Tournament Lord
Page 25
As soon as the light was dim enough to bear, I looked at what had become of my captor. There wasn’t much to see. Little more than a pile of ash remained where he’d been. All his armor and both weapons had disappeared with the rest of him.
I rushed at the ash and kicked it like I was going for a punt. “Screw you, man!” I shouted at the dissipated character. So much for being the Lord of MythRune.
“And I thought I’d lost it,” Leesha observed dryly from behind me.
But I’d been distracted by something that was revealed in the pile of ashes. Brushing them away, I found that, against all other odds, a heavy, jingling pouch sat among the remains. Hefting it, I could tell there was quite a lot in there. Even knowing we’d just gotten our prize winnings couldn’t stop disappointment from settling in.
“I’m still stuck here,” I said, not bothering to get up from where I knelt among the pile of ashes. “And we’ve got no way to find Danny.”
“You sure?” Leesha pressed. “Try logging out. Maybe killing Lord MythRune — did we really kill Lord MythRune just now? Right, sorry — maybe that will have done the trick.”
It was worth a shot. “Command: Log off.” I repeated myself in a louder, clearer voice. “Command: Log off!”
Nothing.
I sighed. “Any other bright ideas?”
“Hey, don’t take this out on me.” Leesha crossed her arms. “It’s not my fault killing that creep didn’t do anything.”
Then a notification popped up in my vision. Not having much else to do, I checked it.
Congratulations, adventurer! You have reached level 12! Boost your stats by 10 HP, 10 SP, or 10 MP and assign 2 AP (Tier 1), 2 AP (Tier 2), and 1 AP (Tier 3) within your ability trees.
Congratulations, adventurer! You have reached level 13! Boost your stats by 10 HP, 10 SP, or 10 MP and assign 2 AP (Tier 1), 2 AP (Tier 2), and 1 AP (Tier 3) within your ability trees.
Congratulations, adventurer! You have reached level 14! Boost your stats by 10 HP, 10 SP, or 10 MP and assign 2 AP (Tier 1), 2 AP (Tier 2), and 1 AP (Tier 3) within your ability trees.
Congratulations, adventurer! You have reached level 15! You now have access to Tier 4 skills! Boost your stats by 10 HP, 10 SP, or 10 MP and assign 2 AP (Tier 1), 2 AP (Tier 2), 1 AP (Tier 3), and 1 AP (Tier 4) within your ability trees.
“Did you just—?” Leesha asked, her eyes wide.
“Yup,” I answered glumly. Sure, I was stuck here and could probably make use of the level ups. But what did I really care about them? I’d probably die in real life soon enough, or at least go brain dead. Could vegetables play MythRune?
“Two more levels for me!” she said, her voice excited. She quickly contained it, seeing my own black expression. “Right. You still have that little stuck situation.”
I was about to retort with a snide comment when another notification popped up.
You have a new quest!
Find the Creator – Danny Germaine, the gamer mastermind behind the creation of MythRune, is trapped within the world he created by the artificial intelligence embodiment of himself, Lord MythRune. Find the Creator to restore balance to the world of MythRune before the pretender Lord MythRune throws the game into complete chaos. Only the Creator can completely destroy Lord MythRune and save the land.
- Find the first clue to Danny Germaine’s location by following the marker.
I read it twice, but still couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “Lord MythRune’s alive. The dice didn’t do him in.”
“What are you talking about?” Leesha protested. “We definitely saw him crumble into ash. Right there. Where you’re still kneeling.”
I ignored her. “I got a quest notification — can I show you this somehow?”
“Yes, yes — just come here.” She stalked over to me and muttered a quick command, then her eyes unfocused. She must have been reading the quest prompt, for her jaw dropped a moment later. “You’re kidding. Everything that creep said is true. Too bad the quest didn’t give you a lead to start.”
“Actually, I think it did.” I’d been wondering that same thing and had pulled up my map on the off-chance something had changed. Sure enough, it had. A pulsing yellow marker was way up in the far reaches of black on the map. But considering it had just shown up, I had a pretty good idea it had to do with this quest. With any luck, it showed where Danny was being kept.
I had Leesha look at my map, and she checked the location on hers. “Way off my map, too. Hmm. It’s a start, I guess. But we’re going to need supplies, armor, weapons, the whole nine yards if we’re going to make it that far. And I doubt Lord MythRune’s stipend will be coming in now.” She sighed heavily.
I held up the bag of coins I’d been concealing. “How’s this for a start towards supplies?”
Her eyes lit up, and she threw her arms around my neck, nearly knocking me to the ground. “I could almost kiss you. If you didn’t revile me.”
Not knowing what to say, I regained my balance and she extricated herself from me. As she did, I thought of and discarded a dozen one-liners, and in the end said nothing.
“Aren’t you charming?” she said with a strange smile. “Still, keep bringing in gifts like that and you’ll look like a prince no matter how many warts sprout across your face.”
“Warts is just too far,” I said, finally finding my tongue.
“Of all we’ve said to each other, that’s too far?” Leesha shook her head with a smile. “Oh, Z. You’ve got a long way to go.”
“Since when did I become a project?” I demanded. But I saw what she was doing. Already, the direness of my situation — that I was still stuck in MythRune — was fading before her banter. If she kept this up, maybe I’d forget about the whole thing and give up reality for this game like she had.
“Please. You’ve always been a project.” Leesha looked down to the gate. “Now, if you’re done flirting with me —”
“Flirting? Please!” I said a bit too quickly. Leesha turned to smirk at me, and despite my best efforts, I felt my face grow how. Well, well. If that’s how it was going to be, two could play that game. Time to turn the tables. “What job exactly are you avoiding in the real world again?”
Leesha’s expression quickly grew suspicious again, then she sighed. “Fine, fine. I don’t see why you have to know, but…” She spread her arms like a ballerina. “I was a stripper.”
I stared at her. That changed a few things about the way I saw her. But there was one problem… “You? Really? How the hell did you keep that job?”
Leesha rolled her eyes and turned away. “I’d be surprised if you even had a job.”
“Not now I don’t,” I muttered. Being absent for — how long had it been? Over a week? Definitely long enough to get fired at my dead-end job.
“Right. About that, we’d better get going and hit the road.” Leesha started for the gate.
I hesitated only a moment before starting after her. “Wait. You’re coming with?”
“Of course I am,” she said without looking around. “Who else is going to keep your feet pointed straight?”
Despite myself, I smiled. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Now, the money?” She held out a hand over her shoulder as we approached the gate.
I plopped the heavy bag of coins in her hand. “Consider it a tip. For my private showing later.”
You’d think with all the combat I’d been in I’d have seen her sucker punch coming. As it was, I was down on the ground before I’d realized what happened, nursing two sore lips.
Leesha looked down with satisfaction. “That’s the best I’ve got to show. Want a repeat performance?”
I laughed and rose. I’d suffered worse. “Maybe later. For now, let’s go find Danny and pay back that bastard. I don’t know what he did or didn’t do, but it’s probably his fault.”
“As you wish, your highness.” Leesha let off, examining the lock on the gate then easily vaulting over it, despite it being higher than we wer
e. “But you’ll have to jump your own gates.”
I started climbing, muttering to myself the whole way. The slog continued for Zane Deathless, I guess. The only way out of MythRune was into the black — to wherever Danny was waiting.
About the Author
Felix Craft is a gamer and a dreamer, and now a writer. Chaos Online is his first novel.
Learn more about him at felixcraft.com, or follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorFelixCraft
Books By Felix Craft
The Mythrune Series
Tournament Lord
Dungeon Diver (coming December 2018)