The Challenge

  Max breathed a sigh of relief when Miriam pointedly stepped aside. What rotten luck that she's in the village. Miriam the Healer was a legend. She was the chairwoman of the Healer's Guild. The only healer who was also a craftswoman. Only she could produce healing bandages. Only with her mysterious serum could the healing potion be brewed. With her needle, she stitched wounds that any other healer would have given up on.

  Miriam had picked him up back when he'd been begging for food by the side of the road. She'd probably saved his life. A lot of people laughed at Miriam's dedication to the NPC children. But Max didn't find it funny. He wasn't an NPC. Definitely not. And if he wasn't one, then neither were the other kids.

  He stole a glance at his old regular table. Kevin and Svenja were staring at him in disbelief. Max smiled smugly. The two of them were the same age and had been his best friends in the village. They'd often talked about running away together and joining the players. But when push came to shove, they'd chickened out. Now Max was a soldier and the two of them were sitting here with the kids.

  His gaze wandered to Sammy, who had taken her usual seat at the table on the edge with Mike. The moment she caught his eye, she stuck her tongue out at him. Max was about to return the favor but caught himself at the last second. That little pest is not an NPC. No way.

  The whole village probably just existed for childcare. The kids were being entertained here while their parents played the game. Like an amusement park. The parents and older siblings got the real rides. Of course Max had wanted out. But Sammy was too young. She didn't understand that Mike wasn't real. She even claimed he was her big brother.

  When Max once explained to her that Mike wasn't her real brother, she'd kicked him square in the shin. He'd still been rubbing his leg in pain when he realized how genuinely furious she was.

  What am I doing here? Guild Master Roy had called on everyone to use their connections to find a cook. So Max had told them about Boris. He hadn't thought the NPC would actually count. He'd just wanted Roy to finally notice him. But now here they were. And Boris looked anything but thrilled.

  "No, thanks. Not interested." Boris turned around and went back to his stew.

  "Don't you at least want to hear what we can offer you?"

  Squad Leader Samuel sounded noticeably irritated. Max could tell the tone was about to shift. As a soldier, you learned quickly to read your squad leader's mood.

  "There are plenty of guilds desperately looking for cooks. If you turn us down, others will be at your door before long." Max swallowed. He was threatening to expose Boris. "The NPC Act only means something to the players as long as their stomachs are full," Guild Master Roy had told him. That was how they planned to convince Boris.

  If the players dragged him out of the village, he'd live as a slave. The Blazing Lion, on the other hand, was offering Boris an honorary position in the guild. A seat in the inner circle. No other guild would make an offer like that to an NPC.

  But Boris just kept stirring his pot. Samuel tried again. "Think about it. This village is going to fall if you stay. Who's going to protect you here?" Miriam drew an angry breath to respond, but Boris beat her to it.

  "Mike will." Everyone followed his gaze to Mike, who was spooning his stew with complete indifference. Sammy was tugging at his sleeve, probably trying to draw his attention to the conversation. But Mike didn't react.

  "I'm sure the questgiver takes good care of the kids here," Samuel said what Max was thinking. "But we're talking about battle-hardened players. When it comes to a cook, even a lieutenant might show up. And then what?"

  "Then the Union sends its generals," Miriam hissed. "And I'm still here. Any guild that lays a finger on an NPC goes on the Healer's Guild blacklist!"

  "Nobody wants to upset you, Healer. But you're rarely in the village." Samuel was speaking to Miriam but looking at Boris. "Aren't there guilds on your blacklist already? And do you really think the Union would risk a war over these NPCs?"

  Miriam fell silent. Samuel didn't. "Boris, be reasonable. We can protect you better out there than Mike can in here." Max was impressed. The squad leader had come well prepared. Boris had to cave now.

  "I'll take my chances here with Mike over out there with a bunch of child soldiers." Max stared at Boris in horror. Is it impossible to convince an NPC?

  "Then I challenge the questgiver," Samuel hissed, low and dangerous. Max could tell from his posture how furious he was. "What do you say, Boris? If I beat Mike in a little fistfight, you come with us."

  "Deal," the cook answered immediately. "But if you lose, you don't tell anyone about me."

  "Deal," Samuel said with a predatory grin.

  Miriam could hardly believe how quickly the situation had slipped away from her. Did Boris have to drag Mike into this? Once the Blazing Lion left, Miriam would find a solution. Or the Union would call the Blazing Lion to order.

  She'd still been searching for a diplomatic way to phrase it when Samuel had already issued his challenge. Worse still, Boris had accepted. How were they going to get out of this? Could Mike beat the stocky man in a fistfight? With his knife, he'd certainly make short work of the squad leader. But with his fists?

  Mike, however, didn't seem particularly interested in what was being discussed. Sammy was now desperately tugging at his arm, but he stubbornly kept spooning his stew. Miriam breathed a sigh of relief. Mike was already getting up and turning away. Miriam opened her mouth to say something… Crash.

  Sammy was standing on the table.

  Dishes shattered, food splattered in every direction, and Mike rubbed his temples. Miriam could tell that Sammy's dreaded nickname was on the tip of his tongue. But Sammy was faster. "My brother accepts the challenge!"

  Miriam watched in horror as Mike's indignation vanished instantly, replaced by an expression of utter astonishment. Then he broke into a wide smile. She rushed over to him. "Mike, what are you doing? Just walk away, I'll handle this."

  He shook his head with regret. "Sorry, Miriam, but Sammy accepted the fight."

  "SHE'S SEVEN, MIKE!" He's only moved because she called him her brother. As far as Miriam knew, Sammy had never done that in his presence before. She only referred to Mike as her brother when he was out of earshot.

  Miriam suspected that Sammy was a little jealous of the other children in the village. They loved Mike's stories and training with him in the forest. There was a time when he'd only told stories to Sammy and only practiced with her in the woods. So suddenly it was very important to her that the other children know Mike was her big brother. It was almost too cute, how possessively she grabbed his hand whenever other kids were nearby.

  Adorable, really, but this is a terrible moment for sentimentality.

  "Mike, please! Bad enough that you dumped this whole thing on me. At least let me sort it out," Miriam tried one more time.

  But he frowned in disapproval. "What do you mean, dumped? I just told Sven to let you know."

  Miriam stared at him in confusion for a moment, then let out an agonized groan. "THEO! You sent me Theo. There is no Sven here."

  Mike's head snapped toward Sammy, who was biting back laughter with tears in her eyes. Mike ground his teeth. "We'll talk about this later, Samhilde," he said sternly, lifting her off the table. But first, Miriam needed a word with Mike. How many villagers has he been calling by the wrong name?

  "So what's it going to be?" Samuel cut in impatiently.

  "I accept the challenge, but I won't fight you," Mike answered, to Miriam's surprise. "As an NPC, I'm not allowed to fight players. As a questgiver, however, I'm prepared to offer you a special quest. A race through the forest," Mike concluded his improvised nonsense.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "That work for you, Boris?" he asked the cook curtly.

  "Yeah, sure, works for me," Boris replied with a shrug.

  Now Max was wide awake.

  "It's a trick, sir," he said quickly, before his squad leader could respond. "Mike teaches the kids tree-running."

  Samuel eyed him with irritation. "The questgiver teaches tree-running? Is that why you're so good at it?"

  "Yes, sir," Max answered proudly. He really was better than many of his older comrades. Most of the kids in the village were nimbler in the forest than the lower-ranking soldiers.

  Mike's classes were very popular. He combined the training with games of tag and races. The children, Max included, loved competing against each other. Once a week, after training, Mike also told the kids a story as a reward. For that, they'd head out to a hidden clearing in the forest in the evening, where they'd built a large fire pit. The race for the best seats and the story that followed were the highlight of the week for many of them.

  But not all two hundred children could participate at once. They had to split into groups, so each of them only got to hear one, at most two stories a month. Everyone except Sammy. She got to listen to every story and always sat right up front next to Mike. It's so unfair. She already wins all the races and tag games anyway, so why… Max caught himself. That old grudge, shared by many of the kids, was so childish. I'm a soldier now!

  "And you think this NPC is better at tree-running than me?" the squad leader interrupted his thoughts.

  Max hesitated. If Mike was even half as fast as Sammy, the squad leader didn't stand a chance. The girl had mastered a unique form of tree-running. She moved like lightning between the trees.

  "I don't know, sir," he answered carefully. "Mike never showed us how fast he is. But he was always waiting for us at the finish line." The squad leader considered him for a moment, then shrugged. "Thanks for the heads-up, soldier. But that doesn't have to mean anything. NPCs do that kind of thing. Just pop up out of nowhere."

  Max nodded gloomily.

  They couldn't report back to their guild master that they'd chickened out against the NPC. But there was one thing Max knew for certain about the questgiver: his quests are impossible.

  "Sorry, little sis. Would you rather I'd beaten him up?" Sammy, who'd been giving him a reproachful look, turned red and started studying her feet.

  Did "brother" just slip out?

  She looked like a student who'd accidentally called her teacher Mom. But the feeling she was radiating seemed more nervous than embarrassed. Intense nervousness, if Mike was picking it up this clearly. Is she afraid I'll reject her? What nonsense.

  Given their age difference, Mike might not have naturally thought of himself as her brother, but at the end of the day, it was just a word. What mattered was the sense of belonging it expressed. Sammy had been family to him for a long time now.

  Mike probably should have talked to Sammy about it like an adult. But heartfelt conversations weren't his world. In these matters, he preferred to stick to the well-known writer's rule: show, don't tell.

  "I accept the challenge!" the squad leader yelled over to them.

  Oh right, the challenge. Mike really hadn't been keen on getting into a fistfight with the guy. The way Samuel kept concentrating his aura in his clenched fist whenever he got angry spoke volumes.

  Real nice of Boris and Sammy to volunteer me on the spot. Mike glanced over at Boris. He liked the gruff older man. He guessed him to be somewhere between fifty and seventy, but kept that to himself. People tended to get touchy when he was too far off on their age.

  "All right then, follow your questgiver to the racecourse," he called over to the waiting unit and set off. "If you want, you can all race me at the same time. In return…"

  "But Sammy's not running, right?" Max cut in immediately. Mike tried not to let his face show anything. He would have loved to see Samuel's face when he lost to a seven-year-old. "Don't worry, Maxi, I'll try to keep your old nemesis away from you," he replied sourly, pushing Sammy demonstratively behind his back.

  "All of you against me, but only one attempt. That's the deal," he added quickly. "After that, the Blazing Lion never tries to poach our cook again."

  "Agreed," Samuel replied coolly.

  Max was seething. That stupid NPC. Now Max supposedly had a little girl for a nemesis. The other soldiers were clearly enjoying his humiliation.

  They didn't like that a twelve-year-old was more talented than them. Max was clearly superior to the others at tree-running and completed his assignments faster than most. The squad leader had urged his unit more than once to take a page out of Max's book. That hadn't helped. The idea that a twelve-year-old might one day outrank them was a thorn in the other soldiers' sides.

  Max knew they were just jealous, but their rejection stung. He'd dreamed of joining a guild, making friends, and going on adventures. Instead, he spent most of his time being sent on errands and receiving ever-shrinking rations. More often than he'd admit, he missed life in the NPC village. But the kids' program was over. This is the real game!

  Mike shouldn't have stuck his neck out like that. Tree-running always involved some luck. When there were no suitable trees within reach, you had to find a new launch point on foot. But with five of them, they had good odds, and Max knew the course. It was the same stretch of forest where the kids always held their races. The rules were simple: first one out the other side wins. Max had a favorite route where the trees stood at ideal intervals.

  He positioned himself excitedly and waited tensely for the starting signal. If I win this race, they'll celebrate me. Then everything gets better.

  The others were ready too. Mike had chosen a starting point farther out. Miriam, Boris, and Sammy were making their way through the forest. They would witness the finish. Sammy was supposed to whistle once they got there. And then the shrill signal rang out.

  Max didn't hesitate. He braced his foot against the tree and gathered his aura. Then he pushed it into the trunk. And practically flew. That rush…

  The players had discovered that trees also possessed a kind of aura. They called this natural aura "natura." Anyone who tried to channel their aura into living wood was practically catapulted away by the natura. The stronger the aura, the farther the flight. That was how tree-running was born. Players launched themselves off trees in a controlled way, leaping through the forests in great bounds. A lot depended on finding trunks that grew at the right distances from each other, but Max knew this stretch of forest very well. After just a few jumps, he already had a solid lead on the others.

  "You're doing great, Max." Mike's voice. "Glad you kept practicing." Max froze. What?!

  Mike was standing a few meters ahead of him, leaning against a tree. Hadn't he started all the way on the outside? "You know you can come back, right? The other kids would be happy to see you."

  Max didn't answer and jumped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mike launch at the exact same moment and land at the exact same spot. "Food is getting scarcer. You soldiers will be the first to feel it."

  Impossible. Max had used more aura this time, and Mike still landed at the same moment, right beside him.

  "You don't have to be afraid. Nobody's angry. Just stay here." Max said nothing. "Think about it. And Max… please don't get your little friends killed." Max blinked in confusion. What was he talking about? The older kids in the village looked out for the younger ones, that was obvious. As if Max would sic other players on them. He knew how some players treated NPCs. He'd been one long enough himself. Hurt, he looked away. That he'd think that of me. I just want to play too.

  When he turned back, Mike was gone. Max stared after him in disbelief. The forest was getting denser, the gaps smaller. The kids had always slowed down here because it was simply too dangerous.

  Mike moved at full speed through the tightest sections. He didn't just use his feet, he ducked under branches, pulled himself past trees with his hands, twisted mid-jump, and kept going without ever stopping. Fluid. Flawless. Like a sleepwalker. In seconds, he was gone.

  We never had a chance. Just another impossible quest.

  Miriam was more than a little stunned when Mike stepped out of the forest. Incredible, how fast he is. She really shouldn't have been surprised. Even back in the jungle, he'd moved with supernatural speed. That was a result of his depth perception. He processed his surroundings subconsciously and could dodge obstacles without thinking about it.

  Sammy ran up to him and held out her hand for a high five. Mike smiled, slapped it, and walked over to Miriam. "So what place did I come in? Top three at least?"

  Miriam rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Mike. I don't think Samuel's going to find it as amusing, though." Mike raised his hands helplessly. "Should we offer him a different NPC as a consolation prize?"

  "Sure, Mike, why don't you name a few," she shot back. Mike winced and gave the grinning Sammy a smack on the back of the head. They spent the rest of the time in silence. We'll talk about this later.

  Fifteen minutes after Mike, Samuel finally burst out of the forest. He got his bearings, then stared at Mike in horror. "Close race. I just got here myself," Mike lied diplomatically as the squad leader approached them darkly. Shortly after, his soldiers emerged from the forest one by one, Max last. Unlike the others, he didn't ask who'd won. He just glared at Mike.

  "Where were you, soldier?" Samuel barked at him. "Isn't this the forest you trained in? Why the hell are you last?" Apparently, the squad leader needed someone to take his frustration out on.

  "Sir, the whole thing was rigged," Max answered, equally agitated. "I watched him run," he said, pointing at Mike. "This NPC can't be beaten at tree-running. You could blindfold him and he'd still take the fastest route. It's his programming."

  Miriam watched the scene with a heavy heart. Mike had inadvertently reinforced Max's belief that he was an NPC. His ability made that impression all too easy to create, unfortunately. His role as questgiver was a constant point of contention between them.

  She understood why he did it. Was impressed by the sacrifice he'd made. But he played the part far too well. The way he sat there, secluded from the village, in front of his dark pit… He was incredibly convincing. You couldn't approach him anymore without immediately feeling watched. When he focused on someone, his eyes practically burned into the back of their skull. A threatening stare, the kind the longnecks must have used.

  The impression of standing before a system-critical NPC was devastatingly believable. This was how he protected the village. But what was he doing to the players? The questgiver had become a cornerstone of the Game Theory. Whenever someone doubted, they were reminded of the questgiver.

  Mike looked sadly at Max's accusing finger, then turned around without a word and left. Miriam sighed. The players liked to walk away from NPCs mid-sentence. Mike returned the favor.

  Samuel didn't find it funny at all. "You're not going anywhere until we've settled this." He caught up with Mike in a fury and reached out to spin him around by the shoulder. Then he stopped. And stepped back from him, his face white as chalk.

  It wasn't until his soldiers tentatively caught up to him that he composed himself. "Damn NPC Act. Let's move out."