how to bypass both mine and your encryption into the Cyberverse, this has to be her doing. Can you isolate the target?” A man with short hair and narrow green eyes said as he stroked his pointed chin decorated with a slime beard.

  “No, I've tried to several times, but-”

  “Eve…” Green-eyed hissed.

  “Eve.”

  “Hm. For now, just make sure he doesn't interfere with the players too much. The shareholders are expecting more patches to pad out the report.”

  “There's something else, look,” Glasses said, pointing to a monitor nearby. “Whatever he is, it's spreading. We've already lost control of two cybertypes, they've deviated from the protocols we've set.”

  Green eyes looked down, glaring at screen before him that showed blank spots on an array of quantum information.

  Then he scowled.

  “The Faction Update will not be delayed. Do what you need to do to shut Eve down. I don't care if you have to bring the servers down for maintenance, do it.”

  Glasses nodded, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he went to work to eliminate the anomaly that threatened their project.

  Glasses smirked, his eyes crinkling into crescents, “I can't believe I get to kill you again.”