Chapter 9: Chapter 9 – Blackmoss Removal II

“Get out of the way! Move! Let’s go!” Fifteen horses of a variety of colors, adorned in purple cloaks, road up and down the streets of Eastland. “Line up! All of you!” Vincent, a Captain of the Abilene Crusaders, was getting annoyed with these idiots. Hell, most of them weren’t even Level 5 and had no class title. He brushed his dark hair back, the sweat gluing his hair behind his ears, and observed the group. Roughly 25 players, with only a few over Level 5, stood before him. He glanced over the buildings. It looked like many of these private residences had been purchased and unlocked and were being used for shops or small farms. He took note of one house with a coop in the front yard, apparently raising chickens.

Vincent took off his plate helm and took out a small notepad and charcoal pencil, jotting down information. Whilst doing so, Pyke, his Lieutenant, shoved an old man in front of him. Vincent opened the profile. “George W, Level 2. Who’s this?”

Pyke gave a grin, his eyepatch making him look a lot more villanious than what they were going for. “They say he’s the leader. Mayor.”

Vincent raised an eyebrow. It was about time. They had already been here half an hour. He hopped off his horse and approached the man. This person was nervous, sweating, and seemed absurdly weak for being in charge of over two dozen players. He would get eaten alive in Persopolis. “How are you the leader? You’re level 2.”

“I…uhm…I….I-”

“He was the Mayor. Before everything.”

Vinny turned to see who spoke up. A Level 14 Paladin. “Who are you?”

“I’m Dan Gulch, head of security.”

Head of security? This town seemed a little small for all of that, but people like titles.

“Who are you?” The Paladin replied back with a bit of nerve in his voice. Vincent wasn't a fan of that.

“Vincent Caulfield, Captain in His Majesty’s Armed Forces.”

“You’re British?”

“No. I am not British." Vincent rolled his eyes. "We’re with the Abilene Crusaders. We are establishing a route through I-20 from Abilene to Fort Worth.”

This Dan character seemed confused. “Why are you rounding us up?”

I rolled my eyes. “We are getting a head count. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.”

“What’s the headcount for?”

Vinny was getting irritated with answering this mans questions. “Listen, kid. Just relax and let me do my job. No reason this has to get ugly.”

“What do you want?”

Vincent sighed. “Already told you. We are establishing a route from Abilene to Fort Worth.”

Dan seemed confused. “What are you planning on doing with us?” He was eyeing a couple privates who were busy putting up the banners.

“We are simply claiming this colony in the name of King Perseus. From here on out you will be safe from harm with the ability to travel amongst the realm. You will be able to join jobs as you’d wish, including the King’s Army. In exchange, you will all join the guild and pay a 5% tax on all loot, sales, and purchases you make.” It was a fair deal. So far, nearly every colony had agreed to pay it. Those that didn’t would not make it long enough to inform anyone on the unfortunate results. The Crusade needed this road, one way or the other.

“If we say no?”

“Your land is claimed. Refusal is counted as treason.” Perhaps this was one of the colonies where Vincent simply needed to remove the ring leader.

Dan seemed to think about this for a minute before shaking his head. “There are 27 people here. We need to have a vote.”

“There is nothing to vote on. We are informing you of the good news.” Vincent never understood why some people resisted so hard. Sure, it was new and alarming, but isn’t this what everyone wanted? Safety?

A man in a suit stepped forward. “I’m the Pastor and one of the 3 Town Leaders here. We do need to have a vote before we agree to this.”

Vincent shook his head. “Sir, I’ll tell you this one more time. Your land is claimed. A vote to refuse is essentially a vote to leave the realm. That will be considered incitement of treason and is punishable by death.”

Dan frowned. “Are we free to leave?”

Vincent raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Are we free to leave…like…can we exit the town?”

Vincent shrugged. “The land is ours. The people are not. I’ll give you a warning, though. There are other factions in this world who’s intentions are much less pure and who’s actions are much more violent. We want you all to join the Crusade and wear purple. We want you all to be safe, productive, and happy. We are not bad men, but we are men on a mission.”

Dan stood there for a second. “Can we have a vote to leave?”

Vincent glanced at Pyke, who had his hand on his sword hilt. Pyke was always itching for a fight. It was so unnecessary here. “No reason to have a vote. Anyone who wants to walk out that door and go face the dangers outside is welcome too. If you remain, you keep your house and possessions and shops and whatever else you’ve managed to do by yourselves in that time. You will have access to the prosperity that King Perseus will deliver. If you leave, I’d bet most of you are dead before sunset.”

Dan nodded before looking around. Vincent was happy to see the Paladin's gaze was only met with doubtful looks. No one wanted to leave. Safety truly was everyone's number one concern. The Paladin looked back at him. “I….I guess…I guess we’ll stay then.”

The mayor and the pastor seemed to agree. In fact, everyone seemed happy to stay except for a single man. Vincent watched as a bald-headed man with tattoos began to walk to the town gate. “You there! Where are you headed?”

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“Away. You said we were free to go.”

Vincent frowned. A Level 14 Ranger with a wolf companion. He looked dangerous, albeit slightly underleveled. “You are certainly free to leave...if you wish. May I ask why?”

“I’ve been a prisoner before, and have no intention of being one again.”

“You won’t be a prisoner…you’ll be a citizen.”

“I doubt that.” The man left.

Vincent turned back to the crowd with a half-smile. “Well…to the 26 of you who chose life over near-certain death…please leave your current guild and accept this invitation to join the Crusade.” As Vincent turned back to Pyke, he gave a nod. It wouldn't do any good to have someone walking around and proving them wrong. Vincent wasn't a fan of the dirty work, but it was necessary at times. Luckily, he had people to do that for them.

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Lincoln knew where to go, or at least had a rough idea. North, a few miles east of Moran, was the village Jeremiah had been talking about. He didn’t know if it was still there, but it was a hell of lot better than dealing with those crazy people. Danny hadn’t been the same since Moran, and it wasn’t like Lincoln had any other friends there. Hell, Dan didn’t even seem bothered when he left.

As he put one foot forward in front of the other, Shocker started to growl. “What’s wrong boy?”

The faint sound of hoofbeats made him realize exactly what was wrong. Lincoln started to run, heading for the treeline. The horses behind him growing louder. He began to hear shouting. They saw him. “Go boy! Go!” Lincoln shouted at Shocker as the two made for the trees. They weren’t fast enough. The horses were going to catch them.

Lincoln turned around and drew his bow. He used [Hawk’s Eye] to see the threat. 3 Level 15 soldiers, two male and one female, in purple cloaks rode towards him. Lincoln used his [Hawk's Eye] and carefully aimed before launching an arrow into one of the men. The man tumbled off his horse and hit the ground with a yellow profile. Lincoln fired again, hitting the other man. The soldier remained on his mount but also become yellow profile. He fired a third time, aiming for the woman, and missed.

The two remaining riders caught up to him quickly, the man drawing a sword and the woman beginning to channel a ball of lightning from atop her horse. Lincoln rolled out of the way of the blade and used [Multi-Shot], firing three arrows. One hit the man, one hit the woman, and one hit the woman’s horse. He fired again, repeating the result. The man turned his horse around and charged again. It must have surprised him when a large wolf jumped onto him, tackling the soldier from his horse and beginning to drain his health. Lincoln dodged just in time as a lightning ball hit the ground next to him and ignited the grass in blue flame.

He drew his bowstring back again and fired, hitting the woman square in the chest and causing her to fall as well. Shocker was doing serious damage to the man, and a final arrow from Lincoln finished him off. As the woman charged him with two fists of lightning, Shocker bit her thigh and allowed Lincoln to land another arrow in her heart. Her profile was still red. She was alive. He pulled the arrow out so as to not continually drain her health. She'd survive as long as nothing else happened upon her before she woke up. As Lincoln used [Hawk’s Eye] once more, he was able to see the third assailant re-mounting and escaping back to Eastland.

Lincoln hustled into the treeline, watching the North Star and moving forwards. That was not the first time he had killed a human, but it was the first time since the start of this game.

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“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Lincoln.” I was furious with his story. A guild had trounced into Eastland, claimed it, and then hunted down an innocent man who just wanted to leave. This was exactly why I needed to make my own guild. We needed solid protection against attackers like that. Sure, there weren’t many of us, but I figured any group of less than 20 were going to have at least somewhat of a rough time handling 7 Level 14s and higher. “How did you manage to take down three players with higher levels?”

“My Hawk’s Eye ability let me see like it was day time. Strength makes you hit harder, Dexterity makes you hit better, Agility makes you hit faster, and Wisdom helps you stay hitting. Still, even with high dexterity, you can’t land a critical hit if you can’t see your target.”

“That is really impressive.” Theresa gave Lincoln a smile and put her hand on top of his. “You must have been through a lot.”

I could see Cain’s face turning red. I had had a feeling that he had a thing for her, but never really had any evidence. Cain spoke up. “So! You’re Level 14? That’s good! Nick’s only a 14 and he’s useful.”

Theresa rolled her eyes and I smirked. “Lincoln’s a great fighter. I’m glad he’s here.”

Lincoln looked at me. “I see you joined a guild.”

“I…we…made one.”

“You made a guild?” The surprise on Lincoln's face was evident.

“We want to grow this village and hold our own against people like King whatever-his-name-is.”

Graham rocked back in his chair, puffing on a cigarette. “We’ll see how well it works, but I’m not leaving a second home alive. It’s this or nothing for me.”

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. “How are you getting those?”

Graham smiled. “One of my proudest feats, actually. When the game started, I had a pack in my pocket. By the time I found Harehill, I still had a few. I gave them to the alchemist who took them and said he could recreate them. Sure enough, that bunny did it. They aren’t great, but they last a hell of a lot longer than a regular one and for all intents and purposes are pretty cheap.”

Lincoln laughed. “You all have cigarettes? That’s pretty sweet.”

I chuckled. “I don’t smoke, but we have lots of things.” I thought for a second on the fact that, with disease seemingly gone with the start of this, cigarettes probably aren’t doing any damage this time around. I brushed it off and continued. “I’ll be glad to show you after we get back tomorrow.”

Lincoln cocked his head to the side. “Where are you going tomorrow?”

“We have a quest from the rabbits in Softpaw Village to finish.”

“Softpaw Village?” Lincoln seemed confused. I realized he hadn’t been exposed to the wider world yet, besides his encounter with whoever these Abilene Crusaders were. I finally felt like I had a leg up on someone.

“You have a lot to catch up on, friend.”

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