Alice bolted through the forest, and her head was low as trees shrouded in darkness whispered around her. Tonight, the sky was dark, a new moon casting shadows over everything she could see. Branches snapped and leaves rustled as she made her way through the forest, and a shout in the distance echoed, not far behind her.
"GET 'ER, BOYS!" their commander yelled with such fervor that Alice almost felt bad for stealing from them.
Alice heard a crossbow bolt being loaded, and quickly ducked to her left, behind a rock. She heard a clang as the bolt missed its mark. She grinned- despite the danger, this was fun. Stealing from the richest clan on the server was a feat no one had dared to do. But she had done it, despite many warnings and removed friends who had wanted nothing to do with her if she was going to do it, and she had done it with style, leaving one of their resource camps in flames.
The Council was a clan that claimed to be the smartest, and the most intelligent out of all of the clans. A clan that, with immense planning and deduced reasoning, had outsmarted their way to the top of the leaderboards, now leading in money, land, and trading. Anyone who had even the slightest ounce of rebellion in them were silenced and hunted to extinction until they finally agreed to a forced contract- one of the player-binding mechanics of the game. Any player who broke a contract was banned for 3 months until the contracts would reset and they would be allowed onto the server once more.
Contracts were a way to insure that scamming was impossible, loyalty was solidified, and game rules were enforced. Player-made rules could also be enforced, giving the Council a weapon to imprison most of the server behind their player-made rules.
Anyone who had anything to do with rebels against the Council was hunted- every friend, every alliance connected to rebellions were quickly crushed under the foot of the high level soldiers and strategists at the main base in the Council. That's one of the reasons Alice's friend list was empty. The other reason she didn't have any? Personal.
Alice's heart quickened as she made to run away further, leaving the safety behind the rock. She'd have to get away, or risk being contracted by the Council, forced into eternal loyalty. Alice didn't want anything to do with the council's contracts.
The people coming after her must've not had as high of a level as hers, Alice noted. Her agile and silent footsteps helped her make her way towards the nearest town, Ainsworth, quite easily.. If there was someone with a level as high as she was, most likely the commander, she mused, she would've had a lot more troubles escaping. But everyone at the camp that she had seen were half, even one-fourth of her level. Her agility and dexterity build had made quick work even of the "tanks" who had spent all their skill points on health and defense.
Alice paused her sprint as she could no longer see anyone nearby and listened closely to her surroundings. All she could hear was the howl of midnight owls, the night ambience of crickets and fireflies of the game that so many were used to. She focused, shutting her eyes and muttering a spell that would let her hear and pinpoint anyone within a 125 meter radius, a high level dexterity spell that many had previously used for aiming in the dark. If nobody was chasing her, she could use a recall crystal and save her the time of walking to Ainsworth. There was nobody she sensed around- the entire area was filled with night ambience.
She was free to go. Although she knew she should watch her tracks in Ainsworth as she prepared a small little crystal. The voice started counting down.
"10.." Alice took a small glance around her once more, double-checking her safe recall.
"9.." Surely nobody would catch her, right? She had outlevelled the entire camp.
"8.." Yeah, she was probably safe.
"7.."
"6.."
"5.." Well, she was wanted now. Alice wondered if she'd be able to get anywhere without getting mauled.
"4.."
"3.." Whatever, she thought. She'd deal with it when it came to.
"..2" A branch snapped in the distance, and Alice tensed. Would they be able to see the recall glow?
"..1" A crossbow fired, and Alice saw a bolt heading straight for her. She shut her eyes, praying.
"Teleportation done. Welcome to Ainsworth."
She had escaped.