Hell's Glitch (LitRPG): Into a Dark Adventure (16 page)

17
Sedwin the Silver

The cave had been cleared out and the merchant was nowhere
to be seen.  Sam silently berated himself over his idiocy.  He had tipped his
hand way too early to the merchant.  He should’ve played it much more carefully
with the sensitive information that the king had given him regarding his
pursuit of Rondo, the Cutthroat who butchered his family.  The problem was that
he had expected the game to be a lot more straightforward.  The fact that NPCs
could react so drastically to things he said had produced a monumental change
in the game’s structure.  It allowed for more chances at failure from what Sam
could tell.  He had to be a lot more careful.  His blunder might have messed up
the king’s plans in finding Rondo.

Sam left the cave, heavy with dark thoughts.  His pity party
was cut short when a generic Cutthroat class enemy attacked him.  The Cutthroat
was clearly male this time and like the others, was dressed identically to Sam.
 He wasn’t a complete revenant like the female Cutthroat Sam had fought, but
his attack pattern was much more predictable than hers.  He wasn’t as fast as
her and only used one knife to attack.  Sam dispatched him easily enough and
was given six hundred souls for his troubles.

“Where the hell did he come from?  Did he follow me from
somewhere?” Sam wondered aloud.  He walked further into the forest and was
attacked again, by another generic Cutthroat.  After dispatching that one with
a few well timed thrusts of his Rapier, he was awarded another six hundred
souls and even more questions.

“These guys weren’t here before, what gives?”

He took a swig from his Soul Fire to heal the damage he took
in the two fights and kept moving forward with his eyes peeled for more
enemies.  It didn’t take him long before he was attacked by two of the
Cutthroats at once.  After a tougher bout, he put them both down and took
another swig of Soul Fire, since they’d got him down to half health this time. 
One of them had also dropped some item called a Boatman’s Coin.  He couldn’t
help but feel that this increased proliferation of Cutthroat class enemies in
the forest was caused by the merchant’s absence somehow.  Maybe the merchant
had sent these men after him.

Sam made sure the coast was clear before opening up his menu
and examining his new item.

Boatman’s Coin

A tradable coin for those who work in a shadowy
profession.

A dark metal coin with the image of the hooded boatman of
the underworld on one side and an iconic winged serpent on the other. 
Cutthroats receive one of these for every completed contract.  In Heimfall
they’ve become a calling card, symbol of power, and currency for those who
follow the Cutthroat Rondo, particularly the assassins residing in the Forest
of Woe.

There it was.  The coin was a symbol and it showed that
whoever carried it was most likely a follower of Rondo.  Did that mean that all
these Cutthroats now chasing him throughout the forest were following Rondo’s
orders?  That was a scary thought.  Sam recalled back to the merchant’s words
when Sam had questioned him about his clothes.

“I’m in an assassin’s forest, why would I dress as
anything other than an assassin?”

It was as good an excuse as any, but it was a very
convenient excuse as well.  Easy and convenient ...

“That bastard is Rondo.  I’ll bet one hundred frickin’
dollars on that being the case.  I’ll kill him for lying to me.  No, I’ll kill
him for the king’s family ... the scummy bastard.”

Sam continued forward into the forest and noticed that he
was unconsciously heading in the direction of where he had been killed by
Caesar before.  He almost doubled back right there until he saw a tiny white
light on the ground ahead of him.  It might have been some sort of trick, but
Sam chanced it.  The light was not unlike the light that came from the Sinner’s
Scriber, the only difference being the color really.  As he approached, he
found his assessment to be correct.  The light was coming from some sort of
message, similar to what he wrote before encroaching upon other tester’s
planes.  He knelt down and read the message when he was close enough.

Useful ally ahead.

Relevance 13

Sam guessed it to be a player message, but was it an
accurate one?  Thirteen Relevance meant that thirteen people voted on it being
a somewhat useful tip, though it could be thirteen people voting on a good
practical joke as well.  Hmm?  As in most cases, Sam threw caution to the wind
and decided to proceed forward.  In front of him, in a small clearing was that
armored bear from before.  Only this time, Sam was a lot closer to it.  He
could make out fine details of the creature’s head and its exquisitely crafted
silver armor.

It wasn’t the largest bear in the world, but it was still
very imposing.  Even as it sat, childlike in its clearing with the gorgeous
moonlight glinting off of its radiant silver armor, Sam guessed that it was
close to his height – his avatar’s height.  The armor made the creature appear
bulkier than it really was.  The armor’s design seemed like something a heroic
knight would wear, rather than an evil enemy, so that gave Sam some hope that
he could approach the beast without issue.  The creature’s fur was exposed in a
few places near its paws and Sam noticed that it was gray.

What to say to a bear in this game?  Please don’t eat me,
Sam wondered
.

Even as Sam approached, the bear seemed to take no heed of
him.  Sam kept his sword and shield in hand as he spoke up.

“Hello ... Sir Bear ... —ington ... I am—” Sam began hoping
to add some ill-conceived refinement his greeting.

“You are mistaken.”

Sam nearly jumped out of his skin when the damn thing
started talking.  It was something he should have expected, but damn he wasn’t
ready to see it happen in front of him.

“E-excuse me?” Sam asked.

The bear cleared his throat which freaked Sam out even more,
though not as much as the fact that the creature was staring right at him, eye
to eye.

“I am not Sir Barrington.  I am Sedwin, Sedwin the Silver,
his apprentice.”

What the actual fuck!
  Okay, now this game was
becoming weird.

“Sooooo, you’re a bear ... and you serve ... a master?”

“Yea, Sir Barrington, an honored smith in these lands.”

Wow!  So this bear was the apprentice of another bear who
had the worst name for a bear ever conceived in imagination and who was some
sort of blacksmith.  Okay, okay, okay.  Sam had to stop freaking out.  It
wasn’t as if he hadn’t played Final Fantasy VII or Chrono Trigger or even the
original Death Planes game.  Each of those games had talking animals, but
seeing it in a game that seemed so real was just plain strange.  Even still,
bears as blacksmiths was a pretty far out there idea.  How did they pick up
anything with their paws?  Sam could imagine them constantly dropping their
tools and grunting in frustration as they had to bend to pick them up.  He
found himself laughing out loud at the absurd thought.

“It is not a jest, human.  Master Barrington is known all
over the world for his craftsman skills.  He has forged weapons and armor for
some of the most famous and infamous heroes of our age.  The master has even
forged weapons for royals such as kings and knights from foreign lands.”

“Sorry ... Sir Sedwin –” Sam started with.

“Please, Sedwin, if it pleases you.  I can see that you are
a fine warrior.  A great patron for my master.  Well, if you can find him that
is ...”

Sam was curious about this blacksmith.  He wanted to
strengthen his Rapier and maybe his armor too.

“Okay Sedwin.  Thanks for telling me about your master.  Can
you show me to him?”

Sedwin suddenly looked very downtrodden again, as he had
when Sam had seen him long ago.

“I would happily do just that traveler, but I am stuck here
for now.”

Sam’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Why?”

“Master Barrington and I have found ourselves in the middle
of a spat.”

“Why is that?”

“Why, I’m glad you asked!  Maybe you can tell me where I
went wrong.  The good master is upset with me because I always manage to scuff
my armor, even when I polish it.  I told him that it’s not an easy task when you
have claws like I do.  It’s not my fault that he can’t understand my
limitations, is it?” Sedwin asked.

“No, your master sounds like an asshole to be honest. 
That’s like yelling at a baby because it can’t stand up, like yelling at a fish
because it can’t breathe,” Sam opined.

“Ha!  Yes, you understand perfectly, stranger!  Master
Barrington can sometimes be dense and quite cold when the mood suits him, but
he is indeed a great person.”

“Well, I know you guys aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, but is
there any way for you to at least tell me where he is located?” Sam asked
earnestly, lowering his shield to his side.

“I’m afraid you would only get lost if I were to give you
directions.  It can’t be helped, I suppose.  I’ll have to show you the way. 
But first, I’d like you to clear a way through this path ahead of us.”

Sedwin pointed his snout at the trail directly in front of
him to the north.

“There are a few nasty ghouls on the trail ahead and I would
rather not be bothered with them.  They will only further mar my armor and
upset my master even more.  Take care of them and come back to me, then we’ll
travel together to master Barrington.  He’ll be glad to meet a new patron,
especially one as impressive as yourself.”

******

Sam managed to clear the pathway Sedwin sent him to of all
the mindless revenants he could find.  Some were clad in the gear of other
classes and some were simply dressed in tattered clothes and fought with rusted
and broken weapons.  By the end, Sam had counted twenty-one revenants slain by
him in a row.  They were so slow and lumbering that Sam had only taken minimal
damage.  His shield was the biggest help when several had ganged up on him at
once.  Each enemy had generously dropped three hundred souls apiece.  It was a
good amount for enemies so easy, more than half of what the nightmarish Forest
Barkers had given him before.

Once he saw no more enemies on the path ahead, he went back
to Sedwin and told him.

“Very good.  Let’s be on our way then!”  The chubby bear’s
armor rattled as he moved to his feet.  He walked down the path on all fours
and Sam followed behind him.  Sam kept his sword and shield in hand, should
anything attempt to surprise them along the way.  The walk down the path was
uneventful, until Sedwin veered off and into the forest.  They traveled under a
small section where about ten large trees with dark purple leaves had fallen
into one another.  The structure looked almost manmade and dome-like as the
trees were leaning against each other almost perfectly.  Once they emerged from
that wondrous sight, Sam found himself in a part of the forest that looked very
much so different from the rest.  As they climbed upwards, Sam could see much
of the open sky.  The trees of this area were sparser than below, though just
as tall.

There was another glowing white message on the ground up
ahead.  Sam hurried to it to read it.

The world is a lie.  Death is imminent.

Relevance 0

Now he was on edge wondering what the message even meant but
had no time to contemplate it as Sedwin had veered off again, going down the
other side of the hill at a gallop.  Sam quickly followed suit, only slowing
down when Sedwin himself had done so.  Sedwin seemed to exercise more caution
when they approached some sort of crumpling old structure made of yellow and
brown brick.  Whatever the place was in the past, someone had knocked it over
really well.  Not much of it was standing any more.  Bricks were scattered
everywhere, as far as Sam could see.  There were also broken statues with all
sorts of stony body parts strewn about.  Sedwin seemed to be guiding him
through what felt like a labyrinth.  They had to take so many twists and turns
to get through the place thanks to the bigger debris.

Sedwin halted to a stop once they reached what looked like
an exit from the ruined half building.

“Something wrong?” Sam asked.

“No.  Sorry, on we go!”

Sedwin marched outside and turned a corner where Sam could
see a familiar snake totem in the center of the camp.  In the far corner,
saddled up near a wall, was a tall, broad, black and silver bearded mountain of
a man.  His hair fell all around him to his upper back and chest and was the
same deep black with silver streaks as his beard.  He was working diligently,
hammering the hell out of a battle axe.  His efforts were strong and focused
with each blow from his hammer seeming so precise.  The brown smock that
covered his chest was so stained with sweat that Sam figured the man had worked
for hours.  He turned to Sedwin when he remembered what the man’s name was.

“So this Sir Barrington isn’t a bear?” he asked.

Sedwin’s muzzle went skyward and his teeth were bared as he
laughed at Sam.  His laughter only subsided once he saw that Sam was somewhat
serious.

“No, no, no.  You don’t get to be one of the world’s
foremost craftsmen by having bear paws.  What an absurd idea.”

Says the talking bear in silver armor who knows the word
absurd
, Sam thought to himself.

“But you said you were his apprentice, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I suppose that is overstating what I do now
isn’t it.  I do various tasks for Sir Barrington and protect him from harm. 
This armor helps me fight all manner of deadly forest creature for the master. 
Only, when I’m not in battle, Sir Barrington tries to find a use for me helping
with his fine crafts.”