TQG 59

59. Motivation

I had come full circle.  My adventures had begun with going through a strange portal and ending up in an area where I didn’t know where I was or how to get home, and here I was again.  Except, of course, I had grown since then, and it was not my gullibility which I had fallen victim to.  I was also significantly more confident in my abilities to defend myself.  I was no longer a level one [Child], but a level twenty-eight [Spellblade].  And a very skilled one!  Even if I was somewhat clumsy due to my recent growth spurt.

I grew somewhat nervous again when I surprised a level thirty-nine spotted deer.  Because if the deer were level thirty-nine, then the wolves must be level forty or higher.  As a level ten [Child] I had defeated a level nineteen boar, an enemy which had been almost double my level at the time and what had seemed like an insurmountable difference.  However, I had been prepared.  I had had the initiative.  And I had had Travelers who could step in and save me if things had gone wrong.  If I was ambushed by a wolf or other predator, I would have none of those things.

The difference between a level twenty-eight [Spellblade] and a level forty predator was not nearly as insurmountable as the difference between a level one [Child] and a level fifteen goblin, but it was a pretty large difference, and it was enough to put me on edge.  I wished that I still had [Stealth], but of course I had lost that and all of my [Urchin] skills when I had selected my class.  Of course, unless I had actually become an [Urchin] or other [Rogue] class, then it wouldn’t have made a difference in my current situation, as a level forty predator would have no trouble seeing through a level ten [Child]’s stealth.  No, [Spellblade] didn’t give me the option to hide, but it did give me the potential to defend myself, even if the odds were against me.  I would not regret my decision.

So I drew my [Gemos Longsword], and I stalked through the forest as silently as I could without [Stealth], and I kept an eye out for wolf spoor.  Not that I had any clue what wolf spoor actually looked like.  I was born a prince and raised in a castle after all.  All I knew about tracking and outdoorsmanship was what I had read in books, which is how I knew the word ‘spoor’ even if I didn’t know what it looked like.  But then perhaps I would know it if I saw it--

Was that a wolf track?

You have gained General Skill [Tracking] level 1.

Yeah, that’s a wolf track.  Or a large hound.  I’d rather it was a hound because that would mean that I’m near a settlement, which would hopefully have a Nexus Point and reopen my Fast Travel menu.  And also because a hound was less likely to try to rip my throat out.  Unless they were Ramsay Hounds, in which case I’d rather that it was a wolf.

Of course my [Tracking] skill was only level one now and I couldn’t figure out how old the track was just by looking at it, so I wasn’t sure if the beast that made it was nearby or --

The growling sound came from behind me made me squeak in a much higher pitch than I believed my vocal cords were capable at age fifteen.  Or age five.  I jumped and midway in my jump I managed to turn it into a spin which is totally what I had intended it to be from the beginning.

The good news is that it wasn’t a wolf.  It was a hound.

The bad news is that it was a Ramsay hound.  And it was level forty-nine.  I [Swiftcast] [Polymorph] and sprinted the other direction.  I did not get very far when another Ramsay hound appeared out of the brush, growling at me and ready to leap.  Again I [Polymorphed] it and changed direction.

Soon after I heard the sounds of pursuit, and when I turned there were three hounds on my trail, braying and slobbering with the glee of the hunt.  I cursed, as this meant there were likely at least five in the pack.  The [Polymorph] on the other two should not have faded yet, although with the level discrepancy there was a chance it had failed early.  I did not have time to stop and [Polymorph] these as well, and so I kept running.

Sprinting, actually.  Unfortunately my [Endurance] was my second lowest stat at thirty-eight, with only my strength being lower.  So although I could run quite fast with the help of my high [Dexterity], I knew it would not be long before my strength began to falter.

Not that it truly mattered, of course.  These were Ramsay hounds, able to chase down a galloping horse.  The only reason that they had not already caught me was that they loved the thrill of the chase, and so they let me run to prolong their fun.  They would let me run for a while, but in the end I would only die tired.  Mauling did not seem like a very enjoyable way to meet my second death, and I cannot say that I was looking forward to it.

The two hounds which I had [Polymorphed] returned to the hunt right around the time when I gained the [Exhaustion] debuff.  I knew it would not be much longer as my speed began to flag.  One of the hounds abruptly caught up to me, and I knew that this was the end.  However, rather than pouncing on me and pinning me to the ground, the hound bit me on the posterior.  My status flashed in the corner of my vision as it changed.

Motivation Gained, run speed increased 20% (30 seconds)

Exhaustion (1) suppressed.

Condition: Bleeding.  -20 health per 3 seconds

Health: 11785/12600

It seems that the hounds were enjoying the chase too much for them to end it quite yet as I resumed sprinting even faster than before thanks to [Motivation].  My pants became slick and sticky as I bled from the bite, and I wondered how long this would go on for.

I became aware, eventually, that the hounds were herding me, steering me in a particular direction, and I was helpless to avoid going where they directed.  If I veered off the course they had decided for me, one of them would circle around and correct my heading.  If their simple presence was not enough to do so, then they would refresh the duration of [Motivation] along with correcting my direction.

I gained three more stacks of [Exhaustion], but [Motivation] kept them suppressed.  My health continued to drop.  I lost a few hundred every time the hounds applied [Motivation], and I continued to bleed.  I dropped below ten thousand.  Below nine thousand.  I began to wonder if this was how I would die.  Perhaps I would bleed to death while running from a pack of Ramsay hounds.  It had happened before to others, so it wouldn’t be too strange.  Exanguination would probably better than being mauled by the pack.

I stumbled onto the road just as I gained my fifth stack of [Exhaustion].  I flagged again, and again one of the hounds came forward and bit me in the ass to [Motivate] me.  I turned onto the road, the even packed dirt beneath my feet allowing me to increase my speed even further.  The hounds did not correct my course.  I was still going exactly where they directed me.

My health continued to drop, and I continued to gain stacks of [Exhaustion].  I bled, and when I hit ten stacks of [Exhaustion] I began to lose ten health every second from that as well, increasing the rate at which I was dying.  [Motivation] kept me moving at 120% of my normal speed, however.

Suddenly I saw a clearing ahead, and a building.  It was a temple!  [Motivation] refreshed itself without the intervention of the hounds as I ran towards it with all of my dwindling might.  The door was standing open, and I had just enough of a lead on the hounds to slam it shut behind me when I reached it.  The hounds began scratching at it from outside, but I managed to bar it shut before the duration of [Motivation] faded and [Exhaustion 10] caused me to collapse onto the floor, hyperventilating as my vision faded in and out.  I was down to 5487/12600 health.  The hounds had literally ran me half to death.

The hounds brayed and whimpered outside, but although they continued to scratch at the door periodically, the door held.  I slowly began losing my stacks of [Exhaustion], and now that I was no longer sprinting I stopped losing health from it.  [Bleeding], however, seemed to have an infinite duration, and I knew that I had to find some way of removing the debuff or I would still die eventually.  At minus twenty health every three seconds, I had a bit longer than ten minutes before I would bleed to death from the bite marks on my butt, which meant that I did not have time to wait for [Exhaustion] to fade completely.

Forcing myself to my feet once I had dropped to six stacks of [Exhaustion], I made my way further into the Temple.  Hopefully I would find the priest, who could easily heal my debuff and hopefully bring me back up to 100% health as well.  Except as I began to examine my surroundings, I came to fear that the temple was long abandoned.  Cobwebs were everywhere.  The statues were covered in dust.  The candelabras were empty and tarnished, not appearing to have been polished for decades.  And the symbol of Thedum had fallen from its place above the altar, the crystal circle shattering into pieces when it had landed on the stone.

Perhaps [Bleeding] would fade on its own, but I couldn’t take the chance that it would not.  It had been inflicted by creatures twenty levels higher than me, and it was entirely possible that my [Endurance] and [Vitality] were too low to overcome the affliction without healing.

I cast [Spark] a few times, sending the small but bright candle flames throughout the temple to get a better look around, but I didn’t see anything that would help me.  I remembered then that I had a few health potions in my inventory, and I quickly pulled one out and drank it, the bitter flavor not improved at all by the berry juice that the alchemist had mixed it with to make it more palatable.  I regained twelve hundred health in an instance, but [Bleeding] did not fade away.  Still, the potion would help me stave off death for three minutes longer.  I continued my search, moving further into the Temple.

As I moved into the cloisters behind the altar, I heard the familiar sound of a quill scritching on parchment.  It was faint, but a clear sign that I was not alone after all.  If this temple did have a priest, then I was saved!  I moved as rapidly towards the sound as my [Exhaustion] allowed me to move.

The door to the cell was open.  It was a simple room, with a cot and a desk and a few hooks from which the monk’s spare robes were hanging.  The hooded figure of the monk himself was sitting at the desk, back turned to me as he continued to write.

“Um, excuse me.  My name is Hail Jeoran.  I’ve come to claim sanctuary, and I request healing.  I’m bleeding and it won’t stop on its own.  I’m down to half my health.” I said.

“Not a priest,” the monk grumbled without turning around.  “I don’t have any healing magic.”

“Is there anyone else here who can help me?” I asked desperately.

“No,” the monk said.

“Please, isn’t there anything you can do to help?  I’ll gladly make a donation to your temple.  I am an Earl, and I could send you the resources to see this holy place restored.  But I won’t be able to do that if I die here,” I said.

“You noble brats,” the monk grumbled.  “Gold doesn’t solve everything.  This temple is abandoned for a reason, and money won’t fix that.  Thedum’s gaze no longer lingers here.”

“I – I see,” I said.  “Please, I--”

Without turning, the monk pulled something from his robes and tossed it over his shoulder to me.  I caught it; it was a small jar of ointment.

“That will stop the bleeding and the pain,” the monk said.  “Put it on the wound.”

“Thank you!” I exclaimed.  “I shall be right back.”

I stepped out of the monk’s cell and into one of the empty rooms in the cloister before pulling my pants down to apply the ointment.

Bleeding has stopped

Medicine applied.  +10 health per second (5 minutes)

Sighing in relief, I quickly pulled a new pair of pants out of my inventory and changed into them.  The ones I had been wearing were completely ruined.  Even if I could get the bloodstains out, there were too many holes to consider patching.  [Analyzing] them, I saw that even the name had changed from [High Quality Pants] to [Bloody and Torn Pants].  I sighed.

The healing effect of the medicine would help me regain three thousand health, but I would have to rely on my natural regeneration to regain the remainder.  Unless I were to drink another healing potion, but I judged that it wasn’t worth it.  Not as long as I was safe from the hounds.

I returned to the monk’s cell to thank him and warn him not to go outside until the pack of beasts had dispersed.

“Thank you, brother, for the medicine,” I said.  “You may very well have saved my life.  I must warn you that there is a pack of Ramsay hounds outside the temple, it was they that wounded me.  I would not--”

“Yes yes, I know about the hounds,” the monk said, still scribing his document.  “Delightful little pups they are.”

“Delightful?” I asked, confused.  “They’re vicious beasts!  They chased me for miles and--”

“Of course they chased you.  You ran from them.  Everyone knows that Ramsay hounds will chase you if you’re foolish enough to run from them,” the monk said.  “That’s like saying that a cat will play with the mouse it cornered before eating it.”

“I--” I did not know what to say.  “May I ask where we are?  I was sent through a portal and I’m quite lost.”

“You’re somewhere where you won’t cause any more havoc for the time being, Earl Jeoran,” the monk answered.  He finished writing and began to sprinkle sand on the parchment to dry the ink.  “For now, that is all you need to know.”

He stood, and I realized that he was half a head taller than most men.  When he turned to me, I almost recoiled at the sickly gray pallor of his skin.

“Come with me, child.  I have a task for you.”