Grand Game 277: A Spot of Solitude (Patreon)

The Marauder did not go far.

Thirty minutes later, Tevin stumbled to a halt in front of a tall palisade. Twenty yards behind him and perched on a stout tree branch, I paused, too, taking in the scene below.

The trees on the other side of the wooden wall were just as dense as on this side. I frowned. That either meant we’d not reached the Marauder’s camp or… the Marauders were using the trees for cover.

Glancing left and right, I spotted the palisade curving inwards in both directions. This has to be their camp, I thought. No one builds a wooden wall in the middle of nowhere.

Reaching up to another branch, I pulled myself higher up the tree to get a better look. But I didn’t venture closer to the camp just yet—who knew what wards the Marauders had set.

In a matter of moments, I reached the tree’s uppermost branches and peered down between the foliage. Almost immediately, I spotted five dull glows within the encircling walls.

Those are campfires—shrouded campfires.

Despite it not being in a clearing, I was certain I’d found the Marauders’ camp. But it was smaller than I expected. That base can’t hold five hundred. Half of that, maybe.

I glanced down at Tevin. The knight was standing in front of the palisade and windmilling his hands frantically—trying to get the attention of someone inside?

A gate slid open.

If I hadn’t witnessed its opening myself, I wouldn’t have spotted the gate’s seams in the wall, even with my keen eyesight. Two players hurried out, approaching the near-naked knight.

Schooling myself to stillness, I trained my ears upon them.

“… Tevin, is that you?”

“By the Powers, Kenneth, of course, it’s me. Thank Kalin, I made it!”

“What happened to you?” Kenneth asked.

The second guard chuckled. “Did a serline kill you?”

Tevin scowled. “That’s not funny, Jorge.”

“Ah, c’mon. Admit it, it was a little—

“Where’s the rest of your team?” Kenneth interrupted.

“Dead,” Tevin replied, bowing his head in shame.

For a moment, the gate guards said nothing, staring at the knight in shock.  Finally recovering, Kenneth laid a hand on Tevin’s shoulder and shook him. “All of them?”

Tevin nodded mutely.

“What, serlines get them too?” Jorge asked half-jokingly.

Both Tevin and Kenneth ignored him.

“An assassin got us,” the knight explained haltingly. He looked around with a belated sense of caution. “Let’s get inside. I’ll tell you all about it after I report to Yzark.”

The three hurried away, and with a thoughtful frown, I watched them go.

✵ ✵ ✵

After Tevin and the guards disappeared, I turned my attention to the camp itself.

The Marauder base was only a few miles west of the village but was well hidden, and I doubted I would have found it without searching for hours.

Mentally marking the location of the gate, I paced a slow circuit around the camp along my treetop highway. The palisade was a uniform twenty feet in height all around. There were no other gates—not that I could spot, anyway—nor walkways, nor towers. In fact, except for the wooden walls, the camp had no physical defenses.

There were guards, I knew that.

But I only knew about them because I’d spotted the pair greet Tevin. When I inched closer and inspected the camp with mindsight, I came up with…

… nothing.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. I was in an ancient oak ten yards from the concealed gate, and from where I sat, I could see directly into the camp.

But I saw no players.

Either the camp was empty… or its interior was hidden from both physical and mental sight. The base must be warded, but to what extent?

Reaching into my backpack, I extracted a pair of black goggles and put them on.

You have equipped the spectacles of ward seeing.

With new eyes, I looked on the camp again—and whistled in silent appreciation.

Dappled strands of magic danced in my sight. What the Marauders’ base lacked in physical protections, it more than made up for in magical defenses. A network of wards crisscrossed the palisade, the ground below, and even the air above the camp.

Getting through that mess will not be easy.

But it was possible.

My thoughts flashed back to the last time I’d been confronted by a warded wall. That encounter had not ended well. Alright, I conceded, it’s only possible if there are no unseen wards. Bowing my head, I considered the likelihood of the camp being protected by tier five spells.

All the Marauders I’d encountered had been tier three players. That was not to say there couldn’t be rank twenty players in the base, but the notion seemed far-fetched.

This wasn’t Nexus, after all.

I have to trust that what I see with the spectacles is the full picture, I decided. Doing so was a risk, but a small one. Raising my head again, I analyzed the lines of magic riddling the base and searched for a way through.

✵ ✵ ✵

Fifteen minutes later, I had a route through the Marauders’ defenses mapped out, but I made no move to follow it yet. It had been thirty minutes since Tevin had disappeared into the camp.

What’s taking so long?

If the Marauder boss was going to take the bait and dispatch his men in search of me, it would happen soon, but the night was passing by, and I couldn’t sit waiting forever.

I’ll give it another thirty minutes, I decided. Making myself comfortable on my treetop perch, I pulled up my player profile. It had been a while since I’d reviewed it in detail.

Player Profile (Partial): Michael

Level: 138. Rank: 13. Current Health: 100%.

Stamina: 70%. Mana: 100%. Psi: 100%.

Lives Remaining: 2.

Attributes

Available: 3 points.

Strength: 17 (13)*. Constitution: 19. Dexterity: 48 (40)*. Perception: 25. Mind: 71. Magic: 23 (21)*. Faith: 0.

* denotes attributes affected by items.

Active Buffs

Damage reduction:

Life: 0%. Death: 5%. Air: 10%. Earth: 10%. Fire: 10%. Water: 10%.

Shadow: 5%. Light: 5%. Dark: 5%. Physical: 26%*.

Resistances:

Life: 0%. Death: 2.5%. Air: 5%. Earth: 5%. Fire: 5%. Water: 5%.

Shadow: 2.5%. Light: 2.5%. Dark: 2.5%. Physical: 0%.

Immunities:

Entanglement: tier 2 spells*. Mind spells: tier 2 spells*.

* denotes buffs affected by items.

Skills

Dodging: 114. Sneaking: 115. Shortswords: 124. Two weapon fighting: 115. Light armor: 113. Thieving: 89.

Chi: 113. Meditation: 137. Telekinesis: 120. Telepathy: 113.

Insight: 133. Deception: 109.

Channeling: 25. Elemental absorption: 25. Null force: 15. Null life: 4. Null death: 11.

I smiled in satisfaction. My skills continued to improve; a few were even closing down on tier four.

My void skills, though, had a long way to go. While the battle with the hags and the Marauder team had raised them some, I realized I would have to make a concerted effort to bring them in line with my other skills.

If only there weren’t so much to do.

Perhaps, tomorrow, after I found the dire wolves, I would train my void skills. I’d run across plenty of low-level creatures in the valley during my previous visit, and if I went looking, I was sure to find suitable monsters this time around. The engagements would have to be ‘real’ fights, though. Otherwise, the Game would not award me with skill increases.

I turned back to the Marauder camp. Of course, all that was assuming everything went off as planned tonight —which was far from certain at this point.

In the meantime, I think it’s time to spend those three attribute points.

I could dump them in Dexterity again… or I could invest them in Perception. Doing so would allow me to utilize one of the ability tomes currently weighing down my backpack.

Perception, it is, I decided and willed my desire to the Adjudicator.

Your Perception has increased to rank 28.

“Excellent,” I murmured. I now had six Perception ability slots available. That would suffice to upgrade one of my existing abilities.

Which one should it be? Analyze, facial disguise, or trap detect? Upgrading analyze would be of the most immediate benefit, but I preferred a longer-termed strategy.

Working towards a more comprehensive facial disguise fit that bill. Being able to mask my face even while in a safe zone would increase the effectiveness of my disguises—something I greatly desired.

Extracting the ability tome in question from my backpack, I began reading.

You have upgraded your facial disguise ability to improved facial disguise. This tier 2 ability enhances the illusion wrapped around you, masking not only your features but your voice too.

You have 2 of 28 Perception ability slots remaining.

Closing my eyes, I let the new knowledge settle in my mind. The improvement provided by facial disguise’s tier two variant was negligible and perhaps not worth four whole ability slots, but it was the tier three variant I sought.

It would make the investment worthwhile in the end.

At a soft creak from below, my eyes snapped open. Glancing down, I saw the gate to the Marauders’ camp opening.

Finally, I thought and rose to my haunches.

✵ ✵ ✵

A double column of players streamed out. Their expressions were uniformly grim, and they all held their weapons at the ready. Narrowing my gaze, I counted off their numbers. When the gate finally slammed shut, I’d reached fifty.

I whistled soundlessly in silent appreciation.

By any normal measure, fifty players were overkill for hunting a lone assassin. More impressive yet, every Marauder in the company was buffed and ready for war. I could tell that just by looking because of the glowing bubbles surrounding each mage.

Whatever else the Marauder boss was, he was a careful and astute commander. Fifty players. All in one big party. And with their defenses up already.

Ambushing them will be a tad more difficult than I anticipated, I acknowledged in wry understatement.

So, what did I do?

My gaze dropped to the front of the column passing beneath me. Tevin was there—in new gear—as well as another player who I didn’t recognize. Both were in animated conversation. Lending my ear, I listened in.

“…telling you, Myka,” Tevin was saying. “Whoever this guy is, he’s impossible to spot!”

Myka—a lanky elf with a multi-hued headdress—snorted. “And I’m telling you, stop worrying. Our Hound is a specialist. Once she picks up his spoor at the ambush point, she will be able to track him wherever he goes—no matter how high you think his stealth is.” He glanced at the player marching directly behind him. “Isn’t that right, Hound?”

“Don’t call me that,” the woman so-addressed growled. “I have a name. Use it.”

Myka sniggered. “Ah, but I much prefer Hound. It has such a nice ring to it. Don’t you think Tevin?”

The knight, wisely, refrained from commenting. “What if he kills her?” he asked with an apologetic glance at the short woman.

Myka rolled his eyes. “That’s what her protective shield is for. Or did it somehow escape your notice?”

“Much good a shield did Greaves,” Tevin muttered.

“Well, I’m not Greaves,” Myka bit out irritably. “I swear, to hear you speak, you’d think this assassin was a bogeyman.”

“But you didn’t see him charm the others. It was—”

“Enough, Tevin,” Myka said wearily. “We have psionics of our own to protect us.” He held the knight’s gaze. “He’s just a player, you know. We’ll find and kill him soon enough.”

“Even if he is an Elite?” Tevin persisted.

“He’s not an Elite,” Myka snapped, his patience seeming to wear thin. “Our spies in the village have been keeping close track of everyone who has entered the sector. We know where they all are. This player, whatever he is, is not that.”

“I hope you’re right,” Tevin muttered under his breath before falling silent.

I let the pair slip out of range as the rest of the column marched past. Their conversation had been revealing—to say the least—and gave me food for thought.

The so-called Hound was particularly disconcerting.

The short woman was nothing to look at and, except for the magic shield surrounding her, didn’t warrant any especial attention.

I hesitated to analyze her, though.

If she was a tracker, it stood to reason her Perception was high, increasing the chances that she would resist or even detect my analyze attempt—and I was not about to risk that.

I wondered how she tracked her quarries. By sight, sound, scent, or mindglow? Or through some other means I didn’t know about?

But the Hound hadn’t spotted me hiding in the tree high above. So either her Perception wasn’t high enough to penetrate my stealth, or she’d simply not looked my way.

The same reasoning also applied to mental tracking. The moment I’d heard Myka mention psionics, I’d woven a mind shield about my consciousness, but that wouldn’t have helped me if the Marauders had already been searching for my mindglow.

I have to know just how strong their psionics are, I decided. Lowering my mind shield, I opened my mindsight.

It was disturbingly empty.

Not a single mindglow appeared despite the fifty players marching beneath me. Aargh, I cursed and restored my mind shield. If the Marauders’ psionics were powerful enough to shield the entire company, chances were, they would quickly nullify my psi abilities.

Had it been a mistake to let Tevin go?

Perhaps. But it was too late to change that now. I glanced down at my chameleon belt and the enchantment crystals secured there. The good news was that I had the means necessary to hide from the Hound and, if it came to it, from the psionics, too.

I can’t take on this enemy column, though.

They were too well-prepared for my tricks. My gaze drifted back to the Marauder camp. But maybe they weren’t.