by David Petrie
“Let me tell the shopkeep not to charge her. One of the perks to being king.”
Max’s heart leaped against the inside of his chest as Berwyn took a step forward toward the door. Fortunately, Ginger stepped in his way. It was probably the most suspicious thing she could have done, but it was better than letting him walk in on a couple of uninvited guests.
“Sorry.” Her eyes darted around. “I’d give her some time. Kira gets self-conscious, and she’ll never pick something if someone’s watching her.”
“Oh, never mind then.” Berwyn stepped back immediately.
Max released the tension he’d been holding as Ginger made small talk. He waited a minute or so, then raised his house ring. If he didn’t report back soon, someone was going to come looking for him. He had to say something.
“Sorry to interrupt, but if you’re ready in there, we ran into Lord Berwyn outside if you want to say hello.”
There was a sound from inside, like people bumping into each other.
Kira emerged a few seconds later. Berwyn’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw her.
“Find anything interesting?”
The fairy said nothing until Ginger nudged her in the shoulder. “Oh, yeah.” She held out her foot to show off the miniature pyramid. “Ta-da.”
Ginger probably would have liked for Kira to have lifted her skirt a little too show off some more leg. Max smirked at the thought. Can’t have everything you want.
“Oh, that suits you well.” Berwyn gave her a smile.
“So what sort of movie are we seeing?” She slid her leg back and clasped her hands behind her back.
“How about you pick? I don’t really know what’s available anyway. It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to see anything with all this.” He gestured around the hall as he spoke. He started walking, only looking back briefly to make sure his date was coming.
Kira let out a nervous squeak and jumped up to his side. Farn followed close behind. Ginger joined them as well, beckoning back to Max with urgency in her eyes.
He glanced to the shop’s entrance where Kegan and Corvin were no doubt pressing their ears against the door. “You’re on your own guys. Good luck.”
With that, he jogged to catch up.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Keegan held the shop’s door open a crack to watch Max and the others walked away down the hall. “Damn, they just ditched us.” He was starting to feel like they were getting the short end of the stick.
A fuzzy ear flicked against his chin.
“That’s going to make moving around out there harder,” Corvin said from below.
Kegan stepped back into the small shop. “Well, we can’t stay here with Susan McNPC.” He gestured at the woman behind the counter.
“Let me know if you find something that interests you.” The NPC gave a polite bow.
“No thanks, we’re fine.” Corvin stepped away from the door without looking at her. “You’re right. Eventually, someone is going to come in here, and they’ll probably wonder what two guys are doing in a women’s swimsuit boutique.”
Kegan picked up a hanger containing a yellow one-piece and held it up against Corvin’s chest. “I don’t know, the color’s working for you.”
“You’re not helping.” Corvin glowered back before changing the subject. “The guards aren’t even the problem here. There’re just too many players out there. It’s like the expo-hall at an anime con out there.
“But without schoolgirl costumes.” Kegan sighed.
Corvin chuckled. “Actually, I think I saw an elf girl a little down the hall whose gear is close enough.”
“Really?” Kegan hopped back to the door and peeked out at a Breath Mage wearing a pleated skirt with a light tunic and scarf. “Oh yeah, that counts.” He had never been much into anime. Not like Corvin was, at least, but he couldn’t complain about the costume designs.
Corvin leaned against the wall by the door. “A lot of armor and clothing in Noctem has been inspired by comics and anime. Which makes sense, I mean, my character is basically a gender-swapped fox girl.” The Blade twitched his tall ears.
Kegan picked up another hanger containing a bikini bottom with an attached skirt and held it against Corvin’s waist. “So we should put you in a schoolgirl costume then?”
“You’re still not helping.”
“I know.” Kegan tossed the item back on a shelf as Corvin went back to the door to peek out.
“Okay, this might sound crazy, but what if we just walked out there?”
Kegan couldn’t believe his ears. “Weren’t you the one giving me dirty looks for throwing a rock at those guards last night?”
“Yeah, but hear me out on this. We haven’t been invited, so the guards will recognize us as intruders on sight since they’re just bots. But the patrols are predictable, so we can avoid them. The problem here is all the players wandering around.”
“Your point?”
“My point is that there’s a ton of them, so how will they know that we’re not supposed to be here.”
Kegan thought about it. It was actually a good point. “We could just walk out there like we own the place, and they might not even notice.” He couldn’t help but grin. “It’s stupid. I like it.”
“Okay, then we wait until the next patrol passes, then jump out there and try to act natural.”
Kegan took his place at the door, watching for the next patrol to pass. Then on the count of three, he held his breath and stepped out into the hall. He winced, half expecting to be outed immediately. The image of everyone pointing at him and shouting streaked through his head. To his surprise, no one batted an eye.
This might actually work.
Then he caught a glimpse of his partner who kept fidgeting with his item bag and sword, like a nervous mess.
“You call that acting naturally?”
“I don’t know what to do with my hands,” Corvin answered back, a touch of panic entering his voice.
“Just put them in your pockets man.”
The Blade proceeded to shove his hands into his pockets so hard that it looked like he was trying to fight his own pants. From the looks of it, he was losing.
About halfway to the stairs, the girl in the schoolgirl looking gear arched an eyebrow at them. Trying to distract from his awkward companion, Kegan raised one hand as if touching the rim of an imaginary hat. He inclined his head as the word, “Howdy,” escaped his lips.
“Howdy? How is that natural?” Corvin fired back in a frantic whisper. “And you’re not even wearing a hat.”
“I don’t know. I panicked. It just came out,” Kegan’s skin started to prickle as his forehead began to sweat. The rogue 'howdy' had been just as surprising to him as it must have been to his partner. Even more surprising was that he felt himself make the same gesture to another player. This time adding an old west sounding accent. “Partner.”
Corvin jabbed him with his elbow. “Seriously? You’re an archer, not a gunslinger.”
“I know, I can’t stop,” he responded as they finally reached the stairs and ducked down out of sight. Kegan immediately swatted Corvin to pay him back for jabbing him. Corvin slapped him back. A few seconds of flailing at each other later, Kegan let out a sigh of relief. He was kind of glad the others hadn’t been there to witness his performance.
The stairway continued down for several flights before they reached a narrow hall. Kegan did the math. “I think we’re underneath the pyramid.”
“So that would mean that all that water is right over our heads.” Corvin looked up.
Kegan decided not to think about it. “Does it seem odd that there are no guards down here?”
“Maybe, or it might just mean that whatever is waiting in the vault's entry corridor is serious enough to not require anything more.”
Kegan swallowed. “That doesn’t make me feel good about this.” Just as the words left his mouth, they reached an ornate door.
It was made of gray stone, carved
with a stylized design of waves flowing around its edge. A large skull was carved at the center with four triangular buttons resting in its mouth. Two of them faced up, while the others faced down. Horizontal lines bisected half of them. The words ‘Choose that which life requires’ curved below the skull.
“Well, that’s obviously a puzzle lock.” Kegan slapped his partner on the back. “Good luck, man.”
“Thanks.” Corvin sighed as he stepped up to examine the lock. “Glad to know Checkpoint Systems is getting its security ideas from Umbrella.” The Blade scratched one of his ears. “At least this is an easy one. The buttons represent the elements in alchemy. Since Reliqua is filled with water, and life needs water to live, that should be the right choice.”
“How do you even know what those symbols are?” Kegan arched an eyebrow at him.
The Blade shrugged. “Books, I guess.”
Kegan placed his hands to the sides of his mouth as if he was about to shout but whispered instead, “Nerrrrrrddddddd.” He elongated the syllable for effect before adding, “How did you not get beaten up in school?”
Corvin’s face went white at the question.
Guilt stabbed at Kegan’s chest as he remembered how quiet the kid had been back when they had met last year. Of course he got beaten up in school.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to–”
“No, it’s okay,” Corvin let out a sigh, “and yes, I did get beaten up. But not for being a nerd. That just got me made fun of.”
Kegan debated on asking a follow-up question, unsure if he should push the subject. “What did you get beaten up for?”
Corvin gave him a sad smile. “I brought a gun to school.”
“What do you mean?” Kegan’s heart dropped into his stomach like a rock.
The young Blade shook his head. “Nothing sinister. It was a stage prop for the theatre department.”
“Oh my god. You scared me.” Kegan placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder.
“Yeah, that was pretty much the response when it fell out of my locker in front of everyone. I was beaten half to death out of panic. Lost a bunch of teeth and broke several bones, including a skull fracture. I was unconscious for days. Plus, I got expelled when I woke up.”
Tears welled up in Kegan’s eyes, catching him off guard. It was easy to forget how young Corvin was. At nineteen, he wasn’t even half Kegan’s age. No, Kegan hadn’t even thought about it in the last year. Corvin was just Corvin, the fuzzy-eared Blade that he’d been helping level most nights for the last year. He hadn’t even noticed that the kid had become his best friend.
Oh, what the hell?
Kegan surprised himself as he threw his arms around the Blade and hugged him tightly.
“Umm okay, not the response I expected.” Corvin patted him on the back. “That’s probably enough.”
“Shhh, shhh. Just let it happen,” Kegan whispered.
“Are you crying.”
“Shut up.” Kegan sniffed.
“Umm, we still have a vault to open,” Corvin reminded as the hug began to go on too long.
Kegan released him, shoving aside his instinct to make light of the situation. “I’m sorry you had a rough time in school. You’re stronger than I was at your age.”
“Ah, thanks.” Corvin scratched at the back of his neck.
“Okay, now let’s get this door open.” Kegan reached for one of the buttons. “This one means water, right?”
Suddenly, Corvin grabbed his hand. “Wait.”
“What?” Kegan furrowed his brow.
“Sorry, but I’m just thinking about the writing on the door. We need to pick the one that life requires.”
“And that was water, right? 'Cause we’re in Reliqua and water is so abundant.”
Corvin pointed up to the ceiling where millions of gallons of water rested just above their heads. “What do you think happens if we’re wrong?”
Kegan’s blood ran cold as he yanked his finger away from the button. “The hallway floods. Oh man, that’s why they don’t need guards down here. That’s just sadistic.”
Corvin nodded. “If that’s true, and the question of what life requires refers to this hallway specifically…”
“Then what we need is air,” Kegan finished his thought.
They both slowly turned toward the buttons. Kegan’s shoulders suddenly felt heavy with the imagined weight of the water.
“I hope you’re right.”
“So do I.” Corvin reached for whichever button represented air.
“Wait!” Kegan stopped him.
“What?”
Kegan took a deep breath, then gestured to continue.
“Good call.” Corvin inhaled as well. Then he pressed the button.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Corvin winced with his entire body as several strange clicks came from inside the door. The pressure of the situation was immense, and he didn’t want to let the others down. He expected a torrent of water to crash into him and wash him away any second.
It didn’t.
“Oh, thank every god in the pantheon.” Kegan released a lungful of air as the door rolled into a pocket in the wall. Corvin exhaled as well, almost dropping to his knees.
“That was terrifying.”
Beyond the first door was another stairway. They made it down the first few steps before a sound like the door moving came from behind.
“And the door just closed behind us, didn’t it?” Kegan slapped a hand to his head.
Corvin looked over his shoulder. “Yup.” Then he noticed a single button on the inside. “Whew, there’s a switch to open it again.” He tested it just in case, feeling better as the door rolled back into the pocket. With that, they continued down toward the rest of the corridor.
Kegan stopped short before reaching the bottom. “Let’s take a peek before walking in there.” He activated his Light Foot skill and slipped his inspector from his journal. “Ready?”
Corvin nodded and held out his hand. They had explored enough dungeons together to have figured out some interesting ways to check a room without entering it.
The Leaf took his hand and crouched, letting Corvin lower him back until he was hanging upside down over the next few stairs. He held his inspector over his eye. “Damn, so much for not having any guards down here.”
“How many?” Corvin pulled him back up.
“Twelve, six on each side. Stealth is only going to get us so far. I think the gloves have to come off here. At least with the door closed up above, no one will hear us murder these guys.”
“Okay, let me see.” Corvin borrowed the inspector and repeated the maneuver to get an idea of their enemies’ positions.
The first two had Shield gauntlets, the last held daggers. Probably Coins. All the ones in between had swords. Looking through the inspector, he could see each of their health bars. According to the color, which was yellow to indicate caution, they were close to his level in the mid-range. At least they weren’t red.
Beyond the guards was another large door with a single button. A chain with a pull ring hung to the side of it. An alarm, from the look of it.
Can’t let any of them reach that. Not after everything Max and the others did to get us here. He pulled himself back up with the help of his partner, and they crept back up a few stairs.
Kegan leaned into Corvin’s ear. “What do you think?”
“What color were their health bars for you?”
“Green. I should be able to one-shot them if I can land some criticals, but those Shields are going to be a problem if the get their gauntlets up.”
Corvin nodded. “I’ll go for them first. You aim for the Coins in the back. I’m willing to bet they go for the alarm instead of fighting.”
“And the rest?”
Corvin answered with a shrug.
“This is gonna be a shit-show.” Kegan sighed.
“Probably. I think I’m going to need this.” Corvin pulled off his patch to expose his yellow basilisk eye, m
aking sure not to look in Kegan’s direction. “It can only hold one of them at a time, but at least that’s something.”
He drew his katana, swiping two fingers down the back of the steel. The weapon hummed with power as he whispered the word’s, "Phantom Strike."
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Kegan drew a handful of arrows.
Without another word, Corvin simply stepped forward, using gravity to take the remaining stairs in only two large strides. He burst into the hall before either Shield knew he was there.
They almost looked surprised as Corvin slashed up, releasing the phantom blade into the first guard at point blank range. He sprang up with the momentum of the follow through and turned to come down hard on the second Shield’s shoulder. His sword dug in as he put all his weight into the strike, letting out a wild cry and streaking crimson light down the guard’s body. Both Shields staggered back, but neither fell.
It wasn’t enough.
In his peripheral, he caught a glimpse of the two Coins at the back making a break for the alarm chain.
An arrow whistled through the hall, so close he felt the displacement of air against the fur of his ears. It hit one of the Coins in the back with a sickening thunk.
“Down!” Kegan roared as he appeared from the stairs, letting off another arrow. It impaled the other Coin’s neck just before his hand touched the alarm chain.
Corvin dropped to a crouch as another arrow finished off the Shield behind him. He sprang back up and pushed his sword into the other, feeling the guard go limp.
Four down, eight to go.
In the past, when confronted by a group of more than two enemies, most games would use a mechanic called slotting. This meant that despite the size of the conflict, there would only be a limited number of active spaces, or slots, for enemies to take. Any opponent not slotted would simply strafe around and wait their turn to attack. It was a system meant to keep the player from being overwhelmed as well as convey a feeling of badassery.
Noctem, however, expected more from its players.
The eight NPC Blades rushed forward, using their numbers to their advantage and forcing Corvin to step back. He tried to lock one of them down with his eye, but everything happened so fast that all he could do was raise his weapon.