It took a while to explain to Meph what was going on, but once he saw my stats, that all changed. Somehow, for some reason, I was now at Level 68. From ten. With no explanation.

  I looked into the deep dive of my stats, and across the board everything was much higher than it had been just moments before, my base stats all in the double figures, from strength to intelligence. My new lowest was still constitution, but even that was higher than Oli’s now.

  “Did they boost my levels so I could still be a help to Oli?” I wondered aloud.

  “That sure doesn’t sound like them,” Meph replied, then after a moment. “So, you’re going then?”

  I looked up at the tiefling, his expression strangely flat. Meanwhile, I’m sure a range of emotions fluctuated across my own face. After all, this had come on so suddenly, I hadn’t had a chance to plan for any of it. But more than that - the idea of an adventure excited me, but the idea of only doing it because I was forced to, no reward for my own? It didn’t feel great.

  But then, there was Oli…

  “Nah, I figure we’ll maybe go eventually, but there’s nothing to make us go right away,” Oli finally piped in after silently stroking Griff for ages. Griff did not seem to mind. At all. “There’ll be other quests anyway, why should we go running after Tahlia and try and beat her to this reward. Let her have it.”

  We both turned to the Player who didn’t want to play the game.

  “What?” Oli grinned back. “Look, I told her I’d go on a quest, and sure, I will some day. And with Rusty too, of course. But I don’t want to do it right now, I’m loving it here just fine. We’ll go when we’re ready.”

  I glanced between Griff and Oli, and sighed.

  “Yeah, I guess. Xandra will be pissed, but as long as we go eventually. She did seem kinda pushy about it, dunno why. I mean, it almost felt like there was some urgency to this quest, like something was wrong.”

  “She told you about tha—” Meph started, but before he could finish (or I could grill him on it, because oh yes, I noticed that), a notification popped up in my display that I had never seen before.

  WARNING! Durrilan has been invaded

  What happened next all took place in seconds.

  I turned towards Meph to ask him what that meant, as Oli, who must have gotten the same message, brought his arms tighter around Griff. Meph, however, was leaping towards us, shouting something. But whatever it was got drowned out as the wall behind him exploded, bricks, mortar, glass and wood erupting in our direction, a wave of force sending us all flying back.

  I must have blacked out for a second, but when I came to, I found myself covered in debris. All around were sounds of chaos, and the temperature seemed to have doubled instantly. I heard screaming. Lots of screaming.

  I groaned as the ringing in my ears subsided, and I pushed the debris off of myself. Which then gave me pause. I’d assumed it must have been small rocks and stones for me to have moved it so easily, but when it crashed to the ground with a thunderous slam, I realised it was a three foot chunk of solid stone wall that had been lying on top of me.

  I didn’t have time to process it, as I immediately started spinning about the room…or former room, I guess. Rooms tend to be enclosed, and the common area of the Hall was now open to the elements, gouts of flame sprouting up around the surrounding town.

  “Oli? Griff? Meph? Where are you? Oli!”

  “Over here,” I heard Oli groan loudly. I ran over towards him, finding him ducking for cover behind a chunk of wall still connected to the floor. Griff was still in his arms, the grifflet’s fur and feathers puffed out in alarm, eyes wide, claws digging into Oli’s arm as he let out a high-pitched yowl.

  As I slid in beside them, I quickly glanced over Oli’s stats, noting his health had been knocked down a notch and he had the unsteady debuff. Another explosion rang out, some of the screaming abruptly cut off, as new yells appeared to replace them. The Town Guard NPCs had been generated, for the first time since my own arrival, men of various sizes and races in beautiful, ornate armour of green and silver rushing towards the site of the last blast. None spared a glance to us, but this was an adventurers hall after all. We could handle ourselves.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, as I took Griff from Oli’s arms. Griff yowled again and buried his face into the folds of my cloak, panting heavily, his little chest expanding and contracting at speed.

  “My health took a hit, but no major injuries, mainly scrapes and cuts, that’s all. I used a healing potion, and Heal Pet on Griff. I’m just glad it let me do that, what with Griff being your pet and not mine an’ all. He’d…taken a worse hit,” he looked at me apologetically, then at the cowering grifflet. “I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to apologise for. You did good,” I said, planting a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. The fact that his health still had a chunk off despite having taken a potion concerned me, so I cast a minor healing spell on his to recover his health the rest of the way over time. Griff, for his part, was in perfect health, though I noted dried patches of blood in his fur. I felt my stomach twist. “Where’s Meph?” I asked.

  “Vanished over the buildings ahead, trying to get a better view of the threat. I’ve not seen him since…” Oli said, concern clear on his face.

  “Don’t worry, I found him on the map. He’s heading back this way.” I stood and moved out from the rubble, to watch for my friend.

  Meph vaulted over the roof of the building in front of the Guild Hall, coolly landing in the ruined courtyard with ease. He jogged over towards us, his face looking tight, like he was holding something back.

  “It’s a mob. A high level one, too high for this early in the game season. It’s in the town, attacking as it approaches. It had launched something at the Hall as it entered the town, an opening volley, but my guess is it can’t use the same attack again right away,” he stated it all matter-of-factly, before he scanned over each of us in turn.

  “How? Mobs aren’t supposed to be able to enter Durrilan. It’s a safe zone,” I said.

  “Yes, but even a safe zone can become hostile or in danger during plot events,” Meph said, looking directly at me and Oli.

  “Plot events? This whole thing barely has a plot—” I started, but things started clicking into place the moment I said it.

  “You haven’t noticed more and more of the descriptions having little hints at story elements lately? There’s a point to this whole game, for Everything’s sake, I’ve been trying to drill that in to you from the very start, whilst being sensitive to you. But the time for sensitivity is over, Rusty. They’re—”

  I cut Meph off. “They’re pushing us into going on the quest…” I said.

  Meph looked grim, before giving a tight nod.

  “We…we’ll just go. I—Oh my god, Griff…can you look after him, Meph? I can’t take him with us. We’ll go and—”

  “No!” Oli shouted, standing up. He pulled his axe from his storage space, the huge broadhead weapon forming in his right hand, as he slapped the haft into his left. “We stand and fight. I’m not letting this happen to our town.”

  “Oli, this isn’t the time to play hero. This isn’t the quest—” I started.

  “Rusty is right, Oli. If you guys go, the attack will eventually end. We’ll be able to put the town back together,” Meph added.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “And how many will die while the mob cools down and passes through?” Oli glared at the tiefling, standing firm.

  “They’ll come back. They won’t even remember. Isn’t that right, Meph?” I looked to the tiefling, but the look on his face made me freeze. “Isn’t it?”

  Meph looked around, then down at Griff in my arms. “No. Not for plot events, or any major event that happens. Damage on that scale, or that should have lasting repercussions is permitted. Those dead will be replaced, but the original NPCs, they…they stay dead. Gone. Forever.”

  A thought rushed through me, they’re not even real anyway, what does that matter. But it did matter. I don’t really know why it does, but it does. I remembered what happened to Serena, the barmaid NPC, and even when that was fixed how much the knowledge of what I’d done to her felt like a scar on some unseen part of me, whether she remembered or not. I looked at the grifflet in my arms, the moody, temperamental, ball of feathers and fur. He’d finally stopped shaking, but his eyes looked back up at me, enlarged. Terrified.

  No, it mattered.

  I handed Griff to Meph. “Look after him. Keep him safe. This does matter. I won’t let them think they can do this to us, to you, or to Durrilan.”

  Oli smiled. “Now who sounds like a hero.”

  “That’s your job,” I said, standing next to him, pulling a short sword from my inventory and flames forming in my hand. “I’m just an NPC. But this NPC can fight back.”

  We raced through the ruined courtyard, and towards the sounds of death of destruction.

  It didn’t take long to find the source of the attack. We rounded the corner from the weaponsmith’s store, itself broken open by explosive force, and onto the main town square. The mob was there.

  We ducked behind the rubble, as we planned our course of attack.

  I popped my head over the edge to view the mob. He was a single, solitary figure shrouded in a heavy looking black cloak, his face mostly hidden in shadow bar his lower jaw that looked starkly white, and two silver eyes that almost shone out from the dark of his cowl. He stood amidst a ring of corpses, some cut down, some exploded into barely recognisable chunks. The level of detail on the gore was surprising, not just because previously mobs died in gory fashion but usually disappeared shortly after, but because some of these NPCs lying dead in the street looked familiar to me. It was unsettling. Guards and civilians were killed, the mob didn’t seem to care who he targeted.

  I focused harder for more details.

  Trespasser

  Lv. 40

  Agent of the Highest King

  The mysterious Trespasser is an excellent infiltration specialist, with a range of attacks and spells to his use that allows him to either sneak in and out or hit with maximum damage in as little time as possible. The Highest King sends this secretive assassin out only in times of darkest need, or when [REDACTED].

  There is no reasoning with the Trespasser, he is single-minded on his mission, whatever it may be. He has his target in mind, and he will not rest until [REDACTED] is killed.

  “Redacted?” I murmured. “Also, real imaginative name there, guys. I can see what Meph meant about you lot not being very creative,” I groaned, looking up into the smoke-filled sky.

  But there was that mention of a ‘Highest King’ again. I would need to ask Meph about that. Perhaps it was an in-game pseudonym for the Board? The fact his own description suggested he was, or may still be, an agent of the Highest King was not lost on me.

  “So what’s the plan?” Oli asked, itching to enter the fray.

  I thought for a moment. “He’s a higher level than you. Surprisingly so. Like, he’ll be a challenging opponent for you kinda disparity, and I can’t imagine they’re so pissed at you they want to wipe you out right away,” It was another weird inconsistency. The mobs have often been higher levels, but not so high to be a major challenge to Oli, so why was this one? At well over a dizen levels higher, it would most likely kill Oli in a head on clash. “But now, he’s a massively underleveled opponent for me. Obviously he’ll go after you. So, when I say, you head out to the right, drawing his focus, and I’ll get over to the left, and just obliterate him with a fireball. That’s a high level, high damage spell, so you need to run straight towards cover, okay?”

  “You don’t want me to get any hits in?” Oli asked.

  “Not on this one,” I said. “It’s too dangerous. Besides, I’m the one who’s really pissed at him, this has been my home for years now, and he’s blown it all up.”

  “Years? But it’s— never mind. Okay, just gimme the signal.”

  I counted on my fingers, held up between us, and gave a sharp nod as my last finger went down, each of us racing off in different directions. Oli shouted to grab the Trespasser’s attention, and for a moment, he looked at him.

  But then he turned toward me.

  Before I could wonder what was going on, the Trespasser had drawn a cruel looking dagger out and flung it in my direction. I threw up a Barrier spell on instinct, the blade stopping inches from my face.

  For a second, I was taken by the beauty of the design, far more intricate than any weapon I’d seen thus far, aside from Oli’s axe. The blade had a broad, curved top point, tapered into so fine an edge it looked like it could slice through anything. The metal was black and green, shimmering in wavy patterns along the flat of the blade, ornate metalwork where it met the hilt. It hovered there, trapped in the Barrier magic, faintly glowing. I looked past to call out to the attacker, but as I watched he vanished.

  A blink later and he was right in front of me, pulling the dagger away as he spun in the air, the blade shattering the spell, and his foot came harshly through into my gut, propelling me back.

  I let out a gasp as I slammed into the wall across the street, just making out Oli screaming my name. I thought I saw him running towards me, but it was like there were stars in my eyes, and I couldn’t make him out clearly.

  What I could see was the Trespasser, casually walking towards me. I quickly ran through my stats, and saw my health was still full, but there was a note of a broken rib that quickly healed itself.

  Then I saw a tiny blur land between me and the attacker.

  Griff stood there, back arched, tail ramrod straight, facing the Trespasser. The grifflet let out a hiss and spat at the mob. Claws out, he stood his ground, ready to defend me.

  The mob didn’t care at all.

  He stepped forward, and then punted Griff in the side, sending him flying across the square into the rubble of a destroyed NPC home.

  “No!” I screamed, sending magic missiles at the attacker. Before they hit him, he flung his dagger away, over the fountain and he vanished.

  I leapt from the floor, racing over the fallen building. A small explosion sent me tumbling, and I looked over to see Oli thrown back. I spun again, and saw the Trespasser descending from the sky over the fountain, before vanishing again.

  I scrambled to my feet again and started digging through fallen masonry. That’s when I saw him.

  Griff was lying on his side, fallen feathers all around him where he’d struck a piece of broken wall. His eyes were closed. Blood was spattered on the stone where he’d hit and slid down. His fur matted all over, covered in so much blood.

  “No, no, no, don’t do this to me, don’t be—” I leaned in, and I could hear air rasping in and out of Griff’s open mouth. I went to pick him up, but I stopped myself. I checked his stats instead.

  Griff

  Juvenile Grifflet. Pet to Game Guide NPC Russell Sparrow

  Lv. 7

  WARNING: this creature’s health is critically low and is in need of urgent care

  I stood, shouting out for Oli and Meph, as I sent messages to both immediately. They sent replies but I didn’t see them. Oli was taking a swing at the mob with his axe, but the monster vanished again, reappearing behind him, and grabbing his dagger out of the air, bringing it down hilt first on Oli’s head. It sent Oli to the floor.

  The Trespasser looked at me, whirled and flung his dagger at me. It landed in the wood of a splintered beam beside my head, the metal thronging as it vibrated in place. When I looked back to where he’d been standing, he was gone.

  “You missed me, you dumb fuck! Come back and fight me, you fucking coward! You wanna go, let’s fucking go!” I roared, tears streaming down my face.

  As soon as I finished making useless threats, the monster reappeared, directly next to me, looming over me. But he didn’t move. He just watched me from under his hood, face impassive. And then a dribble of blood escaped his lips, and ran down his chin. His shoulders and head slumped, lifeless.

  I looked down the monster’s body, and saw the broad head of an axe just there in the middle of his torso. Not like it had cut into it, it was just…there. Then the half of the Trespasser that was above the axe head slid sideways and tumbled to the street.

  Behind it, holding the haft of the axe in two strong hands, was a grim-faced Oli.

  “You ain’t the only one that can teleport, asshole,” he said.

  “Rusty! Oli!” Meph came barrelling around the corner, racing towards us. “Oh, thank the Everything, you’re okay!”

  “We’re not!” I yelled, pointing into the rubble. “It’s Griff. He tried to protect me. I was the target, and that damn stubborn cat jumped between us, and now he’s…now he’s—”

  “He’s not a…he’s not dead yet,” Meph cut me off, turning to the rubble and kneeling over Griff’s battered and broken form. He hunched over and I could barely see what he was doing, but I felt something shift. I don’t know what, but the air almost felt…charged? A warmth and glow radiated, just for a second, before Meph stood up, holding the grifflet in his hands with care.

  “He’s stable, for now, but we have to get him back to the Hall.” He placed Griff in my arms, and I held him close, careful not to squeeze too tight, as I looked down at him dumbfounded.

  I checked over Griff’s stats - he was in better condition, his health bar about a quarter full, not precariously balancing on the edge. His bones were now unbroken, and he breathed easier, not perfect, but that rattling noise that sent terror through my own core was gone.

  “What did you do?” I looked to Meph, who grabbed me by the shoulder.

  “Nothing, just a health potion. Now come on, we need to get him home and bring him back all the way, this stabilisation won’t last long.”

  A health potion? I looked over to where Griff had been laying, as Meph and Oli guided me away, towards the Hall. The floor looked…strange. I couldn’t place what, almost like small divots or gouges in the ground. Were they there before? It could just have easily been from the explosions, but I couldn’t remember if I’d seen them before.

  It didn’t matter. None of that mattered. Griff was dying in my hands, I could see his health trickling down into the red again, incredibly slowly. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t.

  I can’t lose him.