World Online



The sound of boots hitting the fresh mud was the only thing audible. 

It was absolutely quiet in the forest, and perhaps here and there, whispers could be heard. 

Jake stopped for a brief moment once more, taking a look to the left, where the ravine that the zombie army had taken before. 

The tracks of the zombie army were still there, telling them exactly where they were coming from. And, the ravine was long enough to follow for quite a while. 

They knew that they were not going to get lost. Not even close. 

Tapping on his right knee, Jake kept up the pace. He was hoping he could cover a little more distance before they stopped. 

Ping!

[Time to stop. Its been twelve hours since we started and it is best if we stop right now.]

A message arrived in Jake's inbox.

"Damn it. I spent a whole one week in the game. Can't these bozos spend a few hours? You are in a half asleep state in the real world anyway! You are not going to die if you stay awake for a few days." Jake shook his head and sighed. 

"I guess there is no stopping this." He said as he stopped walking, turning around. 

"Time to stop, guys. Looks like we are going to camp in the woods today." He said. 

"Camping already?" Myriad Arrows had a condescending tone.

"Don't judge me. Judge the people behind. They are the ones who asked for this. Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it. We have to stop for now." Jake shrugged. 

He then raised his hand. 

"Better just send a message in the guild chat. I don't want to shout here. Who knows what is in the forest right now?" Jake said. 

"Maybe there is something like the beast we saw in the forest of Croatia." Myriad Arrows chuckled. 

"That is exactly what I am worried about. If we happen to go against something like that, forget it. We will just die. All of us." Jake said, shuddering. 

"But whoever ends up with the final kill though, that person will walk away with way too much. The loot, and the experience that comes from defeating a beast like that, well, who wouldn't want that?" Jake said.

"You should take these guys to the colosseum though. You want them to level up fast right?" Myriad Arrows suggested. 

"Not now. For Tier three. For now, let them just get to tier two on their own. Those who can't, well, they are kind of doomed." Jake said, shaking his head. 

"Alright. Time to make good use of the camps that we brought here. Set up the tents and the barricades." Jake said. 

"Like the barricades will actually do something." Myriad Arrows chuckled. 

"They aren't meant to keep the enemies out. They are to tell our tired people where to stay put." Jake said, shaking his head. 

"If we are ever ambushed, it is best if we have a few people on guard." Jake said.

"So, what is going to happen? Half of us go to sleep while the other half guard? And then cycle?" Kierch asked. 

"If you want, you can go sleep. All of the tier two players can get as much sleep as they want. But only in game sleep. They can't log out. As for the others, they will be split up. Half will sleep, the other half will guard." Jake said. 

"And what about you? Are you going to stay up?" Kierch asked. 

"It has been what? Twelve hours since we started the expedition? It is going to take perhaps five more days of the expedition before I even get remotely tired." Jake said, chuckling.

"Don't worry. I have some experience with a few long days in the game. Myriad Arrows is testament to that." Jake chuckled. 

"Shut up." Myriad Arrows looked away. 

"I still can't believe you just dozed off in the middle of the night that day. I had to look after you, keeping guard all night, doing nothing." Jake said, shaking his head.

"We agreed not to talk about it." Myriad Arrows blushed with shame. 

"Well then, you can take some rest. I want my best to be well rested anyways. Since we stopped, it is best to take all of the time." Jake said.

In front of him, everyone was making quick work of the forest. 

Barricades went up all around where they were standing. The barricades were pretty basic. They were logs of wood stacked on top of each other, until they were the height of a man's waist. 

They would perhaps stop the wild animals form coming in, if there were any of course. 

But they would do very little to stop anyone at all, and to put up any proper barricade would take too much time. Time that Jake was not willing to spare. 

The tents were a different story. Orange, red, yellow and blue tents just popped up everywhere. Each of them corresponded to a different guild, and which one meant which was one pretty obvious. 

Orange was Bright Horizon, red was Phoenix's Dawn, yellow was The Roman Empire, while blue was Wolf's Den. 

"In this regard, of course, everyone will not hesitate to put in all of their work. The moment rest is involved, everyone wants to work their a$$ off so that they can get some more sleep." Jake shook his head.

"What did you expect. There's a clear distinction between those who work for immediate gratification, and for a reward much later. That is the difference between a guild leader and a normal guild worker." Myriad Arrows said, shaking his head.

"Not the time or the place to talk about this. You also sleep. I need you in your best shape. You will be the first fighter we send to battle tomorrow." Jake said. 

"Got it boss." Myriad Arrows smiled as he walked away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

076205