The Lich's Master

Chapter 6: To Burn Bridges, Literally

He stroked the neck of the brown horse as he waited. He wasn’t dumb enough to go searching for a knight in the middle of a forest. As the dumb one had already demonstrated that class was quite powerful and required minimal intelligence.

A minute passed, then a second, then a third. Kyle waited patiently, an unlit torch in hand. Not long after, a rustle sounded from the dense forest on the other side of the bridge. As the sound of snapping branches and crushed dry leaves reached his ears, Kyle stood up and lit his torch from the small campfire he made a while ago.

He walked forward and stood at the edge of the cliff. The front of his boots touched the wooden planks of the bridge as someone burst through the woods on the other side.

Kyle’s faint smile vaporised as soon as he saw the other person.

“Not you again!” He cried out as the knight of his demise also froze mid step.

“You!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, prompting Kyle into action. The young mean threw the torch in his hand over the knight’s head, onto the other end of the bridge, and immediately drew his blade. He could not let this guy into melee range.

“So, uh.” He said as he tightly grasped the hilt of his blade with both hands. He stared at the knight rushing towards him with no regards for the growing flames behind him. “Sorry, but I really need you gone!” He raised his blade and brought it down upon the ropes holding up the wooden bridge.

The knight’s eyes widened as he realised what Kyle was doing, which was quite surprising, since Kyle was more than a little sure he wouldn’t even notice. “Come on fight me like a man!” The knight shouted as he tried to get to the end of the bridge. Kyle raised his blade again and cut the other rope as well.

An ear piercing creak sounded as the bridge wobbled. Two more ropes remained, and Kyle quickly got to work. His blade cut through one of them swiftly, and just as he prepared to cut the last one, a snap sounded, immediately followed by a loud crack.

The Knight, who had almost reached this side of the bridge, let out quite the surprised and angry scream as the bridge snapped beneath his feet. Kyle watched as the player plummeted into the mist below, and soon a system notification popped up.

‘Player Killed’

‘Gained 100 EXP, 5 Glory’

He sighed and stepped back. His gaze lingered on the other side of the cliff, where what remained of the bridge was dangling as the flames consumed it.

“Let’s hope that fire doesn’t spread into the woods.” He muttered before turning his back on the chasm.

The horse tied to a fencepost neighed as he passed by it. It didn’t seem upset in the slightest. “So…” he muttered. Was mount theft even a thing in this game? “Why not give it a try?” He mumbled and untied the horse’s rope.

The horse neighed again and trotted in a circle. Was it just Kyle’s imagination, or was it happy?

“Alright. Um…” he tilted his head. “Why don’t you just… uh…” he bit his lips. “Go and be free?” He asked with a hopeful expression. He couldn’t afford to keep a horse around, he didn’t quite trust the Lich Cacophus enough not to turn the horse into a skeletal horse, and he’d hate to see any harm come to this sweet animal.

“Just… run along now.” He shood the horse away and headed back to the elves. A quest completion popup hadn’t appeared yet, so he was a little worried that they were pissed about the destruction of the bridge.

He soon arrived at the orchards, only to be met by a single elf who, with a somewhat tired expression, gestured at him to follow. Kyle did as the elf asked, and they soon arrived under a rather large tree.

The large tree had vibrant green leaves, and the crystal fruits hanging from its branches let out a mild blue glow. They were at least twice as large as the other trees’ fruits, and much more vibrant in colour. Or at least, that’s what it looked like at first glance.

As his gaze lingered on the tree, he spotted the white lines running across the nooks and cracks on the dark bark of the tree. There were pale spots on the vibrant leaves, and the fruits’ glow wasn’t quite so vibrant as those of the other trees.

“It’s sick.” Kyle muttered softly. “That’s why you’ve been so protective of this place.” He turned his gaze on the elven leader. The tall elf chuckled softly. His palms were pressed against the roots of the tree, a soft, green glow emanating from his hands.

“It is sick.” His voice was but a sorrowful whisper. “Dying, because it’s life source has been cut off.” He looked at Kyle over his shoulder, his eyes filled with hatred. “By those vile humans who stop at nothing to tame the land.” He hissed.

Kyle gulped. The elf’s bright blue eyes burned with hatred as their gazes met.

“I killed the knight.” He said in a hurry. “I’m sure he’ll come back eventually, but I also freed his horse, so it should be a while before he can come back.” He paused. Did these elves know about the respawn mechanic in the game? Or had he just screwed himself over by saying that? Seeing the elf’s genuinely surprised expression, he quickly came to the conclusion that yes, he had screwed up.

“You killed him?” The elf repeated. “I thought you weren’t a very good fighter?” He lifted his hands from the tree roots and stood up as the green glow slowly faded.

“I’m not.” Kyle said with an awkward smile. “I destroyed the bridge. He fell.” He admitted. He didn’t feel ashamed for it, but it was still an odd way of defeating someone.

“Oh.” Seeing the disappointed and confused expressions of the elves, he shrugged. He had no tales of heroism or glorious combat to tell them.