Might as Well

For eons, parents warned children to beware of strangers who offered them illicit substances. Sam wasn’t any different. He was warned, ignored that warning, tried those same illicit substances, found them quite lame (never going for the heavier categories), and then mostly ignored them.

The other Sam, however, spent a not-so-considerable amount of his money he earned while playing Magic Unbound on those substances to suppress his pain, longing, and sometimes guilt. Or just because one or another was the current fad, he desperately wanted in with the popular crowd. Said the crowd. However, time and time again, they saw the vulnerability in the other Sam, used him up until he ran out of money, and then they threw him away, forgetting about him within seconds.

The other Sam even made sure to sample some of Anor’s Blessing. One of the guilds who planned to make money off in-game drugs tried a very ‘clever’ plan. They made new characters and went to sign up as nuns. Well, the people they had working for them.

It worked for a while, then the calamities struck.

Apparently, in-game gods didn’t like when you exploited their followers for that sweet, sweet high.

What it boiled down to was that Sam had seen the effects of the offered drug, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

He simply shook his head with an apologetic smile on his face. “I’m afraid not today.”

The priestess of Anor didn’t seem offended. “Not to worry, our God’s blessing is as patient as the oak in the forest,” she replied while another nun, dressed head to toe in protective gear, approached her and handed over a beautifully carved box. She took it with a quiet thanks, then turned to Sam holding it out of the box for him to take.

“However, if you ever feel the need to partake, then please accept our gift in honor of your visit, dear guest,” she said with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

Knowing that the alchemist back home would go bananas over a free pile of the material, he reached out and accepted the gift with a bow.

“Thank you, honored priestess.”

“It is the least we can do,” she replied with a sad smile, replacing her previously smiling features.

‘And there is the hook…’ he inwardly rejoiced while keeping his face calm and somewhat inquisitive.

“Oh, what for?”

The priestess bowed again. “I’m afraid by coming here, honored guest, you have signed your death warrant. None who visited our small paradise on this material plane and then left have survived beyond the borders.”

“And you didn’t try to figure out what is happening?”

The priestess shook her head. “Anor bade us to be peaceful. Seeking out conflict like that is beyond our tenets. And as the phenomenon hasn’t broken through our wards, we saw no need to interfere,” she explained placidly.

‘And there is the downside of their religion… the law of the jungle…’

The followers of Anor were hardcore believers of that particular law. Basically, if you weren’t strong enough to protect yourself and died, then it was your fault and nature will use you as a fertilizer.

“I see… Any idea what is happening outside of your border?” he asked, despite already knowing the big picture of the quest. It was a pretty famous ‘event’ in other Sam’s life. Mostly because so many people were focused on the damned drug.

“We shall only behold what our God has tasked us with,” came the noncommittal answer, which Sam interpreted as: ‘We have an idea of what is going on and we are terrified.’

He smiled at her. “Then I shall see to it. It would behoove me to help the flock of the god of nature.”

Her smile grew. “Oh, would you? We shall be very thankful if you could uncover this… unfortunate… mystery.”

Translation: they didn’t like the lack of returning customers.

Sam bowed again. “Then if there are no more issues, I should be going.”

His host continued to smile and motioned to the side toward one of the walls of the giant cavern, lined with all sorts of storage solutions, from small boxes to giant barrels.

“Before you go, honored guest, why don’t you peruse our offerings? I’m sure we can find something that interests you!”

And peruse he did.

The priests of Anor didn’t sell the fruit (or vegetable) of their labor, but naturally, they accepted donations in the name of their god. Confusing, contradictory, but Sam had neither the need nor want to untangle this.

He simply chose some of the best materials for potion making, made the donations, said his goodbyes, and headed for the border between the grounds of the temple and the wilds.

Sam idly glanced back and saw several priestesses watching him leave, and even some of them exchanging items with each other while staring at him with anticipation.

‘I suppose in the middle of nowhere you find entertainment where you can…’ he mused as he chuckled to himself.

He cracked his neck, stopping just before the ward, and took out a small sample of the devil’s cabbage. He put it in one of his pockets, not his inventory, made a last check of his equipment and his mana, and stepped through the ward line.

Instantly, he was on alert, looking for the thing that was supposed to be preying on people leaving the abbey grounds.

However, there was nothing.

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and the odd bear deer were calling out in the distance, joined by the ever-present sounds that are always found out in the wilds.

Pretending to look around and shrugging his shoulders, he put his hands into his jacket pocket and began walking back toward civilization.

Thankfully, his information was accurate as not long after he left the abbey grounds, and well out of the view of the priestesses (though he suspected they had some farseeing ability) the sky began to darken, with gray clouds blocking out the sun while the temperature dropped and a small but persistent fog began to make itself known.

He acted as if this wasn’t suspicious at all, closed his jacket to ward off the cold, and continued his journey.

After all, there was no need to spook his would-be attacker.

Soon the fog began to thicken and he could even see tiny droplets of humidity beginning to freeze over at the tip of taller grass stalks. Meanwhile, the weather just got darker and darker as he walked forward.

Completely ignoring the fact that he had just walked by the same copse of trees for the third time.

‘The sacrifices I make for some experience points…’ he sighed inwardly.

Sam was about to give up and just rush the one behind this shoddily constructed illusion when he heard a quiet sniffing.

‘Finally…’

Relieved that the main attraction was finally going to start, he called out loudly. “Who is there? Do you need any help?”

Predictably, the sniffing got louder, with a little crying added in for effect.

“Please… hold on! I’m coming!” he called out, trying to sound like a desperate hero rushing to defend the weak and those in need.

He rushed forward, magical defenses ready to tank whatever was coming for him, and one hand on his sword.

Sam cut through the next few bushes – next to the same copse of trees he went past several times – only to see someone, dressed in rather roughly torn and dirtied priestess garb, lying on the ground and sobbing into their hands.

‘Man…even evil creatures are phoning it in nowadays…’ he complained inwardly while continuing with his naïve persona.

“Excuse me, miss… are you all right?” he asked while reaching forward to touch the ‘woman’ on her shoulder.

The sobbing continued, but the moment his hand was within reach of the person, a lot of things happened at the same time.

The being’s face snapped around, turning its head unnaturally like a mannequin from a cheap haunted house (even included the weird sound that plastic makes when it rubs against plastic) and Sam had a moment to take in the sunken cheeks, sunken eye sockets with eyes that had no spark of life in them, ashen skin – not as a natural skin color but as a discoloration of the result of something – and teeth that would have horrified nine out of ten dentists.

Then the person’s hand also moved at an incredible speed. The fingers, or rather claws, quickly found their way to Sam’s forearm and locked it down with surprising strength. He could have broken it, but he wanted to see where this thing ended so simply pretended to be caught.

Laughter ran through the area, originating from the being in front of him. It was ugly and sent shivers down his spine.

“What is going on, miss?” he asked, still trying to pretend he was scared.

The face of the ‘woman’ was split almost in twain by their ugly misshapen smile, yellowed sharp teeth glinting with their saliva as it let out a cackle, and mana began to froth around them.

The dark atmosphere was suddenly shattered returning Sam’s environment to the idyllic green hills and sparse trees with the sun shining down on them, but before he could appreciate the increase in temperature the frothing mana took the shape of a portal and the monster simply dragged him through so fast his legs just flew in the air as if they were flags on a pole.

“Oh no…I am being kidnapped~~~”

The trip was short and before he knew it, Sam was unceremoniously dumped in front of some kind of hut in a desolate area, surrounded by a stone and wooden barricade covered by overgrowth.

His kidnapper was already some distance away, squatting on the ground and cradling in their hands the small sample of devil’s cabbage and muttering crazily.

“Yes, yes… the smell… yes, show me… show me the world… I see everything and hear everything…” they muttered as they quickly snorted the dust up their noses then spent a lot of effort with their weirdly long tongue trying to lick the small bottle clean.

As Sam stood up and took stock of the situation, the hut’s door slammed open and a craggy voice called out.

“Pet! Pet! What did you bring me? Is it delicious? Is it scrumptious?”

As the high began to set in on the monster that kidnapped him, it still had the presence to answer the voice.

“Exciting! Brave! Tried to help…heheheheh…So brave!” Then it trailed off into mutterings as it stared at a particular blade of grass and poked it with its sharp nails, completely ignoring the world outside of them.

There was a pause then the voice in the hut began to cackle.

“My my… a brave one?” they asked and Sam could hear some movement from the building in front of him.

Instead of speaking up, he began to observe the area with his mana sense. There were the obvious magical plants and the stone and wood that was around him was also filled with mana, while a very slippery illusion-like magic covered the entire area, filling the air with mana that did its best to stay unseen.

His attention returned to the hut as two dull lights appeared, sickly yellow, trained directly at him before the rest of the owner of the voice appeared.

A demon shaped like every stereotypical witch from every folk tale used to scare children. Stooped shoulders, scraggly and wrinkly skin, moles with exactly three hairs in them, giant hooked nose (and nose hair), long fingers gripped a gnarly walking stick adorned with hundreds of mystical charms and dressed in a black robe that had been patched more times than Sam could count.

She even had a very pointy hat.

He was kind of jealous of that…

She shuffled forward, leering at him before continuing to speak.

“Well…well, you’re a delicious one, aren’t you, dearie?” she asked, licking her lips and showcasing her appalling dental hygiene. “And all that for little old me? How delightful!”

Sam could feel disgusting tendrils of mana sneak out from the witch heading for him, no doubt intent on snaring him but he had other plans.

With a twist of his own mana, the tendrils were shredded, and he gave the witch an unfriendly smile.

“I heard you have been harassing poor priestesses. What for?”

The demonic witch just cackled, seemingly unbothered that her attack was destroyed.

“Aren’t you precious, sugarplum?” Another cackle and ten times as many tendrils emerged from ‘her’. Sam shredded those, too. “Why else for? My little pet here is so hungry… I can’t deny her…”

“Yeah, the drugs probably go to her, but what do you do with the carriers?”

Another nasty smile from the witch. She raised her stick and rapped on the ground once, the sound oddly echoing around the area while the mana in the ground began to stir.

“Why don’t you meet with them, honey? After all, you cute ones are going to be great friends!”

By the time she finished the sentence, the first decaying hand broke the ground near her.