by Tao Wong
He takes a drag from another handle of Tui. Then he takes a deep breath and sighs. “I killed a lot of people that night. I couldn’t count them. I couldn’t dispel the mind control effects on enough of them, and for those who were too weak against the attack, they were taken over again pretty quickly.
“Turns out that, like you said, the System has a pretty fucked up sense of… I dunno. Humor? Obligation? Respect? Whatever it is, it’s messed up. I may not have been able to count my kills, but it did, and…” He pauses, obviously wanting to say something but can’t quite get it out. Then his eye twitches and he starts back up. “Mmm, well as night was falling on the first night, there was still no end in sight. I was the only one left, and then I either messed up or was really lucky, because I slipped and was hit hard. The force threw me over the side and into the water under the bridge.
“When I woke up, I was on a sailboat. This sailor, who’d taken to the ocean as soon as the message hit, he’d seen me fall and picked me up. I must’ve only had a sliver of health left when he did because he was surprised I came to at all. We ended up in Fletcher Bay, and I slowly made my way back here via Tauranga.”
“Seriously, that’s it?” I say, a little shocked at the brief summary. “So why can’t I read your Skills? How’d you get rid of the status effects on Ellie? Were you given a title? And are you telling me that there’s a mind-controlling tuatara the size of a small car gathering forces in Auckland? Also, how’s Tauranga? I still haven’t heard from my sisters and haven’t had the guts to look them up in the Shop.”
“Tauranga’s pretty much gone, man. At least, I don’t think there are many people left there. If there are, they’re either incredibly lucky or exactly the opposite. The Mount and Papamoa are a freaking wasteland. When I was making my way through, I had to take a pretty wide arc and move quietly. There’s now this massive hole, or I guess a cave, in the side of Mount Maunganui, and it looks like a dragon’s decided to make its home there. You’ll never guess what the people in Te Puke are calling it.”
“No.”
“Yeah—Smaug! Ha! Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit’ll haunt our lands forever!” He lowers his head, acting a bit more somber. “Uh, but yeah, as for your sisters, sorry, bro, I uh, I didn’t see them.”
“Nah, that’s… yeah, nah, ‘sall good. I’ll um. I’ll look them up at the Shop in a few days. Once I’ve cleared my head ‘n shit.” Almost lost it for a sec. Letting out a deep breath, I continue. “But yeah, the news of monsters with mind control powers and that there’s a dragon within a hundred ks of here is pretty terrifying. Although I’m a little surprised it didn’t take up residence at Mount Ruapehu. Wasn’t that used as The Lonely Mountain?”
“True that. But I guess they don’t like living in active volcanoes?”
“Mmmm, yeah, I can see that. So your class and the spell? Did you use that Diseplla-something to fix Ellie?”
“Pretty much. I have Dispellere, and when I use it alongside another spell, Golden Harmony, while having Unrestrained Grandeur cast, I can pretty much cure a target of any negative status effect. At least anything I’ve come across that’s under an Advanced Class skill in rank.”
“Advanced? Can’t’ve seen many high-level Basics, let alone an Advanced, in New Zealand. What the hell level are you, cause there’s no way you’re an Ad—”
“Yeah, nah, still Basic, still a Creative Conjuror, but not for much longer.” A grin slowly forms on his face. During this transformation, his head tilts slightly down and toward me while his eyes narrow, a wicked laugh bubbling as if he’s channeling a mocha-colored Joker. Letting out a low dark chuckle, he says, “No, noooo, not Advanced yet, but almost. I’m just about Level 48, and if all goes well, I should hit the Advanced Class I’m gonna go for, Virtuoso Thaumaturge, sometime in the next few days.”
“Next few wha? Holy fucking shit on a stick. What the fucking fuck? How the fuck. Fuck!”
“I’m sure there are classier ways to say all that, but yeah, it’s pretty nuts.”
“Nuts is an understatement, you overpowered prick! You’ve gotta be one of the first to hit that on the whole fucking planet! I’m only Level 37, and I’ve been going at it hard since the first week.”
“Yeah, it’s been a ride. As for hitting Advanced first? Probably, not sure. It’s not something I’ve looked up. Just been doing my best to get back to Whakatāne. Which actually brings me to another topic.” Then sitting up a little straighter he says, “I’ve got a quest, and I’d like your help.”
“Huh? A quest?” I say as I take another drink. “This the one that’ll tip ya over? Why would you need my help? You probably have more power in your pinkie than I do my entire left arm.”
“I guess it’s more a numbers thing?” he says, waving away my comment. “Anyway, I need to head out to Whale Island tomorrow. Was hoping you’d want to come along. Should be some good XP,” he says with a grin.
“Fuck, man.” Sitting up I start shaking my hands and head in the negative. ”Yeah, nah, listen, anywhere else and I’m there. But that’s twelve kilometers of open water, and there’s no fucking way I’m going that far on the boats we have. Who knows what hell’s mutated down there? Sorry, man, I’d literally help any other way, but I can’t. Maybe I can introduce you to the Vaaharu? Maybe they have a party that’d be keen, or maybe they have some crazy nutters they can call over from their main base in Rotorua?”
“Nah, nah, tumeke, it’s all good, man, sorry to ask. How about we just get our drink on and maybe see if you can introduce me to that Coastlands clique?” With a wink and a smile, he sways to his feet and activates one of his spells that seems to amplify his voice, or make me hear a quiet echo in my head. “Ladies and gentlemen of the Pub! Drinks! Are on me!”
***
I wake up the next morning with one of the worst headaches of my life. How is it, with an automatic regeneration ability, that hangovers are still a thing? Hello? Anyone? Of course, why would anything be listening to my thoughts?
With blurred and aching vision, I check my status and see that I’m no longer Exhausted, which is nice and a little terrifying. That would mean I’ve had a full night’s sleep. I either did so in a Safe Zone or passed out in my bed, where I could have been attacked by a random spawn at any moment. Fuck! What the hell happened last night?
Rubbing my eyes, I focus to see that I am indeed in my bed, and thankfully… really? Whatever. There’s no one beside me and no mysterious clothes scattered across the room. There’s also no sign of monsters, monster corpses, or Otiniara. Again, what the hell happened?
I remember playing pool, having dinner, drinking, talking about our whos, wheres, and whys, finding out about dragons and a mind-controlling beast, then… talking with Sue and Pearl from the Coastlands Quartet, and… a fight? With someone? I think? Then… well, that’s it. Shit. Ngaire’s new skill must really pack a punch. I don’t think I’ve been blackout drunk in years, let alone since the System kicked in. Hell, I didn’t even know you could get that drunk under the System. That lady has opened up a whole new world to us. Gods bless her.
Guess it’s time to have a feed and work out what’s happening. Didn’t O want some help with going to Whale Island or something?
***
“You’ve got some nerve showing up after the crap you pulled last night! And where’s that prick of a friend of yours? O! O, get your butt out here now!” Ngaire screams from behind the counter at the Pub.
“Shhhh, please, indoor voices,” I say with a look to match the pain I’m feeling. “Now what’s this about me doing something?” I slouch into a chair at the bar and rest my head on my arms, indicating for Ngaire to make me some coffee. “Also, I don’t know where Otiniara is. I don’t remember seeing him since last night after… maybe talking with the… oh.”
“Oh? Oh? Do you remember something?” Ngaire says with a fire in her eyes that could cause the sea levels to rise.
“Nothing major. Just that O was talking to one of the gi—um, teache
rs from Coastlands, I don’t remember which one, and um, I can’t remember anything past that.” I can’t look at Ngaire, so in some misguided attempt to hide from her reaction, I snuggle further into my arms.
It doesn’t help. Words aren’t the only thing that can hurt, and I’m suddenly sorry I asked for coffee.
Leaping to my feet, I cry in pain. “Come on, Ngaire! That hurts!”
“I’ll that hurts you.”
“And now I’m all wet.”
“You—”
“But at least I smell like coffee,” I mumble as my auto heals do their trick, and I slurp up the liquid from my shirt sleeve.
“Disgusting,” she says and begins brewing another pot.
Mumbling with a mouthful of shirt, I reply, “Isshhhh yyyorrr fffaaalltt, iissshhhn iiitt.”
Not looking in my direction while throwing bacon and eggs into a frying pan, she says, “Don’t speak with your mouth full, ya idiot. Now is that all you remember?”
“Uh huh.”
“Nothing about running into a certain lowlife POS who might not be too happy about his favorite customer suddenly being clean?” I hear the smirk in her voice, but I can’t tell if it’s an angry smirk, a teasing smirk, or something else. But if what she says is true, I might want to leave town for a while.
“No. Did something good happen? Or something bad?”
“I’m guessing you didn’t see the damage across the street then? Or the fact that I no longer have a pool table!”
Oh boy, that last one had venom.
“What happened to the pool table? And…” I shift my gaze outside and see a hole in the front of what used to be the entrance to the Credit Union Bank, which is now a collapsed wreck, made all the more impressive with the inclusion of a handy new skylight. “Fuuuuuck me.”
“No thank you, but that is apparently what happens when a childlike drug lord pisses off someone nearly three times his level. Which, by the way, did you know that Otiniara’s almost a freaking Advanced Class?”
“Uh, yeah, I did know. Found out last night before everything went fuzzy. I didn’t have anything to do with that, did I?”
“Oh no, honey.” Is that anger or is she mocking me? It’s too early, and I’m hurting too much to tell. “That was most definitely because of you.” She slides a plate of heaven across my arms to rest under my nose. “Now eat before I beat the seven living hells out of you for going off at Ellie right before you started a fight with the bitch-King of Kope.”
Mouth full of bacon, words spill out before I get a chance to think. “Did I seriously start’a fight last night?” After swallowing my food, I try again. “Sorry…” I wipe my mouth, “Did I seriously start a fight with Sam? What on earth would make me want to do that? And last night of all nights?”
“Says the guy who beat the snot out of him. You must have been wanting to do that for a while, because when the gloves came off, he was almost dead before anyone thought to stop you.” Glancing away, she looks a little chastised. “Not that many would, I suppose. Those drugs he’s been throwing around have been causing nothing but trouble, then again, after last night…”
“That bad, huh? Think I’ll see him again?”
“Nate, you’re lucky to be alive. When no one came to his rescue, he pulled some buff outta his inventory and suddenly he’s hulked out like no one I’ve seen before. That’s when a certain someone stepped in and used their super-duper spells to send the fucker to the bank for a fast withdrawal—using my damn pool table.”
“Yeah…” I look back toward the old bank again. “He didn’t come back? And what about Ellie?”
“Sam went flying into next week. I doubt we’ll hear much from him for a while. As for Ellie, she ran off before I could stop her. Although I gotta say, she was looking more like her old self, which was a surprise.”
“She’s got O to thank for that. I ran down to pick up a purification pill because she’s been banned from the Shop, meantime he sallies up and purges her in less than two shakes of a lamb’s tail.” I finish another mouthful, then keep going. “Must be nice to have power like that. Speaking of which, you sure you haven’t seen him this morning? Also, where is everyone? Today’s a work day, isn’t it?”
“It is, and Jase didn’t show up last night either. I was thinking about going by his place later today to see if something’s the matter, but my other girls haven’t shown up. I’ve been expecting the morning rush of dock workers for the last half an hour, but all I got was you.”
“You think something’s up? Want me to check things out?” I say, a touch of clarity finally breaking through the fog of a morning-after.
“Might be an idea. Maybe see if you can find Otiniara and whoever he shacked up with last night?” Felt the negative feelings that time.
“Sure thing, Ngaire, and um, sorry,” I say quickly as I stick the last piece of bacon in my mouth and rush out the door.
***
Making my way toward the War Memorial Hall, it’s obvious how quiet the town is. I mean, it’s usually a lot quieter these days, but this atmosphere has an extra layer to it. There’s literally no one else on the street, and I’ll usually pass at least one other person.
Arriving at the hall, I see that the Hunters Market is completely barren, nothing but empty beds and a few half-eaten meals. “What the hell is going on?”
Putting a bit more of an effort into my run, I sprint to the Shop. Once again, I’m struck by the lack of people. Down here however, at least a dozen or so Vaaharu are huddled about, talking with exaggerated movements.
As I walk up to them, the closest spins toward me. “You, human, where are our workers? They are late, and some of our vessels are missing.”
Shit. “Hold up, man.” I don’t really know how to properly address a Vaaharu as I’ve only dealt with them on a few trading occasions. “I, um, listen, that’s why I’m down here too. I can’t find anyone.”
They look at me as though I’m about to become their lunch.
“I, uh, hey, so you said your boats are gone? How many? Do you have any way to track them? Or have you seen anything else that you’ve thought was strange?”
Scowling at me—or at least what looks like a scowl—the one closest says, “Do you think we are stupid human-monkey children? We have scanned and know the vessels are heading toward the land mass designated as Moutohorā.”
Whale Island? Hmmmm. That’s where O was going, but he wouldn’t…
“I also saw a large swarm of creatures in the ocean this morning while I stood on my balcony,” another one says, this voice sounding less hostile.
“Where? Would you be able to show me?” I ask.
“Show you? A human? We do not allow non-registered humans into our buildings,” the first one says.
“Come now, Flaxish, this one is trying to assist us in finding our lost property and stolen vessels,” a third one says.
I do a subtle double-take as they say property and vessels as though they are separate things… ohhh, yeah. Slaves.
“Fine. But he must be leashed.”
“I’m not being leashed! But if you’ll let me go up there and check what I think is happening, then maybe we can work something out.”
The first one, whose name I now know is Flaxish, glares at me, but he is cut off before he can speak.
The second one says, “Thank you, Human. I am Walkune. Please, follow me.”
Then it runs into the nearby apartments. I follow as it sprints up the stairs. Did they never think to get the elevators working?
Upon reaching the top, I pull out my binoculars and look at the waters between the Whakatāne Bar and Whale Island. At first, I can only see what looks like crashing waves. Then I realize that in the middle of the ocean, I see what looks more like a gathering of fish jumping in and out of the water… or a large group of creatures swimming.
Zooming in a little closer, I see several boats full of people and monsters. Swimming alongside the boats are hundreds, maybe thousands of people and
creatures, and none of them doing a thing to stop the sea creatures from biting, chomping, and in general dragging them under the waves. In the center of all this is a single unharassed boat, carrying the thing I was fearing most—a lizard the size of a horse, with massive, fluorescent blue spines running down its back, and beside it is my friend O.
***
“Welcome back, good sir, welcome, welcome!” the Turark greets me.
This time I take a moment and scan its basic stats.
Name: Frolik’va’naush
Race: Raluagief
Class: Spirit
HP: n/a
Mana: n/a
Titles: None
Conditions: Slave
Huh, well, I can honestly say I’d never have guessed any of that. “Frolik, my man, good to see you. Let’s get to spending, shall we?”
Having worked out where the vessels and their… workers are, I made a deal with the Vaaharu that I’d be rewarded ten thousand credits for each vessel I bring back, and two thousand for each slave. They’ve also set me up with a fifty thousand credit investment so I could gear up.
I feel a little mercenary about bringing back slaves, but if playing a knock-off Boba Fett gets me what I want, then I suppose it’s something of a win-win. Maybe I can look into ending slavery when I have a few more levels under my belt. Maybe a few more than a few more levels.
Then again, what is it exactly that I’m after here? Am I trying to save people? My friend? Kill the mutated tuatara? I thought I just wanted to listen to some music, which by the way, I have to skip again.