by John Gold
“But what do you think?”
“Almark, I’m not your father, brother, or boss. I don’t have any right to get on your case or yell at you for not following your schedule.”
Claude, even without knowing it, just showed me something very interesting. Subconsciously, I’m creating a situation that attracts attention. Is that something I need? Or am I looking for parental love? It’s probably one of those, maybe both. I’m behaving like a child.
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Two more days of pain go by, and we reach a point that most players take many years to reach.
Damage received: 34518020 (ignored: 25000000)
662078610/1687072210
Femida hits 100% resistance to physical damage, all smiles.
“Masochist! Pervert! You love the pain. Phew…who am I spending time with?!”
“Like you’re any better. Tree-lover!”
Femida logs out of the game, and I continue healing the mushroom we’re sitting on. Our resistance to physical damage is where we want it. Sure, we could go look for a different spot to work on our mental resistance, or we could risk staying here until Fem gets up to 50%. We might not live that long, however. Even I can’t heal 50 million waiting for her to get her resistance up to where it needs to be.
In a day or two, we’ll do an experiment, and the more mushrooms we have, the better. Really, I’m surprised they can even grow down here. We’re a good nine kilometers down, and they couldn’t care less. Notwithstanding the 34 million damage a second, all they need is their ecosystem to stay ahead of it. It was the same up where we were before. I’m not positive, but the cap on their resistance to physical damage may be higher than what mammals get.
For now, I only have to heal 34 million damage. The rest of my Life Magic goes to the new mushroom, and I’m going to spend two days working on it. Hopefully, that will pay off.
I was wrong about how long it would take. I end up spending two weeks on it, though the result is impressive.
Buff received: Small place of strength keeper
+125% to all attributes
Duration: No more than ten minutes or after damage stops being taken
The mushroom has grown to such gigantic proportions that we don’t take any mental damage underneath it. Of course, a quick trip lower is enough to dive back into the aura of death. Most importantly, I’m able to spend more strength growing the mushroom. Crazy! What kind of insane person do you have to be to grow a mushroom eight kilometers down in the ocean while you’re taking 34 million damage? Someone like me, I guess.
The cap reaches a hundred and fifty meters in diameter, and its edge is exactly that far over the slope of the underwater mountain. Azami doesn’t show up though. That could be because of the incredible damage, although it could also be because I don’t really fit the role of a natural god anymore.
As soon as Femida logs back into the game, I send her a message in our chat.
Hold this. An enormous boulder weighing several tons settles in Femida’s arms.
What am I supposed to do with it?
And now…off we go!
Leaping onto the boulder, I send us both shooting downward away from the mushroom. Femida is already wearing her armor, and the weight of the boulder sends us flying even faster.
You’re crazy! We’re going to die! The damage is so strong down there that we’ll die in less than a minute even with your magic mushroom. Wait a minute. Have you been eating it??
Hahaha!
Idiot! Let me go!
Don’t worry, fatty, I have everything figured out. With the keeper buff, I can restore up to 103 million health a second, so we have nine minutes until the mushroom collapses under the enormous damage.
With each second, we find ourselves going faster as the boulder settles into the most streamlined position. Pieces start flying off our “ship” four minutes later, and it slows down slightly, though we still can’t see the bottom.
I have to create boulders and hold them with my legs as we go. Femida does her best to help.
Why don’t we just stick our feet in cement and drop that way? Do you not have a better way to die?
Hey, my offer to paralyze you is still good.
Whatever.
Femida falls silent. The aura of death is wearing on her, though not as badly as it used to. I’m waiting for us to hit the bottom of the enormous trench. Finally, after another three minutes, the boulder hits the silty soil.
Achievement received: Otherworldly diver. First rank. Dive a kilometer down into the ocean.
Reward: +10 to all attributes
Achievement received: Otherworldy diver. Fourteenth rank. Dive fourteen kilometers down into the ocean.
Reward: +10 to all attributes
Achievement received: Aegis. Survive for one minute while taking 50 million continual damage.
Reward: +50 to all attributes
Note! You found the society of dead souls, a hidden location.
Note! You found the city of Cerani, a hidden location.
I don’t have time to read the chat. We have just two and a half minutes left, and then we’re going to need to get out fast.
After my visit to the Hashan Desert, it hit me that something like that red cliff in the center of the three sands can do strong mental damage. My theory is based on the fact that that something has to do mental damage exceeding the strength of multiple gods. But finding a city, an entire island at the bottom of the Sea of Madness? That’s just crazy.
We’re basically smack dab in the middle of the sunken city, surrounded by shattered glass, collapsed buildings, and stone benches. The recesses of a once-great palace are all around us, though time has not been good to it. Everything is covered in silt and distorted by the immense pressure.
Sagie, wake up. Minute and a half! Grab what you can find, and let’s get out of here.
Femida is right. I came here hoping to find a way to get to the world of the dead, as the name of the location and its whereabouts fit the bill, but it looks like I was wrong. There’s no river of souls flowing into a red cliff like in the Hashan Desert. The only thing down here that hasn’t been beaten down by time and the pressure is a small building. In the pre-space era, it would have been called a fortified bunker. It looks like a half sphere sitting between the ruins of three buildings.
It’s a manmade structure that isn’t as old as everything else. Did someone really get down here before we did?
The closer I get, the more I sense that the aura of death is coming from it. Judging by the long, panoramic windows, the building is three stories tall.
One minute and we’re leaving, Sagie!
Taking off at a run, or as much of a run as the water allows, I get over to the building. Femida runs behind me, thrilled to the core—her excitement even infects me. I signal for her to go around one side of the building; I go around the other. When we meet on the other side, we know that there’s no way we’re getting inside to shelter. All that remains is the panoramic windows, though they look strong enough to take a direct hit from a plasma torpedo.
Climbing up to one of them, I see that the room is outfitted with modern furniture. There’s a snowboard, billiard tables, a ping pong table, and even food dispensers. Near the glass, I see a furry snowboarder’s hat.
Fem, I think we found the game masters’ room.
Idiot! Thirty seconds.
Quick, give me your sword.
Femida hands it to me, and I quickly get to work on the plan I came up with. Suddenly, it hits me that someone is looking at me. That fur scarf! Yes! I remember that shapeshifting cat! We met five years ago in the Sea of Calm, and the animal looks stunned that something could be on this side of the glass.
Ten seconds! Your mushroom will only survive fifteen seconds after the buff wears off.
Five seconds.
After the last stroke, I leap toward Femida and take a screenshot.
The portal flashes, and we’re on my island in the astral, both coughing the water
out of our lungs. I couldn’t be prouder of myself.
***
Tiamid woke Idzumi up in the middle of the night. Neither of them was dressed, but the boss showing up meant something unusual was going on.
“Your kiir won’t let me sleep. He’s all hissing and dragging my slippers around.”
“He’s pretty smart, so he wouldn’t just be getting on your nerves for no reason.”
“I know—that’s why I woke you up. Ask what he wants.”
Sitting up on the bed, the sleepy man called his pet over and placed his forehead against the kiir’s. A minute went by. Then another. Tiamad was already thinking about making some coffee, as the kiir apparently had some bad news.
“He said he saw the strong person who beat him but didn’t kill him.”
“Well, he looks fine, and there wasn’t any noise. Could he have dreamed it?”
“No. He says he saw him on the other side of the glass in the break room.”
Tiamad pulled his death costume out of his inventory and walked out. The portal keeper followed him, throwing on his battle outfit as he went. The kiir transformed into the lightning king when he saw how serious his master was.
“Incredible. The chosen ones are getting into the officers’ quarters in the middle of the night.”
There wasn’t anyone in the break room, and everything was where it was supposed to be. The kiir pointed at the window where he’d seen the trespassers. On the other side of the glass, there was some writing.
Sagie, Femida, and Isaac were here. Next time, I’m going to write a petition about human rights violations, so make sure there’s enough glass!
***
Femida finally finishes wailing on and on about how stupid I was. Regardless, I can tell that she’s tickled pink. And she should be! I mentioned her in my message on the glass, too.
Slender is somewhere nearby. The parasite disappeared when the mental damage went above a million, another useful bit of information.
After eating, Femida calms down.
“Where to next? What about Katain? Roni’s been waiting three months for us to visit.”
“Nope. When you’ve had a chance to rest, we’re leaving for Kongul, and the center of the Hashan Desert.”
“Why? What are you looking for?”
“An entrance into the world of the dead.”
“And you think it’s in the center of the desert?”
“Not necessarily. I just know that there’s something in the middle. There’s an enormous stone stake that was used to kill Bernard when he was a god, a river of souls flows through it, and that’s what creates the mental damage all across the desert. I saw it close up about six years ago. If that stake isn’t the gateway to the world of the dead, I don’t know what is. The game masters’ house is at the bottom of the Sea of Madness, and it covers the whole sea with mental damage.”
Before leaving, I make sure I completely charge my astral source. Quite a bit of the ocean of mana has seeped away over the last three weeks. Femida gets herself going with some exercises, and I notice she’s no longer having any problem with the enormous sword. Our work in the city of the dead and all the underwater battles did wonders for her.
We polish off the rest of our supplies and decide to drop by a market in one of the cities before our trip. Some normal food would really hit the spot.
It takes us days to get to the center of the desert, though most of that time is spent looking for the path out of the astral nearest to it. Our seventh try drops us an hour’s run from Hashan.
Femida’s mental resistance should be high enough for us to run straight to the center of the desert. Once there, if I recall correctly, the damage grows exponentially.
On the way, we kill everything that moves and tries to take a bite out of us. The teeth generally go into Femida’s bag as trophies. Of course, I’m only too happy to let her take care of the loot, because that’s just less for me to carry around.
Just as I remembered, the damage from the aura at the center of the desert skyrockets.
One thing that’s different is that there are other players working on their mental resistance this time. Their attempts look ridiculous, however. Almost all of them are here in warrior-healer pairs, with battle mages trying to heal their companions. Without the life magic bonus, however, that doesn’t really work. They can’t restore more than a million or two. Of course, it would be practically impossible even for life mages to hit the number you need here.
None of the players even think about attacking us. There are probably some daring souls in the world who would do battle in these inhospitable climes, but the people who are here to work on their mental resistance have far too much patience for that. Dying here would mean running all the way over from the nearest respawn point at the edge of the desert. Nobody’s stupid enough to try it.
The stone body of the god with the red stake in its chest turns out to be shattered into pieces. Apparently, Bernard decided to have that done to protect his identity.
As soon as I get to the limit of the damage I can safely ignore, I start growing a tree. Femida runs around the area killing the local population. Almost none of them are left for the other players, and she collects all the loot, down to the cheap stuff nobody takes. She’s hauling around tons of weight, perhaps even tens of tons. She’s apparently trying to load herself down with everything she can find.
It takes me twenty-four hours to grow the tree, though Femida can come over to where I am without dying once its crown is sufficiently wide. Her resistance to mental damage is just 6 million compared to my 12.5 million. Sagie, remember how you carried her under the tree to the red stake. The aura of regret does a number on Fem, leaving her barely moving, but we watch the sunset together. It’s the red stake thrust through the chest of the shattered sculpture with the sun going down behind it. Femida’s head is on my knees, I heal her peacefully, and her resistance to mental damage grows by leaps and bounds. While Isaac cracks obscene jokes, Femida quietly calls Ekron, calling me an idiot and crazy. But I just sit there enjoying the view. That red stake could be what takes me to the Gray Lands.
When night falls and I started to nod off, LJ shows up. On the one hand, I’m glad I can sleep in the game. On the other, I’m going to have to swim four kilometers again for physical therapy. I try to get what I have to do and what I want to do out of the way together while I have the chance.
Climbing up into the tree, I lie down such that I can see Femida and heal the tree at the same time. Bumping her resistance to mental damage all the way up to 12.5 million in one go turned out to be too tall an order even for her. The damage here is fifty percent mental and fifty percent fire, so I can push my resistance to both up to the maximum.
It’s only the next afternoon that Femida starts to recover. She picks a spot farther out on a branch where the aura isn’t as strong, though the damage is higher.
Another nice thing about the trees is that they mitigate auras. They’re kind of natural filters.
While we’re relaxing in the tree, I think back to the time I spent as LJ. I hung out in my tree and watched everything going on below then too.
Femida and I lounge in the branches like a pair of sloths well into the third day. She refuses to step out into the aura of regret until she has her resistance where she needs to be, and she even does her exercises up in the tree.
“Sagie…how do you do that? Why doesn’t the aura work on you?”
“You don’t think it does? I’m the same as you, it’s just that in Hell the auras were much stronger. In that shroud, I saw people being burned alive, dead babies, crowds of corpses tramping along. I was still at Level 0 when I worked on my resistance to mental damage next to the crystal generator for the aura of suffering. That was hard; this is nothing.”
The tree has grown quickly, even picking up status as a lesser place of strength. But the crown spreads much more slowly. As soon as Femida gets to fifty percent resistance to mental damage and stops whining, she
logs out of the game for a day-long break. I have similar plans.
Claude apparently decided to punish me by making me swim with planks that force me to use just one arm or just my legs. The fact that I can swim breaststroke and front crawl without a problem anymore means nothing to him. Butterfly is too much for me—I’m not coordinated enough for that yet. My muscles are too flabby.
A day later, when Femida logs back into the game, she’s greeted by a new tree. I headed over to the edge of where I can go, found a good spot, and grew it.
We do that six times, boosting our resistance to mental and fire damage to 23 million in the process. I can’t restore any more than that in one go.
Our mental resistance and physical resistance grow at the same rate. If there were only one type of damage or a different ratio, we’d be able to max out our resistance.
Every time, I grow a different kind of tree. The leaves have different colors, from ash gray to bright orange. We’re just two hundred meters from the remains of the god and the red stake.
The most surprising part is that the gods haven’t shown up in the last couple weeks. Also, the players who are also in this area ask my permission to shelter in the places of strength. It’s going to take them a year to get where we are at their rates, though there are already ten pairs of warriors and healers sitting at the edge of the spot covered by my first tree. But they don’t bother me, unlike the problem of how we’re going to get to the red rock.
I’m up to the edge of the red shroud. The mental damage inside exceeds 26 million, so I can’t just step inside. My magic shield wouldn’t last a second. Even if I combined all eleven streams of consciousness, it would last ten seconds at most.
The next three weeks are spent pouring all my strength into another tree. I only log out of the game for physical therapy, afraid of what Claude may do if I skip twenty sessions straight in the pool. Would he make me swim forty kilometers? He might! That’s a scary thought.
After the tree became a place of strength, I got the ten-minute keeper buff thanks to the constant damage, and it refreshes every minute. Two days after that, it became a middle place of strength, boosting the buff to 200%. The tree itself, of course, gets more Life Magic support with each buff, so it grows faster every day.