SJ was enjoying soaking in the sun, lying on the soft green grass of the safe zone, when a huge shadow blocked the sun. The sudden change in temperature through the sun’s rays being blocked made her shiver, making her open her eyes. The shadow had moved as she did, and the bright sun met her eyes. Blinking them closed again. She struggled to see the massive form that flew across the lake’s surface.
As her sight adjusted, her eyes opened wider than saucers. It was a majestic blue, its scales shimmering from the reflected light bouncing off their brilliance. Its underbelly had a golden sheen, and its huge wings caused ripples to form across the lake surface as it dipped its head, drinking from the lake water. She had seen hundreds of dragons in books or films, but seeing one flying so close was mesmerising and equally terrifying. The dragon’s huge muscular limbs and long neck ended in a majestic head sprouting golden spikes and finished with a golden mane of fins running down its back and tail.
It swooped upwards from the lake surface, sailing high into the air before it again swooped downwards. Its mouth opened as it approached the lake’s surface and again scooped water.
“Holy mother of orc’s. What is that doing here?” Dave said in a shocked tone.
“What do you mean?”
“Identify it, and you will see.”
SJ triggered her skill.
Creatures over ten levels above your own may not be identified at your current skill level.
“It’s a higher level. What is strange about that?”
“We are in a starter zone. Blue dragons live in the colder Northern territories, and minimum level requirements to gain experience are suggested to be fifty-plus.”
“It’s a long way from home then.”
“A long way, try nearly five thousand miles. The Northern Territories are above the capital. I have never known a Blue dragon to be so far from home.”
The dragon finished its second swoop and again soared skywards. Its speed was insane, disappearing in the sun’s glare. It flew so high so quickly. As SJ watched, the speck turned and began to grow. It plummeted towards the ground like a missile. Heading straight towards the centre of the lake. SJ was standing, staring as the dragon dove, its wings tucked in, making it aerodynamic and propelling it almost faster than SJ could track. It hit the lake’s surface with its sleek-formed body and disappeared under the surface. A huge plume of water soured upwards as it displaced the water, sending out a tsunami from the point of impact.
SJ stared open mouthed as the wave approached the shore, picking up speed and height. The lake was vast, but the amount of water that had been displaced by the dragon began to rain down across its surface.
“This time, I do mean run,” Dave shouted in her head.
SJ snapped out of her trance, grabbed her top, and turned, running towards the treeline across the clearing. The wave reached the shoreline, towering at least eight feet tall, and crashed onto the land. Causing thousands of gallons of water to rush from the lake. SJ reached the nearest tree and jumped onto a lower branch as the wave chased her across the land. The water rushed around the tree trunk as the forest stirred into life. A cacophony of animal sounds erupted as the rushing water disturbed their forest of peace.
SJ stared back out at the lake as the dragon reappeared, bursting from the depths, closing its jaws around what must have been hundreds of brightly coloured fish.
“It’s just feeding,” SJ said.
“It’s a dragon. It can feed on whatever it wants to,” Dave replied.
As SJ hung there, the water began to recede, draining back into the lake. SJ had no idea how much had been displaced, but to create a tsunami the way it had was unimaginable. As she watched, the dragon turned, beginning to fly towards the mountains in the distance on the far side of the lake behind the distant town. She watched it as it became smaller until it landed on the highest peak. It was small but still visible even at the distance it now was.
“How big was that?” SJ asked. “I could not tell with the speed it flew at.”
“Big. I have seen many dragons, and that is one of the biggest ones I have seen. It must have been nearly three hundred feet from snout to tail.”
“That big,” SJ said, amazed.
“Yes. If not larger,” Dave said, sounding a little nervous.
“What is wrong?”
“Strange things are happening, and I am starting to suspect you are the cause.”
“Why me?”
“Doh. Really?”
“These things cannot be because I didn’t accept the terms and conditions, can they?”
“I am not sure,” and Dave did sound unsure.
SJ frowned. “It can’t have had that much of an effect.”
Silence.
As the water continued to recede, SJ dropped back down from the branch she had been hanging to. The ground was now soddened, her boots squelching in the now-soaked grass. She made her way back to the safe zone. Remarkably, the safe zone looked relatively dry compared to the surrounding land. The lake’s surface was only just recovering fully, and the ripples were lessening as the water returned to where it had come from.
“Ok. I have done something I said I would never do.” Dave’s voice said.
“What is that?”
“I asked Dad.”
“What? You asked your dad?”
“Yes. I have not spoken to him in nearly 6000 years since he ran off with a new AI tart, leaving me and Mum alone.”
“Sorry. I am completely confused. You are an AI, and you have parents?”
“Of course, we are a race. I told you that.” Dave snapped.
“But how?”
“What do you mean how?”
“How do you? You know.”
“Ewwwww. No, don’t be rude. As AI, our parents are our original AI providers. We are initially formed by amalgamated programming from previous AI. This allows for eternal knowledge transfer.”
“Oh. I see. That makes a lot more sense. What did your Dad say?”
“It is an acceptable variation in the standard programming apparently through the system.”
“So, it was not caused by me.”
“I haven’t finished yet. Variations are usually caused by significant system interference where the equilibrium has been upset.”
“Ahhhhh. So, it may be me then.”
“Maybe. We may never know, but suffice it to say we should expect some unusual activities while the system realigns. A blue dragon appearing in a starter zone is definitely an unusual activity.”
“If they are system-led, can the system not direct them?”
“The system may amend static activities, such as dungeons, world bosses, etc. It cannot alter Amathera’s natural species, though. It is not like they are pieces of programming. After all, they are real living creatures with as much free thought as you. Which in your case is obviously limited.”
SJ ignored Dave’s comment. “How do the zones work if they can travel and do what they wish?”
“Balance.”
“Balance?”
“Yes. Each zone is finely balanced. There is a continual cyclic operation. If too much evil appears in one zone, more good will move until balance is restored. The natural behaviour of the creatures of Amathera maintained their own equilibrium long before the system started integrating into the land fully.”
“So, for all good, there is evil.”
“Yes. You can never vanquish evil fully as it will always exist to restore balance.”
“Why can good not exist alone?”
“Eventually, those who began good would turn evil. That, unfortunately, follows nature’s path. You have heard of fallen angels on Earth. The same can happen here. Many mighty have fallen over the years due to succumbing to their inner demons.”
It was actually a very depressing thought that it would not matter what evil SJ conquered. There would always be more to replace it. “I am sure good can prevail over evil,” SJ said.
“If it can, it has never happened. Wars have been won and lost by both sides, but every time, balance has won overall.”
SJ was now sitting on the large flat stone. The bright sun had dried it quickly from the lake water. Having replaced her halter neck, she sat thinking through everything Dave had been saying. If it is true that there was always balance, how is it known? Someone must control it.
Deity had been mentioned under Valkyrie, and SJ asked. “Are there gods here?”
“On Amathera, it’s rare, although rumoured.”
“What gives Valkyrie their boons then?”
“The gods do.”
“You just said they are rarely here?”
“They are still ‘on’ Amathera if you include not on the land itself,” Dave replied, exaggerating the on.
“What gods exist, then?”
“There are quite a few.”
“Are they the ones who keep the balance?”
“I don’t know. I am not a god.”
“I thought you were all-knowing.”
“Compared to you, I am!” Dave snarked.
“Pffff. If you were, you could answer all of my questions.”
Silence.
“Dave?”
Silence.
“Be like that then.”
SJ looked up towards the mountain peak, where she could see the form of the dragon. Even at the distance it was, she thought she could see the sun glinting off its brilliant blue scales. “Right, I need to level.” She stood from the rock and looked at the forest surrounding the clearing. “Left, right, or centre.” She decided to head left and turned, walking towards the trees. The usual message triggered as she left the safe zone and approached the trees.
The forest was still much louder than it had been before, and she thought she could take advantage of the confusion caused by the wave. She reached the tree line and began inside. The trees were well-spaced, and she could move through them easily. The sun broke through the branches above, casting its bright glow and causing a kaleidoscope of colours underneath the canopy. Birds cawed and hooted, taking off as she walked into the trees. She could hear a snuffling noise ahead and approached it, drawing her short blade as she did.
A small clearing opened ahead, and she knew the water had reached this far inland as the ground was still squelching underfoot. In the centre of the clearing stood a small hog. She triggered her identification skill.
Hogling Level 1
Hit points - 8
Mana points - 0
“Ok. SJ, nice and easy now,” she said as she walked into the clearing.
The hogling looked up from where it had been snuffling the ground, slurping up large worms that must have been disturbed by the water. It had brown mottled fur and two short tusks protruding from its lower jaw.
It squealed at her and shook its head from side to side threateningly. It was small, standing no more than eighteen inches tall, and she readied herself for its charge.
SJ took a defensive stance like she had used with the termites as the hogling began to charge towards her. As it neared, she again stepped sideways, striking out with her blade and scoring a hit down the hogling’s flank as it rushed her. It squealed as she watched its health drop to 50%. As it turned, she again struck with her blade, striking it in its rear, taking another two hit points from it. It flung its head around in defence, SJ only just managing to move her arm out of the way as its small, sharp tusks threatened to pierce her arm. She lifted her leg and struck out in a forward kick, catching the hogling on the end of its snout. The hogling grunted before it fell over on its side.
“Yes,” she shouted at her success, checking her character sheet, earning10 experience for the kill.
“Not bad,” Dave said.
“Have you stopped sulking now?”
“I was not sulking. I was meditating.”
“If that is what you call getting in a huff and storming off,” SJ retorted, her adrenaline pumping from the hogling fight.
“I WAS NOT SULKING.” Dave’s voice boomed in her head.
She winced, “Okay. I believe you. Please don’t do that again.” She shook her head, trying to remove the ringing sensation Dave’s shouting had caused.
She bent down over the hogling, looting the body.
1 x copper, 1 x apple, 2 x strips of light leather
“Oh. Food.” SJ had not even considered food since she arrived, and now, seeing the apple in her inventory, she pulled it out. It appeared in her open hand. It was a glossy red, and she naturally rubbed it against her trouser leg and lifted it to her mouth, taking a large bite. The taste that hit her mouth was one of the foulest she had ever tasted, and she immediately started to spit out the contents from her mouth and hurled the apple across the clearing.
Dave was laughing hysterically.
“It said it was an apple.”
“It was,” Dave still laughing.
“Then why does it taste so bad?”
“Just because it is called an apple does not mean it is the same as apples from Earth.”
SJ had not even considered that. “What can I eat then?”
“You can eat those if you can overcome the taste. They will not harm you. The taste is their natural defence mechanism to prevent them from being eaten by many beings. Hoglings love them.”
“Are any of the foods the same?”
“Most are. Hoglings can make a nice roast, from what I have been told. They are apparently very similar to your pigs and hogs of Earth.”
SJ looked at the body of the hogling. She had no idea how to butcher it. She let out a deep sigh. “Is there any food around here I can eat without killing or butchering it?”
“Yes. Plenty. That bush over there has berries which you can eat.”
“Where?”
“Turn left straight ahead twenty paces.”
SJ followed Dave’s guidance and ended up standing by a small bush with small green berries at the outer edge of the clearing. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
SJ picked a berry from the bush and slowly tasted it with her tongue. There was no bitterness or taste, so she placed it in her mouth and slowly bit down. The sensation as the juice exploded from the berry, flooding her mouth with the sweetest taste ever. “Oh my god. They are amazing.” SJ started picking more berries and transferring some to her inventory while popping the odd one in her mouth.
“Thank you,” SJ said around a mouthful of the berries.
“Are you ready for another hogling now?”
“What?” SJ turned and looked back into the clearing. Another hogling stood in almost the same position as the previous one. “Do they respawn?”
“Yes. When you walk out of range of a beast after killing and looting it, a standard starter zone beast will respawn.”
“So, I can use this spot to level safely for a while.”
“Yes. You should be able to, although be warned that you can attract predators if you kill too many creatures in one location.”
“Ok. Well, for now, let’s start farming,” SJ said excitedly as she walked back into the clearing.
