Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

18 Stumpy and Grumpy

"Have you two seen any Cutthroats in this area? Besides myself, I mean?"

The bear and the smith both shook their heads.

"No, not at all. Cutthroats wouldn't be interested in this part of the forest anyway. Most folks stay away for fear of running into that gigantic forest beast." the bulky blacksmith rubbed his beard as he answered.

"Gigantic forest beast?" asked Sam.

"Aye, the one that flies. Like most beasts of its ilk, it feeds on men and their souls. What they don't know is that the beast only attacks when you get near its lair. The parts of the forest close to here are a safe haven. The cliffs however are not, that's where it roosts. I pray you don't find yourself near one of those, lest you end your life as a morsel. Hahahaha."

Sam was unsettled by the smith's revelations, but he wasn't completely put off by them. The northern part of the forest sounded like a suitable place to find some useful items, maybe something to help with his inevitable fight against Rondo and his Cutthroats. Before Sam left the duo of Sedwin and his master, Barrington, he bought an item called Phoenix Floo.

Phoenix Floo

Teleport to last bonfire rested at.

A potent mixture of ashen remains and soul power creates the floo. The ashen remains are typically collected from the fiery beacons that dot the land of the undead. Phoenix Floo was so named because of the resonant feeling it brings to the undead who use it. They feel reborn from the fiery ash of the Beacon Fires every time they travel through the cinders.

Sam was glad to finally be able to have the option to teleport back to base. He knew that would come in handy. Before he exited, he eyed an expensive tool called Soul Bound Refinement Kit.

Soul Bound Refinement Kit

Upgrade weapons at a campsite.

Talented blacksmiths have become a rarity in the world, even moreso in the land of the undead. Because of this, warriors have desperately tried their hand at the art with mixed results. This smithing kit comprises their best efforts at invention. The tools within the kit are capable of manipulating the souls within a weapon and nothing more.

Barrington explained to Sam that the kit allowed him to upgrade his weapons whenever he rested at a Beacon Fire and that the upgrading was limited to soul drain and awakening. Sam could only upgrade with any ore he'd collected with a real blacksmith. The kit was too expensive to purchase now, but Sam made a mental note to buy it later.

He left Sedwin's camp and headed further north, into the forest. As he traveled along the path, he rigorously hunted for treasure chests. He didn't find much along the way. He did get something called a Warrior's Soul from a corpse he'd come across lying under a tree and three Decoy Souls from a corpse near that. He didn't want to stop to read the descriptions now, but he did vaguely remember the Warrior's Soul giving a small amount of souls for the player to use when it was used and the Decoy Soul being used to lure enemies wherever it was thrown. He continued to walk under the tall trees, carefully looking around for any threats and treasure. He jumped backwards when some kind of giant coconut fell in front of him.

"What the hell?" he wondered out loud.

He looked up at the tall tree and didn't see any other hazards, unless the massive branches decided to fall off. As he was looking up something ran right into his legs and knocked him over.

"Ow! What the—"

His health drained by a tenth and whatever had attacked was quickly approaching again. He rolled out of the way and looked for the thing that was attacking. He turned around and saw that the thing had bumped into a tree and knocked down another identical looking creature from the tree. They were strange looking creatures, both covered in some sort of giant brown shell with stumpy arms and legs and a tiny head. They both stood and wobbled around like they were dizzy. Neither was tall enough to reach above Sam's knee. He quickly ran up and attacked, while they were dizzy, with quick thrusts to their fleshy heads with his Rapier. Luckily the two didn't have much HP so he dispatched them quite easily and got two hundred souls from each.