I stared down into the box, feeling both surprised and worried. Then my eyes narrowed and I looked around, searching for any signs of monsters or other people. I didn’t see anything.
I’d fallen asleep, and I had absolutely no idea how long I was out. What I did know was that the box of food had been refilled. Someone had come up while I was asleep and had replaced all the food I’d eaten. I did NOT like the idea of someone being able to sneak up on me while I was helpless like that. Even if they did just bring me more food.
“How long was I out?” I muttered.
There were no clocks and the sunlight hadn’t changed at all. I could have been out for an hour or for twelve hours. However, since I felt fairly well rested, I had a feeling that it would have been closer to the latter.
“Whomever it was,” I mused, “they could have killed me but didn’t. That’s good at least.”
With that, I helped myself to an apple and a chunk of bread. It wasn’t the best breakfast that I’d ever had, but it still beat prison food.
Once I was done eating, I stood up and stretched, feeling all the aches and pains as I did so. Most of those were scrapes and bruises from fighting monsters or climbing trees. I brushed the long hair out of my face, thinking that I should probably cut it short, or at least tie it back and out of the way.
Now that I’d eaten and rested, I was able to think a bit more clearly. That meant that I was in a much better position to consider my options and what I wanted to do next.
“Okay,” I thought aloud. “I’ve got food, water, and a relatively safe place.” And of course, there was someone else around providing the food, but I didn’t know who. That meant there might be other people nearby too.
Three options came to mind. I could keep following the trail that I had been, through that arch and to wherever it led me. That might be to people. I could go back into the forest and follow the trail back the other direction, to see where that led me. Or, I could stay where I was and try to meet up with whoever had been bringing the food.
The third option was kind of appealing because I didn’t actually have to do anything but wait. However, there was no guarantee that this mysterious person would continue to bring me food, or that they’d ever show their faces.
My eyes went to the trees, though I wasn’t thinking about the path through them. I was thinking about the monsters, and about how killing them had made me level up. I still didn’t understand what that really meant, but I was sure that it was a good thing.
“I know how to deal with them now,” I mused. “It wouldn’t hurt to find a nice tree and kill a few more monsters.”
I wasn’t hard to make a decision, though it took me a good hour to gather my courage enough to actually do it. Once I was ready though, I took my sword and marched right back into the trees, finding a nice one a short distance inside the tree line. Then, once I was positioned on a branch, all I had to do was wait.
For the next couple hours, I remained on my perch, slowly killing any monsters that came by. Eventually though, the position just got to be too uncomfortable so I finally came back down and hurried back to the field. When I returned to the pond, I discovered that the box had been refilled yet again.
“Now they’re just fucking with me,” I growled in frustration. I looked around, then called out, “I KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING ME. COME ON OUT.”
There was no response, not that I’d really expected one. Whoever was doing this, they seemed to enjoy messing with me, and I couldn’t think of why they’d want to end that just yet.
I hung around the pond for awhile, until I got bored. Then, I made my way to the tree line and stepped back into the forest. However, I didn’t go far. Instead, I just leaned back against a tree and watched the pond. Hopefully, someone would show up to check on the food again, and once they did, I’d have them.
This lasted for maybe an hour at most before the monsters arrived. I quickly scrambled up another tree, cursing the branches that scraped me in passing. Then, I went back to killing monsters.
I repeated this cycle for the rest of the day, eating and resting at the pond, then going back into the forest to kill monsters and watch for the person who was messing with me. However, at one point, I was able to keep my eye on the box for a couple hours straight, but when I went to check on it, it had filled up again. On its own.
“How the hell is that even possible?” I asked myself in frustration.
Of course, the answer was simply ‘magic’. At this point, I couldn’t deny that magic existed. Not after what had happened to me, and certainly not when I could actually use some of it myself.
Now, it was around dinner time and I was sitting at the pond, munching on a pear and staring off into the woods. Technically, I had absolutely no idea of what time it was, or if such a thing really even mattered inside the Labyrinth. However, I’d mentally labeled the time I woke up as ‘morning’, and it had been a long day since then.
Then I suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the forest, and it didn’t sound like the typical monster growls. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my sword, not taking my eyes off the tree line. More noise came and it seemed to be getting closer. It sounded like…fighting?
“GOT THAT UGLY BASTARD,” a voice called out from the trees.
My eyes widened at that. It was another person. Finally.
A few seconds later, a figure emerged from the trees, following the trail. No, there were four people following that trail, and they all stopped and looked towards me.
“Ah, shit,” I muttered, suddenly realizing that I was outnumbered and out in the open.
The group continued down the trail, though I didn’t know if they intended to follow it or to take the brief side detour to the pond, where I was waiting. As they approached, I got a better look at them and their weapons. They didn’t just outnumber me, they were all a lot better armed as well.
The person in the lead was a large black man with a bald head. He wore armor that appeared to be a mix of leather and chain mail, with a few more solid pieces added in. He held a one-handed sword that was similar to mine, while a round shield hung from his other arm.
Behind him came a woman, who wore what appeared to be black leather armor. She had shoulder-length black hair, and she wore black lipstick and eye shadow, giving her a definitive goth look. A short sword hung from her belt, though she held a compound bow in her hand.
Third came a lean Asian man with a goatee, who wore some kind of grey lightweight armor, that looked a lot more modern than what the first two people had been wearing. He also carried some kind of metal walking stick or staff.
And last, there was an athletic looking man with light brown hair. He wore grey armor that looked identical to what the Asian guy was wearing, and he was carrying a weapon that looked like a spear but with an axe head on the end.
As they came closer, none of them showed any signs of being actively hostile. The chick with the bow didn’t even have an arrow ready, though I quickly realized, I didn’t see any arrows on her at all. But in spite of their lack of obvious aggression, I still felt like I was back in prison, being approached by one of the gangs.
“Howdy,” the man with the shield greeted me with an easy smile.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. What was he after? Instead of just wondering, I asked, “Is this some kind of shakedown?”
He looked surprised at that while the Asian man burst out laughing. The woman smirked and said, “I don’t think you have anything we want, Red.”
“Red?” I started to ask before realizing that she was referring to my hair color.
“Not used to being a redhead?” she asked with a smirk.
“I only just sold my soul,” I responded wryly, which seemed to amuse her.
The man with the weird spear-axe stepped forward and held out a hand to show he wasn’t threatening me. “Hello. You’re obviously newly respawned.” He gestured towards me. “Your robe is a pretty clear indication.”
“Kind of far in for that,” the man with the shield said, giving me another look. “But yeah, you’re right. She’s clearly a noob.”
I bristled a little at that, though I knew he was right. I was a rookie as far as this whole player business went, and I had almost no idea of what I was doing.
“I’m Agent Dan Giles,” the man with the spear-axe introduced himself. “With the Wardens.” Then he gestured to the Asian man. “This is Agent Nathan Pham, also with the Wardens.”
I blinked at that. I’d heard of the Wardens, the Men in Grey. They were sort of like the police for Players. That would explain their matching suits of grey armor.
“Hello,” Pham said with a nod.
“I’m Grayson,” the man with the shield told me.
Finally, the woman just said, “Lenore.”
There was a pause as they clearly waited for me to introduce myself. “Dono…” I started to give my last name, only to pause as I realized that might not be a good idea. Mike Donovan was a convict.
“Donna,” Giles said, apparently misunderstanding. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Donna.”
“But what are you doing out here?” Pham asked. “We’re still in a shallow area of the Labyrinth, but we are a bit far from the nearest entrance.”
“I have no fucking idea,” I answered honestly. “All I know is that I woke up here a couple days ago.” I gestured towards the forest.
“A couple days?” Grayson exclaimed in surprise. “How did you survive all the monsters by yourself?”
“She obviously found this safe zone and hid out here,” Lenore said, giving me a curious look.
I frowned at that. “Safe zone?”
Grayson gave me an incredulous look, then gestured to the area around us. “This place. The Labyrinth has safe zones scattered about so you can rest and relax. Monsters won’t come near them and a lot of them even have food and water.”
I nodded in understanding, then gestured to the box. “Well, there is food and water, and the monsters do avoid this place…”
“A nice place to hang out while you waited for rescue,” Lenore commented with a note of dismissal in her voice.
“I wish I could have found this place a lot sooner,” I responded. “It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”
“So, how did you deal with all the monsters by yourself?” Pham asked curiously. “I mean, before you found the safe zone.”
“I fought a couple of them with my sword,” I answered. “Then I figured out that it was a hell of a lot easier to get just up in a tree and blast them with ‘Hex’ until they died.
“Hex?” Grayson asked, his attention suddenly sharpening. He stared at me for several seconds before asking, “You’re an enchanter?”
I narrowed my eyes, realizing that I may have just fucked up by giving them too much information. I didn’t know these people so I sure as hell couldn’t trust them. However, the cat was out of the bag, at least as far as that went.
“Yeah,” I responded carefully, wondering just how much I should tell them.
Grayson brightened up at that and flashed me a broad grin. “Awesome. I’m an enchanter too. If you’d like, I can give you some tips and advice on the class.”
I blinked at that since this was not the direction that I’d expected that line of questions to go. I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“That sounds good.” I paused again before admitting, “I have a LOT of questions about this whole player thing.”
“That makes sense,” Giles mused. “It isn’t like this comes with an instruction book.”
“Like you’d know,” Lenore told him with a roll of her eyes. “You and wizard boy both got the full classroom experience before you ever became players.”
“That is true,” Pham agreed pleasantly. “We weren’t dropped off the deep end the way you respawned are.”
I looked back and forth between them, trying to figure out what they were talking about. Lenore smirked as though she’d scored some kind of point while Grayson rolled his eyes.
“Anyway,” Grayson told me. “Do you mind if we all sit down and get comfortable? I want to grab a bite to eat, then we can explain a few things and answer some questions.”
“Sure,” I responded, though I didn’t knower my guard. I was still a bit suspicious of these guys, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t ignore.