Travel gate

Kit ran his eyes over the massive arch standing in front of them. It was similar to the one that he arrived under when he first started the game, except this one was twice as high and three times as large. Two wagons could easily pass under the arch side by side.

The hieroglyphics craved into the stone were more abundant on this stone arch. Kit still could not understand what any of them meant. As Kit was assessing the differences between the arches a man was walking up to the arch. The hieroglyphics started to flick to life, Kit's eyes widened in fascination.

A blue light emerged from the carvings and the large arch made a soft hum. The man walked through the arch then disappeared.

Kit blinked. Then a smile blossomed on his face.

"Mars did you see that! Frosted fairy bread! I love magic!"

"Kit… You know what… never mind you have fun." Mars was chuckling at him. Kit punched his arms in response.

"Oww! What was that for?"

"You know what."

Kit ignored Mars and led Pint over to the gate. As he got closer, he saw a large stone circle on the ground underneath the arch. More of the hieroglyphics strange symbols were carved into the stone plate.

Ding!

[Travel gate]

"Please choose your destination." A soft feminine voice floated around Kits ears. Kit glanced around to see where it came from. He couldn't see anyone besides Mars.

A small world appeared in front of Kit with tiny sparkling lights distracting him from the voice. It was the same one he had seen in the login process. Kit stared at the tiny world unsure what to do. Kit felt a brush against his shoulder and realised Mars had moved next to him.

Mars reached out his hand and started to move the tiny world around. Once he found what he was looking for he tapped his finger twice on the globe. A map of the Fornax continent appeared in front of them. Mars then tapped his finger twice on the forsaken state. The map morphed once again to show the enlarged forsaken state map.

Mars then started looking at the names of the towns on the map.

"Mars I thought you had already decided where we were going. What are you doing now?"

"I was just double checking that Red Splash village would be the best destination. I really wanted to go straight to Spartan Fire, but it doesn't have a travel gate."

Kit paused at the name Spartan Fire. It sounded familiar. He couldn't remember where he had heard the name though. Kit shook his head. It would come to him sooner or later. It obviously wasn't important if he had forgotten it.

"Destination Red Splash village, forsaken state." Mars pronounced the name carefully.

"Please confirm Red Splash village, Forsaken state. Payment of 20 gold and eight silver crowns will be deducted as payment for the party." The soft feminine voice once rang in Kits ears.

Kit jaw dropped at the amount needed to travel. "Mouldy blue cheese! That is a rip off! Mars we can't pay that."

Kit had 25 gold that he could spend the other 25 gold was in his restaurant capital and he wouldn't touch that. He had planned to upgrade his equipment with the 25 gold he had earned. He knew he would need some armour if he wanted to stay alive in the forsaken state. If he spent 10 gold now just on travel, he felt it was a waste.

"Kit it's either 10 gold each or 6 months of travel. What do you want to do?"

Kit started swearing inside his head. When he remembered how long it would take to get there, the 10 gold wasn't all that much. Kit sighed and took 10 gold and 4 silver crowns from his pouch and handed them over to Mars. He then paused. 'How did Mars get enough money to pay for his half? I got mine through creating meals.'

Before Kit could ask his question, Mars was proceeding with the travel gate. Kit's line of thought disappeared, and anticipation and excitement replaced it.

"Confirm." Mars' voice rang loud and clear.

"Please enjoy your travel."

The travel gate lit up, a soft blue glow washed over them. Kit excitement skyrocketed. They were about to be one step closer to gaining Monak's treasure. Kit's legs started to get restless and seemed to move forward through the arch without him being aware.

Kit tugged Pint's lead and checked to see if Snowball was secure in the sling. He had tucked Snowball inside when they first stopped at the gate. He didn't want to lose him by accident. With the final check complete Kit took the final step through the arch.

Kit felt a chill spread over his body as he passed under the stone arch. The world in front of his vison blurred, he started to feel nauseous from the warped images. He shut his eyes. When he opened them once again, he was standing in an unfamiliar town. Small mud huts with straw tops were scattered around the arch he had just walked out of.

Kit blinked at the sudden change of scenery. This was nothing like he was expecting. The small village looked like it had just been slapped together in a hurry. The mud huts looked like they would collapse if it rained. Surprisingly the town was bustling with people. Strange unpleasant smells reached Kit's nose. He scrunched his face on instinct to try to block the odour.

Kit started to breathe through his mouth. He then continued to take in the sights. He couldn't see a single road amongst the buildings. Besides the road the town just had dirt covering the ground. He could see the edge of the town from where he was standing. The town was in the middle of a forest, tall trees surrounded the entire village. 'I don't even think this can be called a village.'

Kit was starting to wonder if they had come to the right place. He turned to see Mars looking at the village with horror. Kit started to laugh. At least he was not the only one that was surprised with what he was seeing. His earlier excitement had dimmed at the sights in front of him.

Ding!

[CAL]

[Map Found: Red Splash village.]

Rewards: 50 experience, 1 Red Splash village reputation point.

"Is this the right place Mars?"

Even though Kit just got a notification this was Red Splash village, he was still sceptical this backwards town was their intended destination.

"Unfortunately, yes. When people were telling us the forsaken state was well behind in its development. I didn't realise they meant like this."

"Mars, is this even a village?'

"Barely. Never mind it doesn't matter what it looks like. We won't be staying long anyway. Let's go find a guide."

Snowball was starting to squirm in the sling, so Kit placed him on the ground. Snowball started to wiggle with excitement and stuck his nose to the ground. 'At least someone is happy about the town.'

Kit watched the people around him as he followed Mars. They were wearing a mix of armour and clothing amongst the individuals. The people in clothing wore various animal skins and bone jewellery. Kit thought these should be the inhabitants of the village.

The various displays of armour glistened under the sun. Kit was dazzled by the detail and different colours of the armour. He could tell at a glance that the armour the people wore wasn't ordinary. Not one piece of armour Kit could see looked shabby. 'Are they all high level players?' He glanced at the weapons that were visible, he tried to use identify on a weapon that was close to his sight.

[Unable to identify]

'Crunchy corn! They really are high level players. What are they all doing here.' Kit started to count the players. He counted over 100 players standing around in the small village. He was amazed such a small town had a high population of players inside. There were more players visible than NPC's.

While Kit was distracted Mars had reached a group of people wearing animal skins. He was currently negotiating with one of them about being a guide. They soon came to an agreement. Mars introduced Kit to a tall man with a muscular build.

"This is Hubert, he will take us to Spartan Fire."

"Hello I'm Kit. Thank you for becoming our guide."

Kit didn't get a response. Hubert was roaming his eyes over Kit's body. Kit felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn't get a good vibe of the muscular man. Hubert eyes unsettled Kit, he felt like he was being assessed and dissected. Kit turned an uncertain gaze to Mars, his friend wasn't paying attention to Kit and Hubert's interaction. Kit kept his troubled thoughts to himself for now.

"My brother will be coming as well. We have business in Spartan Fire."

Hubert motioned another man over. The pair were similar in looks. They both had dirty brown hair and sharp features. Hubert's brother gave Kit the same once over he had just gotten from Hubert. Kit's unease strengthened, he had a feeling the pair had bad intentions. He looked at Mars to see if he had noticed anything wrong with the two men.

Mars still wasn't even paying attention to the party. Kit could tell by his eyes that he was staring at his menu. Kit just sighed. He hoped this went well. He tried one more time to attract Mars attention without the brothers seeing. It ended in the same result. Mars was oblivious to Kit and the brothers.

Kit thought Mars must be distracted by something important. It wasn't like Mars to dismiss his surroundings. Kit was curious about what had Mars so consumed at the moment. Mars eyes finally returned a spark of life and he turned to the brothers to indicate he was ready to leave.

The brothers didn't delay their departure. They wanted to leave immediately as well. Kit had wanted to look around the town more before they left. He was hoping to at least stay for one day. He was excited at the thought of opening his market stall in a new town.

Kit had to hold in his excitement, he felt if he raised his wish the brothers they might have left him behind. He kept his mouth closed and followed them into the forest. Kit finally forgot his worries at the sight of the forest.

Large trees loomed in front of him, Kit had to tilt his head back to see the treetops. Kit had thought the densely packed trees would restrict the light inside the forest. To his delight the large trees still let ample light drift down to the forest floor. He wanted to be able to keep an eye on the two brothers. The amount of light shining down should let him see an incoming attack from the pair if they had anything planned.

As Kit walked through the forest a strong pine scent hung in the air, it was a pleasant change from the village's strange smell. Kit took a deep breath in to dispel the last lingering unpleasant odour from his nose. As they walked further into the forest the trees started to change from straight large, tall trees to gnarled twisted giant trees.

Ding!

[CAL]

[Map Found: Black gnarled forest.]

Rewards: 50 experience, 1 Red Splash village point.

The gnarled trees had black bark. When Kit first saw one of the trees, he thought it had been burnt by fire. He soon realised this was just the colour of the trunks. The leaves were a soft purple. Kit thought the gnarled trees were quite pretty despite their twisted appearance.

They had been walking in silence through the forest for a while. Kit was too nervous about the brothers to speak. Mars was distracted with his menu. Kit rubbed Pint's mane as they walked to stay calm. Snowball had disappeared as soon as they entered the forest.

Pint started to nudge Kit as they were walking. Kit raised his eyebrow at the horse.

"Time for beer already. Look at you becoming more affectionate. Normally you are not like that till after you've had the beer."

Kit stopped to quickly give Pint his alcohol fix. Surprisingly the two brothers also stopped. They watched Kit feed Pint with strange eyes. Kit was starting to become even more disturbed by the pair. He made a note to stay on guard in case they decided to rob them. He did not like the look they gave him or Pint. Once he was finished feeding Pint, they started to walk again in silence.

After an hours walk, Kit realised they had not come across any monsters. He was surprised. Gladys had told them that the Forsaken state was a dangerous place filled with wild monsters. He had expected to be fighting for his life the whole journey to Spartan Fire. Kit was glad Mars had suggested getting a guide. He had a feeling the brother were the reason they had not come across any sticky situations yet.

Kit was starting to feel remorseful about thinking the worst about the pair. They had been travelling for an hour and nothing strange had happened. He hadn't long promised himself to work on his issues of thinking the worst about people and here he was already falling into bad habits. 'Maybe the brothers just had odd personalities.'

As Kit was having an internal talk with himself the pair of brothers stopped. Kit started to glance around for danger. He couldn't see any movement around the trees.

"Hand over your pouches or we will kill you." Hubert was staring at Kit like he was dead already.

Kit swallowed. 'Fuck I just told myself not to think the worst of people and this happens.' Kit gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going to hand over his pouch. Kit drew his sword. Hubert laughed at his actions. Then lunged forwards with his own sword. Before Kit could even lift his sword, he felt his stomach pierced with Hubert's blade.

Before the pain could register. A message appeared.

Ding!

[Player Kit has died]

Respawn: 30 seconds.

"Son of a red potato! I should have listened to my instincts about those two.' Kit's eyes flew over to Mars, he knew Mars was about to die alongside him soon. Mars couldn't fend off two people and Kit had a feeling the pair of brothers were well ahead of their current low levels.

Kit watched Mars struggling to deflect the blows from the two brothers as his timer was ticking down. Kit stared in amazement as Mars dodged an attack from both brothers. His level was well below the pair, but he was still alive. Kit started to cheer his friend on.

"Slay those festering fresh pieces of dog poop! You can do it Mars!"

As if hearing Kit's encouragement Mars nimbly dodged to the side to evade a strike and landed a blow on Hubert. Mars was starting to find his feet in the fight. He had recovered enough from the surprise attack and was starting to gain an advantage over the pair.

Kit could only stare in open wonder at his friend. How amazing was his sword skills? Kit squealed with glee when Mars landed another strike on one of the brothers. His happiness didn't last long. As if the brothers knew they couldn't easily defeat Mars in close combat, Hubert's brother pulled out a crossbow. He took aim at Mars and fired multiple shots one after the other.

Kit thought it must be a skill or a feature of the weapon to fire so many arrows so quickly. To Kit's disappointment, Mars soon joined the land of the dead with him. Kit glanced over at Pint and started to panic the horse couldn't respawn like Mars and him. Before he could gauge if the horse would be ok his time ran out.