Midsummer Feast

It’d had been a few days since Merie had been the target of , what Opiom called, a prank. Merie hadn’t quite agreed with it, but she’d rapidly given up on trying to change Opiom’s way of thinking. There hadn’t even been ten minutes of talking before she decided she wouldn’t be able to do it. Instead just cursing the cunt doing it to her. Which wasn’t anything Opiom even disagreed with, also seeing it as a mean prank. In the same breath pointing out that she was impressive to keep close enough to aggravate the monsters, but far enough away to not get injured. Merie couldn’t quite say that she agreed with Opiom, as the attacks were easy to avoid if the target were moving.

Merie had just logged in, fuming with anger after a bunch of fucking cunts had made a joke out of her. Not in private, but in front of everyone in the dining hall. Making her feel even worse. Opening her menu and writing to one of the few she suspected could help her feel better. “I know you might’ve your hands full with your tribe, but do you happen to know if there are any humanoid monsters in the forest, which you also would want to set out and hunt?” Merie would rather have asked Anlie instead of Adu, even Opiom would’ve been fine. But since neither of those two was online, so did Adu work too. “Sure, my dirty hands and all my plates are full with the tribe for the moment. But no matter how much I might’ve to do, so is there always time to go out for a hunt with a friend. And there’s just that kind of monsters nearby my village, so I might need a little help to slaughter them.” Adu’s response was just what Merie wanted to hear. It would’ve been enough with the hunt alone, but since it did help her for the moment, so was it even better. “Just send me the location, so will I come and help you.” She didn’t expect Adu to have a teleporter to the village, which maybe would come if it got large enough, so it would be fine enough to know the location so she could get there. Or nearby, depending on where the targets where. “I’ll send you the location, and you’ll visit the tribe so you can use teleport-stones to get here in the future. Then so will we set out for a hunt and see how much we can handle before we need to pull back.” Had Adu made that possible herself, or was it something that came with creating a Guild? Not that she’d any use of knowing it, but she couldn’t help but to be a little curious. Still she would leave that for another day.

Getting the location and deciding her travel route. She felt slightly lucky that the closest city wasn’t that far away, and that she would pass through a couple of towns on her way there. Meaning that she would’ve a closer location to use if she wouldn’t get there this day. “I think you’re taking the long route by passing through those towns, Merie. But at the same time so is it maybe to prefer instead of starting it all over again if something goes wrong.” Adu could bet it was. Merie couldn’t think of anything worse than to spend hours doing something in a game, then when something went wrong so wouldn’t there be anything to show for it. “I’m almost feeling bad about it, but I don’t know where to meet you. I don’t like to cheat on the idea of only using things I can find natural in my territory, when it comes to tribe business. And I haven’t found any place where I can find teleport-stones, so I’ll set off toward you by foot.” Adu was honestly making it too difficult for herself, even though Merie couldn’t say that she didn’t understand where it was coming from.

–

Merie wasn’t sure if the forest she first saw belonged to the forest where Adu stayed, but if it did so could Merie understand why Adu had picked that area. The trees were honestly a masterpiece, most of the trees were both larger than many buildings in the real world, and the thickness of the stub could only be compared with prehistorical trees she had seen in movies. She would honestly not be surprised if she ended up getting chased by a dinosaur or sabertooth cat.

Merie was on high alert the whole time while going between the trees. Not only careful to not die, but also keeping her senses sharp for anything which could indicate what kind of adventure could be awaiting in the forest. Maybe this also was a place she could invite Anlie to sometimes. Maybe it even could be fun to invite Opiom for an adventure. Setting out with only a small amount of supplies and see for long they could survive. Or, if she thought about it like that, so would she also need to invite Adu. As she probably was the one of them who probably would win the most by doing that. Merie halted as she heard something in further ahead, minding her steps even more as she sneaked through a bush. Sure she would get an advantage if she could identify what kind of monsters she could risk fighting. A large and muscular dog, probably reaching up to Merie’s chest when it was standing on all four. It was honestly looking more dangerous than the Goblin leader she and the others thought in the cave, but hopefully so wasn’t it as difficult. Merie didn’t let it go with her eyes as she tried to listen in to see if there was something else nearby. It didn’t seem like it, but maybe could been sure if the dog hadn’t turned to glare straight at her. Making it clear that she probably would find out how dangerous the dog honestly was. Jumping straight at her, jaws open and ready crunch down on her. Jumping to the side, preparing her claws for a fight. Seeing that she didn’t want to be bitten by the dog, which clearly had bitten off all the branches there Merie had been. The dog turned to her again, once again glaring at her. Launching toward it, ready to dodge the jaws when they came. Sidestepping them and cutting it in the side, not doing as much damage as she’d hoped for. Thinking a second too long, getting an intense body slam, sent flying into a pair of bushes.

It was clear to Merie that she would need to go full out if she would survive in this place. She could honestly not try to train her way through fights. And she might’ve been lucky with the body slam, as she’d been sent into a bush instead of something solid. Which probably spared her quite some damage, and the attack showed her that she needed to be more careful around those dogs, and probably the rest of the monsters. As they seemed to be smarter than the kind of monsters she usually was fighting.

Getting up at her feet again, facing the dog. Her earlier attack hadn’t done much damage to it, but hopefully so would that come as she fought it. Otherwise so was there a risk she would need to ask Adu for help, one way or another. The dog launched again, Merie met it and came up by its side, once again cutting the side of the dog. Rapidly taking distance from it before it could slam her. Both feet on the ground, kicking it in the side. Leap on top of it, vicious slashing it for all she was worth. Sure she had to kill it fasted possible, before any other monsters paid her a visit.

The fight had turned out surprisingly easy after she had taken its back. Not that it still hadn’t been dangerous. If she would’ve lost the grip for a second, so would she surely have gotten ripped to pieces. And after the fights so had Merie got even more careful, wishing to avoid any unnecessary fights. Sure the other monsters were just as dangerous, or even more. And because of that figured that it probably was in her best interest to wait to fight till she joined forces with Adu.

“Are all the monsters in your area as strong as these, Adu? Or am I unlucky to find the strong ones (for now a dog)?” Merie hoped that it didn’t sound like she was complaining, but she thought it could be out of good use to know what they were waiting for in Adu’s area. After sending the message, so did she simply continue her newfound “stealth-mission”. Where the monsters easily showed what kind of fuck over she really was, barely able to sneak past 2 out of 20. And in the case of the two, she successfully passed, so was that the only monsters got caught up in other things.

She didn’t know how long it’d been since she sent Adu the message, but she knew that she’d failed more times than she was comfortable with before she got a response. “As I said earlier, so don’t I want to break rules I’ve created, but I don’t think I’ll mind it this time. I might consider getting us a pair of teleport-stones and using them to get to the tribe. The monsters I’ve met this far, while heading toward you, is serving me my shredded ass.” Adu seemed to have a larger problem with the area than, Merie. Which was less surprising when thinking about Adu being a lower lever than Merie. “I’m glad to hear that you’re thinking about doing that. I had some thought about suggesting it myself, but you did beat it to me.” “I’m also having some problems over here, but I think that I soon will reach the next city, as I use this outing more as stealth training for the moment. And if we’re thinking about taking another outing here, so do I think we can invite the others and set out for a hike with camping.” While writing so did Merie notice how fun it sounded with a hike and camping. It was honestly something she wouldn’t mind doing more out in real life. “Sounds fine by me. Both that we meet in the next town, and that we might set up a camping trip, where I can show what I’ve learned while creating and building up my tribe. So just send a message when you’re I’m the town, so will I get over there to pick you up. And in the meanwhile, so might I follow your example and set out for some sneaking and ambushing training in the forest.” Adu knew she easily could get killed during that training, right? She should be able to figure it out, without Merie pointing it out for her. After a few minutes of thinking, so did she decide that Adu indeed should be able to figure it out herself. And if she didn’t, so was it her own fault for not thinking further. Merie wished her luck and continued her own mission.

The further into the forest she came, the denser the trees got and the light dimmer. Giving the woods a more overall creepy feeling, and making it more exciting at the same time. A similar thrilling feeling to when the anti-PK groups had gone on high alert, and Merie was forced to keep her head down and plan out what she would do to avoid getting into problems. The only differences between now and then were that she needed to sneak in a different way, and that she wouldn’t risk getting damned forever if she got caught. Thinking about it, maybe she’d a greater chance of survival this time too.

Merie finally reached the town, after tons of hardships. She’d thought the dogs were bad, but those furry thing was nothing compared with the fucks hiding everywhere. Hiding in the grass, yes. Hiding in the bushes, yes. Hiding in the trees, yes. Hiding in men’s underwear, she wouldn’t even be surprised. But she was finally there, finally in the town so she and Adu could get out for a hunt, which both would be fun and serve to help Adu’s tribe. Opening the menu, greeted by the timer giving her the finger by telling her she would need to stop playing in five minutes. “I’ll need to stop playing in five, so if you quickly take me to your tribe, so can I take a scroll there and see if I can help with something, the next time I log in.” Merie didn’t like to stress it, but she was sure she would get chances to help Adu the next time she played. Or at the very least so would she be able to get there faster with teleport-stones. “I’m at the city Square, so you can just come over, and I will take you there. And for the tribe, if I need something, so will I write a message and tell you. See ta soon.” Adu didn’t have the slightest problem with that Merie hadn’t been able to help her with that monster. But she maybe had higher hopes for the future. They’d only failed to meet up once and they would get more chances.