The Cursed RPG Book 1: The Curse
Chapter 8

When we finally caught up with the others, I paused for a second to catch my breath.

"Finally," Annora said. "Let's go."

I rolled my eyes. I guess just because she was helping us didn't mean she had to like us. I waited for a minute after Annora started walking away before I followed her.

*** Avery POV ***

I walked through the forest, muttering under my breath. As a level forty-one, I'd been sent by Riley to go spy on Gateway. I doubted it would go well but she was over a hundred levels higher than me so like I had a choice. I ducked behind a tree as I heard someone coming past. Honestly, I don't know why I cared if they saw me. When I first came into the game, I was told I'd be stuck here forever unlike the other players. I watched as the players walked past me. There were eight players. Two from Flared, my kingdom, and six from Gateway.

My spider hissed, getting ready to attack.

"Venom, don't." I said firmly.

Venom sat there quietly, obviously upset with me.

Checking the players' stats I noticed that most of them were lower level than me. The only one that was a problem was the level sixty-seven. She was easily twenty levels higher than me. More than that, actually.

Me and my spider stayed quiet but obviously the level twelve wizard had heard my spider's hiss. I prepared to attack if he came closer to me but he didn't.

He whispered to the other players. I could barely make out what sounded like, "Did you here that?"

"No," another player said. The level ten archer. I forgot her name but I recognized her from Flared. And the wizard - what was his name, PurrBox?

PurrBox shook his head. "I swear I heard something."

Fuck. I thought.

I watched as PurrBox to a step closer. I aimed an arrow in his direction and Venom was ready to defend me if he got too close. I think his name was PurrBox. He took another step but none of the other players followed him.

My breathing got quicker and my heart raced. I knew that I couldn't fight a level sixty-seven as well as all the other players but the least I could do was try.

PurrBox was almost at the treeline when my spider finally had enough and leaped at him. I sighed, realizing he was in the same kingdom and therefore my attacks would do nothing to him. I pulled Venom back by it's leg.

"Idiot," I said to myself.

Obviously, the players noticed me down and came closer to the trees. I backed up further into the darkness of the forest where they couldn't see me.

PurrBox rolled his eyes. "I know that's your spider, Avery."

I sighed again. I took the arrow out of my bow and put it in my quiver. Standing up, I walked closer to the edge of the trees with Venom following behind me.

I mean, they knew I was there. What was the point in hiding still?

I acted calmly, leaning against the tree beside me. Venom watched PurrBox closely, making sure he didn't hurt me even though neither of us could. The Gateway archer had a spider as well. It was staring at me and Venom and Venom hissed at it.

"Why are you here?" The Gateway archer asked.

Forget it, I decided to check their stats again to figure out their names.

"Hello?" The archer, Annora snapped. "Did you even hear me?"

"Yes, I heard you," I replied.

"Then answer me!"

"You don't need to know."

PurrBox rolled his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? She was sent here by Flared."

Specifically Riley but whatever.

"Were you?" Jac asked cautiously.

"I was, so?" I decided I didn't need to lie.

"Why?" Evra wondered aloud.

"That's none of your concern."

"It is now," Derec said.

I put an arrow in my bow but aimed it at the ground. "No, it's not. Now leave me alone."

My spider hissed at the players. Annora's spider hissed back. Zelia stared at me for a second but when I looked at her she looked away. They didn't leave they just stood there for a second before Annora's spider attacked Venom. I shot the arrow I had in my bow at the spider, dealing 18 damage. The spider had like 200 HP so I don't know why Annora got so fucking mad.

She shot an arrow at me.

-25 HP

575 HP remaining

I didn't run until I used Arrow Rain, hitting all the Gateway players but bouncing off of PurrBox, Vennia and Venom.

Then I ran.

Because I am not an idiot. I know when a player is too high level for me to fight.

I hid deeper in the forest, where the trees seemed darker. I walked towards Gateway as I heard the players walking away, weaving through the trees. Gateway wasn't too far from where I was- I was already halfway there.

I walked to Gateway, carefully making sure there was no one around me.

*** PurrBox POV ***

"Why'd your spider instantly attack her?" Evra asked. "You need to control it!"

Annora rolled her eyes. "Like I can control my spider."

"It's your spider!"

"Spidey has a mind of its own!"

"I hate what you named your spider," Zelia sighed.

"What did you-"

"Nothing!" Zelia interrupted innocently.

If they would stop arguing I swear-

"I heard you say something! You know what? Whatever."

I kicked a rock, making it bounce down the path. It rolled to a stop in front of a huge tree. Zelia walked up to the tree and stood in front of it. I walked up to her and really didn't do anything except kick random rocks.

Zelia closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again and walking over to Evra.

"This tree feels different from the other trees," she whispered. "Not as dark and hollow."

She'd told us all about her abilities to feel emotions and the life around her before we ran into that archer. Avery, I think. She was from Flared so who knew what she was doing.

Annora stepped up to where Evra and Zelia were standing. "This is the tree I told you about. It's where the first quest is. It leads us to the first clue. Apparently, there are five clues."

"You've told us multiple times," Evra said, rolling her eyes.

I listened to the two players bicker until Zelia looked directly at me. She seemed different. Like she was more defensive. I didn't know why and I didn't plan to find out.

I looked away from Zelia and toward the tree. The tree was huge, wider than I was tall. Vines hung down from the branches. It made it look more like a weeping willow than an oak. The lines in the bark were inches deep so the tree had to be old. I had a sudden impulse to put my finger in the lines to see how deep they were but I didn't so that I didn't burn the tree. Zelia walked up to the tree, putting her hand on the bark. She closed her eyes and felt her hand along the bark of the tree until she put her fingers between one of the lines and pulled. Part of the tree glowed with a white light, outlining the shape of a door. The door opened, showing a hollow on the inside of the tree.

"How-" I paused. "How'd you do that?"

Zelia shrugged. "I felt a hollow in the tree and was feeling for an opening in the bark. There was a little button on the inside so I push-"

"So magic," I concluded. "You did it with magic."

Zelia shrugged again. "I guess so?"

I watched as Jac and Derec walked in first.

"Nothing," Derec said.

"I mean, there's books?" Evra said, going in behind them. "There's also a note..."

"A note?" Zelia darted inside and I followed her.

The inside was light brown with a table and bookshelf carved out of the wood. It was a miracle the tree was still alive. The table was cluttered with paper and the bookshelves were full of books. There was ink beside the papers but not much else. One paper had something written on it. It said, "Gateway Dungeon".

Well that was obvious. These developers did not make this hard at all.

Well, kind of hard.

Not too hard though.

Well- ugh, forget it.

I guess it wasn't that obvious since Jac asked, "What does it mean?"

"It could mean any of the dungeons," Annora pointed out. "There's two dungeons in Gateway, one in the castle and the community dungeon tower."

"Well, the community dungeon is more lowbie-friendly," Zelia guessed. "Seeing as it's the 'community dungeon'."

"It is for all levels," Annora replied, nodding. Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Jac nodded, too. "The castle dungeon's more for level thirty and higher. And the tree dungeon in the tree that floats above Gateway? That's for mainly level seventy-five."

I'd heard of that tree before. It was also called the floating dungeon. Said to be really hard, this dungeon was barely visited.

It was almost like a myth except players had actually seen it before. I looked at Zelia. She was pretty useful to help us get through the game but at the same time she wasn't very good at fighting.

I guess that's what Jac and Annora for for-

Am I seriously thinking of them like they're only here to help me? I wondered.

Yes. Yes I am, a part of me replied.

Well stop it!

No.

I sighed, putting my hand on my head. Zelia was probably still looking at me but like I cared. When I opened my eyes and took my hand off my head, Zelia was staring at me quizzically.

I rolled me eyes but didn't say anything.

*** Zelia/Katy POV ***

Why had be been looking at me like that? Why was he feeling more hollow than normal?

Questions buzzed through my head as I stared at PurrBox. He was more hollow, not having any feelings at the moment. I'd never known him to not feel whatsoever.

I walked over to the note and picked it up.

Quest Taken: Gateway Dungeon

Follow the note and go to the Gateway Dungeon

"Did you guys get the quest?" I asked.

Everyone who was in my party nodded but the others shook their heads. I passed the note to each of then. My hand brushed PurrBox's slightly and I shivered as the coldness and numbness I felt in him passed through me.

Hopefully, he hadn't noticed.

If he had, he didn't act like it as he handed the note back, no emotion rising inside him. I took the note uneasily and placed it back on the table.

PurrBox was so numb right now I didn't even want to talk to him.

Not that I did on a regular basis but still.

Anyways, we walked out of the room and began walking torward Gateway. A few skeletons blocked our path and I rolled my eyes as Jac and Annora got rid of them so easily. We couldn't fought, too, but they wouldn't let us. I watched my level go up to five. All I unlocked was an upgrade to my skill "Vine Throw". The upgrade was that is dealt more damage.

My stats got better though.

Character Stats

Name: Zelia

Level: 5

Experience: 50/500

Health: 200

Damage: 3-10

Speed: 2

Mana: 200

Kingdom: Gateway

Class: Nature Wizard

Kind of.

Kind of better.

We arrived at Gateway at sunset and Jac talked to the guards about letting us in.

"No," one guard replied to Jac.

"What? You let us in last time!"

"We did not let you in," another guard said. "You're crazy level three paladin forced us to."

"I am level five now," Derec said. "And I'm not crazy."

The first guard frowned. "You were level three. And you attacked us. Which, by the way, if you didn't know we're all level seventy-five. Including the NPCs. And we can call more guards for help at any time."

Derec didn't respond and just glared at them.

Jac sighed. "Why won't you let us in?"

"Because of the Flared players," -the guard pointed- "and your crazy paladin."

"I am not-" Derec said frustratedly.

The guard cut him off. "Yeah, you are. Anyways, you can't come in."

PurrBox glared at the guards. Vennia was pretty sad but at the same time she understood why the guards wouldn't let her in.

PurrBox narrowed his eyes. "I've been in here before and I didn't fo anything stupid."

The guard didn't respond to him, turning to me instead. "And you, you're not allowed in until you stop being creepy."

"What?"

"Stop looking at us like that!"

"Oh..."

I stared down at my feet.

PurrBox tapped his foot which wasn't helping out situation. How were we supposed to beat the game if we weren't allowed in?

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