No Such Luck

Seiko trudged with his head down, trying to come up with a strategy, a plan of attack. The closer he got to the camp, the more certain he was that there was no chance of success. Hopelessness washed over him. His stomach soured with fear. The day glided from noon to evening and the amber rays of sunlight fell on the trees. Seiko looked up to see the pine needles glittering orange and gold. They were ablaze with the glorious luminescence. 

It was then that an idea sparked in him. If he could catch the orcs off guard, creating a larger threat that they would need to address, then he could sneak in and out of their tent with their treasures before they knew what happened. The ranger picked up his pace. His strategy took full shape as he began to prepare for the first step. Seiko took out his flint and steel. He had several fires to start and not much time.

The smoke was rising in big gray plumes. Seiko watched the orc camp through his binoculars. The smell of burning underbrush started to draw their attention. He saw them look around confused and angry. Good. They were likely starting to realize that the smell was coming from all around them. Seiko had created a ring of fire around the camp and hid in a rocky outcropping nearby. The orcs saw the smoke and sensing an attack, split into search parties and rushed out in every direction. They bellowed savage battle cries as they tore through the tree line. 

The fire ring was around half a mile away. If everything went to plan, Seiko would have plenty of time to raid their treasure tent and make a safe getaway. As the last orc party made their way east, he slid from his hiding spot and made a dash for the patchwork tent. Seiko moved from tree to tree for cover, being extra cautious not to be spotted. He broke into a full sprint as soon as he hit the edge of the encampment, slicing through the fabric as he slid into the tent. What he saw on the interior made a smile break out across his face.

Jackpot! The interior had several chests spilling over with glittering gems and fine multicolored silk. The treasure trove was one of the biggest he’d seen, likely fit for a party big enough to take down the orcs in battle. Seiko did some quick calculations. The chests had enough material to pay out about 70% of what he needed. He tapped one of them and a loading bar appeared to show the loot was being transferred to his inventory. Better than nothing but still, Seiko searched desperately for anything else of value. Time was ticking by, and his window of escape was quickly closing. He tore up the place, looking through the bunks and piles of bone for anything valuable. His search became more and more frantic with each passing moment.

“Where is it, Damnit?!”

He kicked one of the mattresses off the floor with a scream of frustration. It collided with another bed, pushing it slightly. And then, he saw it. Tucked beneath the bed, a glint of something shiny caught Seiko’s eye. He got down on his belly to pull the loot out. It was a chunk of gold aetherium the size of his head.

“That is what I’m talking about!” Seiko fist pumped the air in excitement.

The chunk of ore dissolved into shiny pixels as it was added to his inventory. It was time to cut and run. If he got lucky, this was enough to trade for rent and then some. Feeling joy for the first time that day, Seiko moved toward the hole he had cut. Something wasn’t right though. The hairs on his arm stood up as he caught a whiff of something foul on the breeze. Seiko froze in his tracks as he heard a growl behind him.

Standing in the open entry way, was an Orc covered in thick bone armor. The ranger’s heart dropped. The beast confronting him looked much stronger than the scout he had dispatched earlier. He attempted to creep backwards, smiling awkwardly. The Orc stepped further into the tent. It stared him down, eyes literally glowing red. With a vicious roar, it ran towards him in a blind fury. The maul in its hands swung wildly at Seiko’s head, barely missing. Seiko rolled to the other side of the attacker and dashed for the tent exit. Unfortunately, the orc caught him with a backhand that sent him sprawling. Seiko struggled to dodge the next savage blow by rolling on the ground, coughing a little blood onto the dust. The more time he spent here, the less chance he had of escape. The other orcs would be back soon. 

Seiko had to find a way out now! He flourished his sword, stabbing at the orcs face and trying to throw him off balance. Seiko smiled as the blade plunged straight into its maw, but his small victory only lasted a second. The orc bit down, locking the short sword in place. And then, with a shattering crunch, snapped it in his jaws. Seiko pulled back the broken hilt in terror. This was it. The end. The massive, blood lusted orc walked toward him with his maul over his head. Malice oozed from the monster with each thundering step. Seiko backed away until his hand touched the canvas of the tent wall. He was trapped. To make matters worse, he could hear the war parties returning to camp. He was going to wipe. All the loot he had just collected would drop from his inventory. Seiko closed his eyes, accepting his fate. But oddly, the attack didn’t come.

He peaked and saw the orc. It looked stunned. It dropped the club and fell to the floor. Seiko noticed the two arrows lodged deep in its back. At that moment the sounds of intense battle erupted outside. More arrows ripped through the tent along with bolts of fire and arcane energy. Seiko dove to the ground to avoid the stray projectiles. He could hear the shouts, the clashing of steel, and the crunch of bone. It was over in moments and the cacophonous chaos outside the tent was replaced with silence. Seiko picked himself off the floor with a heavy sigh. He understood what had just happened. An adventuring party had shown up.

“Hello there!”

A paladin grinned ear to ear. His heavy golden armor gleamed, freshly polished. Seiko had carefully stepped out of the tent. He didn’t dare try to escape out of fear of being skewered and or lit on fire.

“It’s lucky we came when we did. Are you alright?” The cleric of the party moved forward readying a healing spell. It was strange. The parties that Seiko usually ran across in this part of the map were not organized enough to take down this many orcs, but these players made very quick work of them. He noticed that there was a ranger class like him, but her face was covered by a dark hood. There was also a mage who looked very peculiar. He had bluish skin and golden eyes. There was no race in the ether that looked like that. Both him and the female ranger seemed to be watching Seiko intently as if waiting for an excuse to blast him away. It wouldn’t surprise him if they did. If they knew about the gold aetherium on him, they probably wouldn’t hesitate. Seiko had to play it carefully if he wanted to make it out alive. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. Fake relief spread across his face as he accepted the clerics healing.

“Wow, you guys really saved my ass. Thanks for showing up when you did.”

A quick check of their status bars showed they were all relatively the same level as Seiko. Their teamwork must be extraordinarily good for such a quick victory. Seiko gestured sheepishly at the mage.

“That’s a cool reskin man. The gold eyes are sick. What quest did you get it from?”

The whole party looked at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

“Oh, he’s not a player. Archimedes is my AI” the paladin said. “The last patch added a feature that lets you summon them.”

Seiko now thought back to reading the latest update notes. In this day and age, people had virtual AI companions that did pretty much everything for them on a daily basis from buying their groceries to monitoring their health. They were quite expensive but worth it from what he heard. The Ether had recently developed a way to include these AI in the game. It was a way to help solo players and smaller parties still take part in larger events. Such a feature didn’t have much relevance to Seiko since owning an AI seemed well out of his budget. It was then that he remembered the knight he met in the tunnels. His golden eyes, and inhuman reflexes. Had he been an Ai as well?

The mage spoke “Where is the treasure horde? We know the orcs had a stockpile in the tent.”

“Archie! Where is your manners dude?” The paladin scolded.

Seiko subconsciously moved into a defensive stance, backing away from the cleric. The fact that they saved him was a complete accident, what they really wanted was what was in his inventory. There was a sudden shift in atmosphere. Seiko saw the female ranger tickle the string of her bow. The cleric’s grasp tightened on his cane. The mage, Archimedes’ eyes flashed as he stared intently at him. Only the paladin seemed to remain relaxed. Seiko took one step back.

The Paladin smirked “I guess there isn’t any point in lying huh?”

“Don’t you feel a little bad about ganging up on a solo player?” Seiko said dryly.

“Honestly? It kinda does bother me but I need that material to buy new gear for Archie. Since I loaded him in, I’ve leveled up crazy fast. If I deck him out in high quality robes, I’ll be living it up in the wastelands in no time! No hard feelings though. At least we healed you to make it somewhat of a fair fight.” The paladin drew his claymore.

Sensing their master’s intent, the mage’s hand glowed brightly as a massive fire ball, twice the size of Seiko, gathered in it. Without another word, the Ai launched it at the lonesome ranger.