by Arthur Stone
But at the height of the hill, he saw many details he could not before. It seemed very much like a fancy temple. Shaped like a fancy, twisted clam shell. Dark couldn’t think of anything analogous to it from Earth’s architectural samples. Though the main building was about the size of a football stadium, it was only part of the whole complex. Dozens of more modest structures sat adjacent, and among them all, numerous cobblestone roads branched out in a wild labyrinth. The complex had no walls, but it was surround by three perfectly circular rings made up of long, skinny stone pillars. Between these rings lay two narrow trenches filled with water that had an abnormal blackness to it.
Yet Dark only appreciated all of this ancient architectural beauty out of the corner of his eye. All of his attention was focused towards the shore between the temple and the lake. What he saw there, by a twisted pier, made his heart beat five times faster than usual.
He even started drooling in shocked stupor.
In the shallow water, he saw a person. It looked as though the man wanted to swim but was too scared to dive headlong into the cold water.
He was close enough to be able to tell that it was a young woman. And she had an absurdly attractive figure. Pleasantly wide hips, a thin waist, moderately large buttocks, all partially covered with a luxurious head of black hair that hung down to just below her tailbone. Her arms were spread apart and bent at the elbows, as if she was preparing to dive.
Dark had left Kim’s hospitality twenty-seven days ago. That period had been hell, of course. What had ensued had not exactly been heaven, but it had been better.
Yet it had also been without any contact. He had never seen another soul. The Ancient Evil didn’t count. It was just an AI. Like Friday for Robinson Crusoe, it provided only a mildly entertaining conversation partner.
Dark was disinclined to ascetic living. And he had deeply felt the lack of normal social interaction.
Plus, to put it bluntly, he had not been around a woman for that whole time, either. Had not even so much as seen a picture of one.
So his surprise was immense.
He walked forward without even noticing his legs move. Half of the way down, he woke up to the fact he was moving, but this made him move all the faster. The only thought that was generated by his upper brain, rather than the one between his legs, was this:
Where could a girl like this have come from?
The unsettling whisper was quickly silenced by a wave of joy that he was obviously no longer alone. Breaking into a run, Dark rushed until he stopped at the edge of the water, only a dozen paces from the gorgeous stranger. It was then that he realized she was not, in fact, so pretty. At his distance, he began to see new things. One second or two later, his obsession would have dissipated, and he would have realized the depths of his delusion.
But he didn’t have time—the girl turned around.
Her spin was abnormally swift, with an inhuman grace. A bony skull, plastered unevenly with revolting mucus, stared back at Dark. Here and there, messy strands of long hair covered her horrible face and equally horrible body.
Her beautiful back side—when admired from afar—was hidden by her hideous front. She had no hint of breasts, nor even a chest, and under her translucent skin, he saw dark green blood vessels showing through, intertwined around entrails of the same color.
All hints of sexual arousal were completely gone. Perhaps permanently.
So this is the fabled cause of impotence.
Still, it was not easy for Dark’s body to switch to clear head so quickly. While he hesitated, the unknown creature extended both her hands into the air, spreading her fingers to reveal the webbed membranes between them. The air darkened from billions of water droplets that emerged from nowhere.
All of them flew at Dark.
He screamed, jumping back reflexively. The feeling was akin to having boiling water poured on his flesh. So painful, so traumatic, that none of the damage and debuff figures pouring into his vision registered.
His scream was still going when a new wave of pain took things from bad to worse.
Were Dark an ordinary player, he would be immobilized. But he was used to many unique things, including pain. As he continued screaming, he managed not just to back away but to full-on run away. After a few steps he turned around, hopped to the side to dodge the next magical attack, and rushed up the hill. He was blinded now: his vision had stopped just after the fight began. The game calculated that his eyes were burned beyond usefulness.
Now the pain began to recede slowly, and his vision began to improve. Still he ran, praying to the gods of the game and there were no stones or other obstacles in his way. If he stumbled, a volley of boiling water would collapse on him once again.
Now, his eyes had returned to normalcy, but at that instant his worst fears were realized, and he tripped. Flying a few feet in the air, at last he crashed into the ground. The impact improved his eyesight, and he stopped to look around, to make sure he was not mistaken. The mob was just behind him, its extremely large feet slapping on the grass. Dark leaped up and snatched his two charged arrows from his quiver, took one in each hand, and shouted as he rushed the decelerating mob.
The woman waved her arms again, summoning a new world of unbearable torment.
But Dark dove under it, rolling away at the last minute. He felt the stones digging into his back and side as he did, but when he stood, he plunged one arrow into the beast’s fish eye and the second into its chest, to where its black heart beat among the network of green.
Gurgling in confusion, the mob stumbled backwards and its legs gave way. Forgetting about magic, Dark seized his heavy ax with both hands and swung as hard as he could into the creature’s head.
Note: Personal victory! Water Raisha Common mob. Level 11. Location sensation level: 40%. Personal sensation level: 90%. Note: Water mob. You receive double XP! Penalty for killing the enemy outside of its natural environment: -50% bonus. +415 progress points received. Note: Water mob. Double distributable progress points! Penalty for killing the enemy outside of its natural environment: -50% bonus. +83 distributable progress point received.
The following skills played a significant role in this battle: Athletics, Heavy Weapons, Physical Attack, Acrobatics, Speed, Tolerance, Luck, Magic Accuracy, Magic Damage Resist, Debuff Resist.
Progress points distributed.
+24 Athletics progress points.
+46 Heavy Weapons progress points.
+37 Physical Attack progress points.
+44 Acrobatics progress points.
+99 Speed progress points.
+17 Tolerance progress points.
+4 Luck progress points.
+121 Magic Accuracy progress points.
+17 Magic Damage Resist progress points.
+6 Debuff Resist progress points.
Note: You have discovered a new creature: Water Raisha. Common mob. Level 11. Base XP: 110. Note: Water mob! x2 base XP! Health: 720. Mana: 990. Stamina: 670. Aggression: aggressive, socially aggressive. Magic abilities: Water Element Magic Damage, Blinding, Panic, Reduce Dexterity. Poison level: unknown. Chance of valuable loot: moderate. Description: a large creature that is a descendant of darker days. Can use its back to cloud the minds of players whose Lust exceeds their Perception, wooing them. But once the raisha turns to face you, you will immediately know it as one of X’s most disgusting creatures. Dwells on the approaches to Black Blood Temple, which it often visits, since it needs the oil left in the temple’s circular trenches. Attacks everything it sees. For this reason, very little else can live in the Black Blood Temple region.
No player in the history of X has ever encountered a Water Raisha. You receive +250 Knowledge progress points. You receive a bonus +1 to any skill. The leaders of the Explorers League may present you with a reward for adding creatures you have discovered from your personal bestiary to the league archives. Congratulations! Keep discovering new things to unlock more generous rewards!
720 hit points? He would ha
ve to save up his Mana! And charge up his arrows.
Dark tried to read the standard message, but could not deal with the pain. It throbbed throughout him, though its edge was growing dull. As his eyes filled with tears, he failed to realize some suspicious movement at the edge of his field of view.
Even when he turned, he had to blink to try to get the details. Three ugly creatures were rushing him, from the lake.
The front two were already waving their arms at Dark, casting their covering of boiling water.
Chapter 47
Difficult Thoughts
Total stat levels: 42 +2.
Character level: 7.
Mastery level: 5.
The Ancient Evil floated in his favorite impossible spot among the shelves. “You used to work till sunset, or go out and commit mass killings, but now you’re spending the day sitting. Who but you will open Ethria to the world? Not I! The Ancient Evil has no business doing such a thing. Why are you hanging your head like that? Who has harmed you, miserable mortal?”
“No one. I’m just tired of all of it,” Dark replied. “Every last bit of it.”
“Everything? When these situations arise, it is best to divide them into small pieces and examine each of those with great care. In one of them, you will find what is troubling you.”
“I’ve been here for a month without talking to a single person. Here I am, some stranded explorer, some Robinson Crusoe. You’re here, but you’re about as helpful for conversation as Friday.”
“I’m no Friday. I am the Ancient Evil. You should be proud! Converse with me, then, mortal. I will permit it.”
“Sorry, Evil. You’re great, but you’re just a piece of code, not a human.”
“But that does not prevent us from communicating.”
“You’re right. It’s just... not good enough. And there’s nothing that can fix that.”
“You never said who harmed you. But the offense they have caused is obviously significant.”
“I got killed by mobs.”
“That happens here. But why are you so depressed this time? You’ve been killed before.”
“New mobs. They deceived me from afar—I thought they were women. Beautiful, naked women.”
“Ah, no need to say any more. Your blood rushed to your... head, and you ran off to acquaint yourself with this beautiful stranger. Yes? But when she turned, suddenly she was not so beautiful. You should have seen the first iterations! Erotic replicas of the hottest models—but only from behind. The very first was attractive from the front, too. The raishae were created as NPCs for a long quest chain. Public content restrictions imposed from on high made them reduce the allure of the creatures somewhat. And the developers were too distracted by the models to get on with development! But the new raishae are still very much beautiful. As long as they are far away, and with their backs turned.”
“I figured that much out too late.”
“It won’t happen again. You have experience now. This is the nonsense that has you so upset?”
“No. It’s the math, pure and simple.”
“You are confusing me, mortal. Math? How did math manage to harm you?”
“If I follow my old plans, I now must develop not three skills but six. All of the branches level up separately. Boosting an ability from level 0 to level 10 takes 550 cores. But getting from level 10 to level 20 takes 1550 cores. And that’s just for one ability. I have six of them! The higher the levels get, the more powerful the mobs I have to kill. In order to get those three skills to level 10, I spent nearly a week underground. Those ghosts still visit me in my nightmares. Now I have to kill the raishae, and they’re not easy. Every step is harder than the last. A week in the mine won’t be enough. It will take me months to reach level 20 skills. And the loneliness is starting to get to me. Mobs, ore, crafting, more mobs, more ore, more crafting. Day in and day out. I’m a human, not a machine!”
“I understand. So don’t level up your skills, then. Just dedicate your efforts on leveling your character.”
“I thought about that. But these skills are the only thing that can save my character from being permanently stunted. If the forum is right, teleport scrolls are not easy to come by. For players under level 50, they’re about as common as flowering apple groves in Antarctica. I really only have a good chance of finding one if I’m level 70 or so. So I calculated everything. Distributable skill levels and progress points included. If I distribute all of them in a maximally effective way, I won’t even reach level 30. And this is the early stages of character development. This is the easy stuff. You see what I’m getting at?”
“You spent a whole month slaving away, yet still you cannot reach even level 30.”
“Right. Some player named Bilik reached level 50 in less than a month, but I’m doing much worse, even in locations that no one has discovered before.”
“You sleep a lot. And you talk a lot. Even for a mortal, you’re lazy. Miserable slave of the light. You should be glad, you know.”
“Why?”
“Any player would give up anything to be in your position. Isn’t that a reason for gladness?”
“My position has plenty of cons.”
“For example?”
“I don’t have access to good equipment. I’m leveling solo, not in a party. No one is around to give me any quests. And I can’t spend real-world money. All of the rapid development paths provided to players are unavailable to me. I thought pumping my abilities would help speed things up, but now it turns out that they’re even more work. I have to kill about fifteen thousand mobs between levels 11 and 20. What’s worse, that’s an increasing number, so I need about two times more level 20s than I do level 11s. I can kill a mob a minute or so. But I don’t know any locations where mobs like that congregate. So, I have to spend a bunch of time moving around, looking, exploring; a bunch more time letting my Stamina, Health, and Mana recharge; and a part of the time repairing my low-quality weapons and armor. Trips back from respawn need to be accounted for, too, since they’re guaranteed to happen now and then. Plus, I need to sleep, eat, and do crafting, or else I’ll be fighting naked and empty-handed. All of that multiplies the time required by ten, at best. Fifteen thousand minutes, multiplied by ten, divided by sixty minutes per hour, and twenty-four hours per day, gives me a total of three and a half months just to get all my skills up to level twenty. And that’s not even all! After that, I’ll need to level up my character and find a damned teleport scroll. I always thought I had nerves of steel, but it turns out I was overestimating myself.”
“Too many words!” the Ancient Evil mocked. “Some of what you said, I do not understand why you said it. Other things you said contradict the plain facts of the situation. Clever beings understand these facts, but you clearly are not among that class. Miserable creature of mortal fate...”
“What facts?”
“How can you not see? You said you know of no location where the mobs you need roam in great numbers. But that is false. You are, as always, a liar.”
“What place do you mean?”
“The city ruins. You despicable liar. You know there are many mobs there!”
“What good are they to me? You touch one of them, you rouse a thousand. And there are far too few zombies there of levels 19 and 20. Instead, there are magicians of all sorts, but they are levels 30 to 40. Even if I live by the city walls and start taking them out, that will take a long time, and will not get me enough soul essences. In order to reach level 20, I’d have to kill the entire city several times.”
“What does the Ancient Evil care for your tears and your moans? I was simply pointing out a falsehood in your speech.”
“Alright, alright, you can call me a foolish mortal again.”
“I am glad you are beginning to admit it. Intelligent self-criticism is something I truly respect. You are not hopeless. You are simply agitated, and that harms your ingenuity. In other words, it increases the incidence of errors in your judgment.”
&n
bsp; “I need to talk to someone. Only once since coming here have I spoken with a human. It wasn’t the best of conversational situations. But it was better than nothing.”
“Are you referring to that time when someone illegally used their technical access to the system to take control of me and talk with you?”
“I am. I would like to speak with them again, but I don’t know how.”
“You have no way to summon this human again. You will only be able to speak with him if he so desires, assuming he still has the requisite access.”
Dark blinked. “What did you say?”
“Even you should understand this without me needing to repeat myself! You cannot summon this human again. Only he can initiate the conversation. If he wishes.”
“I think I know how to make him wish it.”
“Interesting. How can a character stuck in Ethria make someone contact him without even knowing that person’s nickname? Tell me more.”
“I have a chat window filled with general communication. System messages about game events. Records and achievements made by various players are published there. For example... Goddammit! What the hell? He’s everywhere. It’s like he’s mocking me!”
The Ancient Evil blinked in confusion. “I fail to follow your train of thought.”
“I lost my train of thought. I wanted to give you an example message, but then I saw that he’s here again...”
“Who?”
“Listen: Alert: The player DimaBilik has, for the first time in the history of X, crossed the Hatfield Ice Shelf and completed the quest Last Acolyte of Imrizis, which was considered unbeatable. A great achievement worthy of the history books! This is DimaBilik’s third unique accomplishment. He receives a Hero’s Star he may add to his name, along with any inscription he selects! DimaBilik has selected, “Fear not. I am only your god!” Congratulations, hero! Continue achieving great feats and you will be rewarded! Do you understand, Evil?”