Pantheon Online-Chapter 8 - Pursuit

The flashing images took him through the forest for some time until it reached a trail. Colt frowned internally as he watched a horse-drawn carriage with three men onboard make its way along the forest trail. 'Where's the woman? Did the skill bug out?'

However, Colt received a shock when the sack on the back of the carriage between the two began to move. A girlish squeal came from the sack as one of the men gave it a swift kick.

"Quit moving around unless you want another one!" Harald growled as he stroked his left cheek, where fresh blood stained scratches were evident. "You've already caused us enough trouble as it is!"

The images were interrupted at that point, and Colt's vision returned to his position in the frozen forest. 'This doesn't look good.' Colt frowned as he reviewed what he had seen. Those scratches on the guy's face looked like the woman caused them in self-defence. It's clear they're up to no good since it took three men to capture her.' 𝗳𝓇ℯe𝓌𝚎𝚋𝓃𝚘𝚟𝘦𝑙.𝑐𝚘𝙢

Colt sighed as he considered the matter. 'I don't even have any weapons, so how I am supposed to help her? Maybe I should use Clairvoyance again and see if I can get any more useful information.' Colt felt like this was a good plan and activated the skill again.

[Clairvoyance failed! You have already used this skill on this Quest!] 𝘧𝘳𝐞𝚎𝑤ℯ𝘣𝗻𝘰ѵℯl.c𝐨𝚖

Colt's eyes went wide, and he began cursing silently. This message made it apparent that Clairvoyance could only be used once per Quest. So he would have to be more careful of when he would use it in the future.

Colt quickly set off in the direction that the images had shown him. He could not afford to wait around and procrastinate in case he lost track of his objective. The cold winds swirled around him as Colt ran between the trees. He felt a sense of urgency in his heart since his target would be able to move faster than himself using the cart.

'Hm? I'm already feeling tired?' Colt quickly realised that his exertion was causing drawbacks on his body. 'Do I need to increase my Endurance?'

He was honestly stumped by this experience. Usually, players were given a stamina bar, and as it depleted, they would not be able to perform specific actions. However, this was a first for him where his body felt physically tired instead.

'What kind of God gets tired!' Colt cursed as he continued to push on. Each second that he spent in this game made it more evident that he could not underestimate it. Eventually, the trail from his vision came into view.

The snow that had landed on it looked like it had been disturbed recently, which gave Colt some confidence. His eyes darted left and right as he recalled the vision, and finally, he pinpointed which direction the cart had been travelling in.

Colt followed the trail for half a day and was already growing frustrated with the Quest. 'This is ridiculous! Why would the developer make something like this? I get that they're going for realism, but this is too much! Any gamer could tell them that their players would be bored if they have to spend so much time travelling!'

The sky was already growing dark by the time Colt decided to give up. He kicked a nearby tree in frustration before sitting down on a nearby mound of snow. 'This game is useless! How are you meant to get anything done?' Colt began to wonder if the other beta testers were currently experiencing similar issues.

'Maybe I should just forget about this. If this is anything to go by then, I doubt the game will be a hit when it lands on the market.' Colt frowned as he reviewed his experience so far. He had to admit that the realistic feeling was groundbreaking, but the overall lack of direction would probably only appeal to casual role players.

Colt called up the interface and hovered his finger over the log out button when something drew his attention in the darkness. Between the trees, he could make out a flickering light that seemed to come from a fire.

Colt's lips curled up into a grin at that sight, and he forgot all about his earlier complaints as he closed the interface. 'Of course! If they're aiming for realism, then even my target should have to rest for the night! This is my chance!'

Colt moved away from the trail and opted to approach the fire using the trees for cover. Colt had no idea what he planned to do, but he could figure that out once he got a look at the situation. As he crept closer through the snow, he noticed a shadow moving between the trees.

'Damn! Looks like at least one of them is keeping watch. Where are the others?' Colt shifted away from the direction of the shadow to see if he could pinpoint where the other two men he had seen in his vision were.

His heart began to pound frantically within his chest as he edged closer to their camp. Eventually, he spotted two sleeping figures bundled underneath a bunch of furs close to the fire. The sack that held the woman was next to Harald, who had his arm wrapped around it tightly as he slept.

Colt cursed in his mind. He had been hoping that he would be able to sneak in and set the woman free while they slept. However, the situation now required something different from him. 'I'll have to take out their lookout and see if he has a weapon on him. With a bit of luck, I can take the other two out before they wake up.'

Colt did his best to calm his ragged breathing as he began to creep towards the bulky man standing guard over his sleeping comrades. Colt's heart began to beat faster as he expected the man to turn around at any moment and catch him in the act!

When he was only a few steps away, it finally happened! The man suddenly spun around, grasping a sword in his hand to face Colt's position!

"Who's there!" The man bellowed loudly, stirring his companions from their sleep.

Colt cursed as he sprang through the air with outstretched arms to try and tackle the man to the ground…