The Vibrant Forest

Sil had looked over the world map briefly before looking down the long road heading towards the next city.

"It would be quicker to cut through the forest," he mumbled to himself.

And that is what he had decided to do. He slipped off the path and started walking casually through the forest. There was no need to use the Shadow Meld ability as he no longer needed to hide from the natural predators that inhabited it. The forest seemed brighter, vibrant, alive. He noticed squirrels, in various natural colors running about their daily lives, a bear foraging berries in the nearby brush, and countless wolves prowling the underbrush, hunting their next meal.

Sil also noticed that the all the creatures were set as companions now as opposed to hostile and neutral.

That could come in handy, Sil thought to himself. Though it would make it harder to level.

Walking through the lush green forest felt more like a dream than actually playing a game. This part of the world was a virtual wonderland if you weren't being attacked. Flowers of every shade dotted the land, the sunlight streamed through the canopy of trees causing shafts of light to appear periodically, it was truly beautiful to behold. He would have to visit this place again on his adventures in Fallen.

A wolf howled in the woods surrounding him, signaling to other wolves that an intruder was trespassing on their territory. Packs of them appeared from the trees and headed south, running past Sil. Sil knew it meant other players. There wasn't much else the wolves should be attacking this deep into the forest. He was about to continue on his way when his passive ability Spirit of the Forest activated, causing his image to become wavy and vanished almost completely, he could only see the faint outline of his hand as he passed it in front of his face.

The perfect camouflage, he thought to himself. Almost chameleon like.

It was then that he saw them, two young women, one Cleric and one Monk, running his way in the distance. Behind them, six packs of wolves, each containing six wolves, were in hot pursuit. If these women faltered for even a moment it would mean their deaths. Sil climbed a large nearby tree and sat on one of the lower limbs for a safer view of the action. He didn't want one of them to accidentally come crashing into him.

The girls were both level five and still had their basic starting weapons and armor still equipped, they wouldn't last long by themselves wandering through the forest. Sil preferred solo adventuring, and gained nothing by helping these women, so he remained content to stay in the tree. He just wanted to see how long they lasted and what they may drop upon death. For only in death was any other player useful to him and his goals.

The girls were getting close the area near his tree, if they kept up the pace they'd make it to the road and safety. Sil highly doubted they'd make it that far. It took them about five more minutes to race past his tree, the Monk stopping and looking dangerously close to the limb he sat on. She shook her head and sprinted forward to catch up to her other party member.

Did she see me?, Sil thought in silence. It was possible, but highly unlikely with this special passive ability. She most definitely sensed him though. He had a feeling that he would run into her again someday soon, as well as the Cleric. And hopefully not on the wrong end of blade. He trusted his gut instincts, and they told him not to trust those two.

Before long the women were out of sight and Sil jumped down on the forest floor, his Spirit of the Forest ability deactivating as he landed gracefully. He was safe and certain nobody was around to bother him and continued on his walk through the forest headed towards the next town. He was almost there when sudden otherworldly roar startled him, causing a flock of birds to take flight just due north of his position.

Sil's Spirit of the Forest activated, leaving him translucent once again. Whatever was out there was not a player, and it was close. Sil had a bad feeling about this entire situation, whatever it was would need to be stopped, but he always followed his gut with these things, and his gut told him to hide, quickly. Without a second thought he bolted at full speed due east and away from danger.

Too little, too late. A giant ogre, the color of onyx, came crashing into the area he had just ran from, trees toppling in every direction under it's crushing weight. The ogre had eyes the color of blood, a white horn, half the length of it's massive arms protruded from it's forehead, it's body covered neck to ankle to bulging muscles. It was the epitome of perfection for an ogre, and not just in sheer size and strength. It's eyes seemed to possess a high level of intelligence and cunning. The name above its head read, Evolved Ancient Ogre of Chaos. It's name was highlighted in red with a gold outline, marking it as not only as a god-level being, but a master elite monster as well.

The situation was far worse than Sil thought. If that creature saw him, he'd be dead for sure. There was no time to think, he had to escape now, but if he moved, that creature would hear him for sure. Sil couldn't seem to find a probable way out of his current situation, and despair was creeping in fast. This level of monster shouldn't be anywhere near a starting area, at least not roaming the forest uninhibitedly. What where the devs thinking?!

He watched as the creature sniffed at the air, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"I can smell you little mortal, but I can't see you. Show yourself so that I may see the being that killed a Guardian," the ogres booming voice echoed through the forest.

"If you comply within a reasonable amount of time, I may consider not ending your life here and now. You have but a few of your mortal minutes to decide."

Sil was shaking. For the first time in his life he understood what fear was, and it unnerved him. This was just a game, he shouldn't feel this paralyzing fear in a game. But the terror was real, more real than he would've like. It truly felt like if he died here, that would be it, game over in both worlds. But that was illogical, things like that only happened in anime and light novels.

He shook his head and took a deep breath, mustering every ounce of strength and courage he could, and stood up straight, willing the Spirit of the Forest to deactivate.