“Well, stop your yammering and do a thorough search,” said another voice. It was the leader who Van had heard a few hours before.
“Yes, Captain Grim,” Kenwar replied.
Van held still and tried to breathe a little slower as he heard the shuffling of feet around him.
“Hmmmm,” Kenwar said as he knelt down and shoved his head into the log, making direct eye contact with Van. Van felt his heart begin to pound like a jack hammer as Kenwar sneered at him.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Grim shouted.
“Just being thorough,” Kenwar replied as he pulled his head out of the log. “You’ve got to be willing to search everywhere.”
“I think you’re intentionally wasting my time,” Grim replied. Van felt the log creak and shift as Kenwar apparently sat on top of it.
“My tracking skills are second to none, sir. I’ll have you know that they called me Manhunter Kenwar for a reason. I can find anyone if I try hard enough.”
“So why the hell haven’t you found anyone yet? I’m getting really tired of you dragging me in circles. You seem to have forgotten that, as of right now, I own your life. Draco is displeased with you. One favorable word from me and all is forgiven.”
“Of course, of course. And you’ve forgotten the damage value of a hand crossbow,” Kenwar replied.
“I’m sorry, what—” Van heard the click and thunk of a crossbow bolt, followed shortly by a gurgling, gasping, and a thumping sound.
“Haha, what a prick,” Kenwar said as he rapped a few times on the log. “Alright, the coast is clear, you can come out.”
Van paused to consider whether it was a trap or not, but realized there wasn’t anything he could do if it was some kind of clever ruse. He wriggled out of the log and stood up.
Kenwar was whistling as he looted Grim’s corpse. The captain wasn’t wearing anything particularly special, but he appeared to have a few potions hanging from his belt.
“I am genuinely surprised you didn’t rat me out,” Van said.
Kenwar chuckled. “Yeah, well, before you start thinking I’m some noble hero or something, don’t forget that if you die, I’m a dead man, too.”
“Right,” Van said. “Still, uh, thank you. For saving me.”
“Whatever. Where’s Sang?” Kenwar asked. “Up in the trees? Her Stealth skills are good if I can’t even seem to find her.”
“Actually, she couldn’t keep up,” Van said. “I had to make a decision, and kept moving.”
“Well, good for you!” Kenwar said. “Making the smart choices.” He thrust a helmet at Van. It matched the standard Kyrissian helmet. “Put this thing on and you’ll blend in just fine with the rest of us.”
Van nodded as he grabbed the helmet and shoved it over his head. He began to strip the dead captain of the rest of his armor then, making sure to clean the blood off of the man’s outfit first. The words You are Disguised (Kyrissian Soldier) appeared above him as he put on his new boots. The disguise rating was set to 7, meaning that most people wouldn’t notice unless they directly interacted with him or had high ranking in the Spotting skill.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Kenwar asked as he dragged Grim’s corpse to the log and stuffed it in.
“I think…” Van began, trailing off as he looked behind him. Was Sang going to be okay? A flash of guilt overtook him, but he was stuck. If he went back for her, he’d be risking the entire point of the operation, but if he kept moving forward, he would be abandoning her for good.
“Come on, we gotta move,” Kenwar said. “This place is crawling with Kyrissians.”
“I know, I know,” Van said. “Fine, let’s, uh, just get me back to our base camp.”
“This way,” Kenwar said as he pointed to a path. “It’ll get us out of this forest really quickly.”
Van followed his guide, making sure to stay directly behind him. As they moved through the forest, Van could see several patrols marching through, calling out to one another. Every few minutes, Kenwar would call back to these men. No one seemed to see through Van’s disguise. Thanks to Kenwar’s expert skills, they were able to reach the edge of the forest easily.
“Well, that’s not great,” Kenwar muttered as he pointed at the fifteen men who were stationed along the forest in a straight line. “That perimeter is gonna be impossible to get through. My guess is that our fearless and dead captain probably ordered that no one can leave until you’re found.”
“Hmmm,” Van said as he ducked behind a tree to avoid being seen by the host of guards. “Well, what’s the plan then?”
“Why am I the one to come up with the plan?” Kenwar asked. “My specialty is in finding people and navigating. Not figuring out how to rush past a ton of guards.”
“Rush…” Van said. “If we rush through, we’re safe, right? This area is designed to be deadly, but the moment we get out of it, they can’t actually kill us! Plus, combat will go back to being unrealistic.”
“Yeah, but supposing they stop you from breaking through their lines?” Kenwar replied. “Then what? You die horribly. Maybe you should come up with a better strategy other than running at them while flailing your arms and hoping for the best.”
“A distraction would help,” Van said. “Take their focus off of the area and give us a chance to get through.”
“What kind of distraction?” Kenwar asked.
“The kind that involves you frantically calling for help because you found me,” Van said.
“Seriously?” Kenwar groaned. “What if they kill me?”
“They won’t. Just make something up. You’re a weasel, you’ll be fine,” Van assured him.
Kenwar sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll create a diversion; you get out of here. But I’m warning you, after I get everyone scrambling around looking for you, I’m getting the hell out of this forest.”
“Fair enough,” Van said. “Ready?”
“Sure, whatever,” Kenwar grumbled as he walked into view of the guards. “I found them! They killed the captain! Help!”
The guards all looked at each other with surprise on their faces.
“I couldn’t take the both of them—this way, hurry!” Kenwar said as he pointed toward the west. A few of the guards began to slowly move forward, but as Kenwar turned to run, the rest of them followed after, leaving only a few guards behind.
Van took full advantage of the distraction and marched up to one of the posts where the guards had been stationed. The few that remained were watching him curiously, but didn’t say anything.
Van nodded at them as he reached the edge of the forest and turned around, standing still.
“This is the most boring part of the game,” said one of the guards. The rest all agreed.
“I wish we could be out adventuring or something,” another said. Van let out a sigh of relief as he slowly took a step back, leaving the official forest area. The login button on his UI immediately became clickable.
“Hey, what are you doing?” asked one of the guards who had turned to face Van.
“Uhhh…” Van trailed off as he decided to just make a run for the camp.
“Hey, after him!” the guards shouted as they gave chase. Van ran up the rocky incline leading up to his central base. He felt as if he could run forever now; his stamina bar was bright and was barely draining with each step. It felt far different, being back in the regular game area. The haptic feedback intensity was way lower and even his footsteps didn’t feel as real as they had back in that zone.
He reached the top of the mountain to find his entire team waiting for him.
“Capello!” Van shouted. “Kill those guys following me!”
“Awwww yeaaaah!” Capello screamed as he leapt up from his sleeping bag. He scrambled to grab his axes and then charged past Van. A few other members of the Iron Dragons chased after Capello also, screaming loudly right along with him.
Kylian, Sahara, and Bidane were standing around the fire, talking strategy with a few of the other players. Kylian turned to face Van.