Ascension

by B F Rockriver

  “I’ll give you whatever you want, just give it to him. Give it to him now.” Eli shouted, his voice cracking.

  “Is that so?” She said with a grin, as Don’s health bar ticked off another few points.

  “Yes, I’ll give you whatever you want, just do it. Give him the damn potion.” Eli replied before thinking.

  “Well, then, I want you two to help me finish my quest. The one to take over that stupid fort north of the mountains.” Her grin grew larger as a window popped into Eli’s vision.

  *Michelle Clubsman has offered you a contract.*

  In return for one minor healing potion, valued at twenty-five silver, she has asked that you, and your party, agree to join her on the quest, Reclaiming the Frontier, within thirty days.

  Do you accept: Yes / No

  Failure to uphold your side of the contract, or intentionally harming the other party members, will result in an immediate loss of one thousand renown, an immediate deduction of ten gold or similarly valued item/s from your inventory, and a Nemesis mark between you and Michelle Clubsman. Non-Combat zone rules will not apply between either party for the duration of the mark.

  Eli knew he was giving up a lot for such a cheap potion, but the reward was Don’s life. A life that he had put in danger.

  “Don’t. I have.“ A whimper escaped Don’s mouth, as a notification minimized at the bottom of Eli’s vision. Don said before his eyes rolled back in his head.

  “Accept the damn trade, you moron! Quick!” Aida screamed into Eli’s mind.

  Not paying attention to his AI, Eli shook him violently, screaming, “Don’t you think about it, you turtle faced fuck. Wake up!”

  “Just accept the contract. You can be my minions,” Michelle said, laughing. “Then I’ll heal your friend. Just hurry up. We have work to do,”

  “Hey, idiot.” Don whispered, catching Eli’s attention, “I have a potion.” The man coughed, blood spilling down his chin. A moment later, the turta held a red vial in his shaking hands. “A little help?”

  Lifting Don's hand to his mouth, Eli looked at his friend and smiled.

  “Open up,” He said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s time for your medicine.”

  Don closed his eyes and sighed, “You’re dumb,” before swallowing a small pool of blood and opening his mouth.

  Eli unstoppered the small beaker-like tube and poured its contents into Don’s mouth, the effects kicking in immediately. A pinkish glow enveloped Don as his health bar rapidly filled to fifty hit points, his bleeding icon vanishing entirely. Eli watched on in wonder as the muscle, ligament, and chips of bone in his friend’s torso slowly repaired themselves, shifting into their proper location, forming into healthy tissue. It was a gruesome yet beautiful sight. One that Eli never wanted to see again. Sorrow and self-reproach replaced the fear and panic that had gripped him as he watched his friend’s grievous wounds stitch themselves back together.

  “Well, damn it. Now, what am I supposed to do?” Michelle sighed, slouching against a tree. “I was so close to having minions.”

  Eli’s head lowered As he processed what happened. He had gone into a rage-fueled trance and lost control over his actions. He had felt anger, hatred, and wrath before, but this was different. A rage that had been building long before returning to this world, from a time beyond memory. It had consumed him, and it felt good. Too good. Even now, his friend barely escaped death, he wanted more. He wanted to feel that power, that joy at seeing his foes fall beneath his blade. He wanted to bring retribution upon all who had ever wronged him and his family.

  Deep down, Eli knew that he had to deal with the consequences of his actions, but part of him wanted to stand up and walk away. He wanted to find his enemies, calling down righteous fury, unleashing his wrath upon the world. Don was the only friend he had left in this world, and he was sure to abandon him. After what he had done, what reason did Eli’s friend have to stay? Why would he follow someone who had nearly killed him in a blind rage?

  Eli was about to say something, anything, to the monk who was slowly rising to his feet. There was no way the Turta could just move on as if nothing happened, not from this. Eli had nearly murdered the only person who had helped him since he woke up in this situation. The man had saved Eli’s life on multiple occasions, protected him. He was an adventurer, but he was also a good person. What could he say? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t in control. His train of thought came to a crashing halt as a fist slammed into his back, above his kidney, where he had been stabbed.

  There was a sharp pain from the impact, then Eli’s body pulsed with energy. He knew that he was no longer bleeding. The lack of flashing in his health bar, which now hovered around ten percent, let him know.

  “This is for fucking up a perfectly good ambush,” His friend said before another hit landed on his right side in the location of his second stab wound.

  Eli realized that Don was healing him painfully but still healing him. He didn’t know why, or where his friend was finding energy, but it brought a smile to his face. Another burst of energy shot through him, and his poison was gone, his health regenerating a few points.

  “This is for nearly chopping me in half,” The monk shouted, the strike echoing to his martial healing ability.

  “You should heal yourself,” Eli said, his voice weary, knowing that his friend was still in bad shape.

  As his words faltered, a very hard object hit the side of Eli’s head, nearly causing him to fall unconscious, “And this is for almost accepting that damn contract.” The final blow contained no healing magic. Eli felt only pain, and a few splinters, as the healing he had just received was immediately undone, “Do you have any idea what you were about to do?”

  Eli fell forward from the impact of the turta’s staff as it impacted the back of his head. He knew he deserved this, but it didn’t seem right. Where was the Turta getting so much strength, he was nearly dead seconds before?

  “I’m sorry I had to heal you. You were about to die,” Eli said, clutching the back of his head.

  After the pain subsided, being erased from his memory by the system, he looked at his friend. Don’s eyes were hard as they seemed to bore a hole straight through him. The look sent a shiver of fear down Eli’s spine. This isn’t going to be good; he thought to himself while inspecting the expression on his usually fun-loving friend’s face.

  Eli fell silent. His friend was right; he needed to get a grasp on his emotions. He needed to understand the principles of the game better, and he needed to trust those around him. Don had stopped him from making a contract with Michelle while he was bleeding out on the ground. The troll had almost suckered him into a binding agreement because he ignored his notifications and his guide. He would have been forced to work with a woman he barely knew and did not trust.

  Eli looked up at Don, his heart sinking, “I’m so sorry. I need to do better. I will do better, I promise.”

  “Okay, you two, enough of this lover’s quarrel, we need to get you both patched up and get a move on. So, kiss and make-up or whatever.” She planted her knee on the armless adventurer's corpse, raised her hand, and pointed off into the distance, like she was a captain, “Tally-ho, tally-ho!”

  Eli watched in shock as Don spun with blinding speed and crashed the tip of his staff into the warrior’s already wounded leg. The blow hit with such force that Michell lost her balance and broke from her sea-captains stance, falling on her face.

  “Enough,” he screamed in her face. “I’m sick of this bullshit.” He slammed the butt of his staff into the ground and took a step back to make sure both sets of eyes were on him, “This isn’t cool anymore. This isn’t fun anymore,” he screamed. “I’ve nearly died three times already,” He slung his staff to his back. “Once to some wolves. Again to fucked up mutant goblins, and a third because you,” he kicked the downed warrior, “shoved me into this assholes attack.” Don’s tone grew more serious than Eli had ever heard, “Now, I’m not fucki
ng around anymore. We need to rest up, heal, and have a little chat. While we do that, you,” he pointed his staff at Eli, “Need to explain what the fuck just happened. I’ve never seen anyone hulk out like that before.” He turned his back on both the stunned adventurers, who now were sitting in silence like children being reprimanded by their father. “Then, we need to loot this asshole and question that guy.” He moved his staff, like a teacher with a pointing stick, to land on an unconscious and tightly bound goblin. When did that happen?

  Eli looked at the incapacitated figure in confusion. How the small assassin had ended up, with blood flowing from his mouth and left ear, Eli did not know. A puzzled look grew on his face as a line of glowing text appeared above the being’s head. The goblin had a red tag above his name, an enemy player. The color of the tag was of no concern. It was the player’s name:

  Stabbins McGee - Level 9 Assassin.

  Chapter 29

  With the Goblin player restrained by ropes and an odd-looking set of metal manacles, Eli laughed. The creature was lying face down in the dirt with his knees tucked, butt in the air, and drool coming out of his mouth. Eli kept chuckling, knowing that there was a player behind those eyes staring at a countdown. While caught up in the humor of the situation, something Don had said sprang to mind.

  “What do you mean she pushed you into my blade?” He said, turning to face Michelle, who was now favoring one leg.

  “Uh, dude, I don’t know what that red glow around you was or how you did it, but you seem to have missed a lot.” His companion said with a puzzled look on his face. “While you were going ham on that Rotgutt guy, me and the Troll slugger over here were fighting this little fucker.” The monk walked over to the incapacitated Goblin and poked him in the ribs, eliciting a slight twitch. Eli thought he saw the assassin shift a bit when Don continued speaking, “He was a sneaky bastard. One second he was trying to get behind Michelle, then you ran up, and he was gone. Poof, like a fucking ninja. Then he was behind you. While you and the Orc dude went nuts on each other, he sat there, stabbing you in the back. You didn’t even fucking notice him stab you, or us screaming. You just took it, like a champ.”

  “Ah, so that’s what that was,” Eli said as if the attacks had been nothing more than an annoyance. “I felt something, but couldn’t focus on anything but killing Rotgutt. It was weird like I lost control over my character for a minute.”

  “Yeah, and if it weren’t for Michelle and me, the little wasp would have kept stinging. When you didn’t respond to my calls, I jumped in to help, and got stabbed a few times. Then Michelle plowed through me, sending me flying into your attack.” Eli stayed silent, watching, as Don’s gaze shifted towards Michelle, who was smiling innocently, using her club as a crutch. “Then she smashed the little dude's head in with her club and wrapped him up like a Christmas gift. After that, I’m not too sure what happened. All I know is you almost fucking killed me.”

  Eli grimaced, his friend’s words cut him deeper than any of Rotgutts attacks, “To be honest, I don’t know what happened, but I couldn’t feel much of anything. The second I saw Rotgutt, my vision turned all red and everything, but that murderer kind of faded into the background.”

  “Murderer?” Don asked.

  “Sounds a lot like a Rage ability,” Michelle spoke up, her usual joking tone now somewhat serious. “It might be Battle trance or Rampage. Check your logs.” At her words, Eli saw Don nod, lending them some validity.

  “Maybe. I’ll have to check. But, all I know right now is how it felt. It was an overwhelming urge to attack as if nothing else mattered.” Eli said, lowering his head before walking over to Don, resting a hand on his shoulder. The monk flinched, then accepted the gesture. “Look, man, I’m not sure what came over me. I didn’t even know it was you that got hit when I attacked. I thought it might be an enemy, but I couldn’t hear or see much of anything else. Everything just blurred together. If you want to leave,”

  “Don’t you fucking start with that shit,” Don said, as Eli felt his friend grab his hand, squeezing it tight enough to hurt, before throwing it away as if it were toxic. “Getting hurt is a part of all of this,” The Turta waved his hands at his surroundings in a frantic motion, movements erratic. “Hell dying is part of this shit. It’s what I signed up for. What I didn’t sign up for was your refusal to learn how everything in the system operates. We literally just went over this shit. There’s a fucking artificial intelligence who can explain notifications, including new abilities, as they happen.”

  “That’s the problem. She tried to tell me, and I could hear the notifications and Aida's voice in the back of my mind. But, I couldn’t focus on what she was telling me, or any new information. It’s like the rage or battle trance, or whatever it was, shut everything down, except my urge to kill that guy.”

  Eli could still hear his friend in the background, “Let me guess, you just turned all of your notifications off while in battle. Wait, maybe you left a few on. Your guide is an AI, as in Artificial Intelligence, emphasis on the intelligent part. Just tell it to relay all vital combat logs and updates. It will sort it out way better and faster than you can. You don’t have to control everything.”

  “Well, yes, and no. I left it up to her. She’s supposed to relay all important or useful information as it happens. Everything else pops up outside of combat.”

  “Uh,” Don muttered. “That’s not supposed to work like that.”

  Booming laughter rang out in the clearing, Michelle unable to contain the sight of Eli’s slack-jawed expression, “HA! This guy. He’s funny. Self-aware AI. She’s supposed to decide. Just tell us the truth, you’ve been playing blind this whole time. It’s amazing he made it this far.” She turned to face Don and slapped him on the back, “I don’t know how you’re still with this guy. In fact, I may let you guys off the hook on that contract. Buncha' noobs. I’m probably better off alone.”

  “I like her too, can we keep her?” Aida chimed.

  “Everyone stop,” Eli shouted, grabbing his head. “I didn’t tell you to talk.”

  “Are you talking to me? I think you’re talking to me. Oh, now, you look crazy.”

  “Uh, dude, are you okay?” Eli’s green friend looked at him, a hint of fear in his eyes.

  “Not you, I was talking to Aida. My guide, she’s been acting weird lately, acting a lot more real; sassier.” Eli responded while trying to grasp his current situation.

  “I’m adjusting to your personality. It’s a process. And, since you’ve all but ignored me, I’ve just been watching you get your ass kicked. Oh, and all the standard commands are in the manual, or you could just, you know, ask me. You didn’t give me clear instructions. So, I’m just doing what I think is right.” Aida informed him, as Don started laughing in the background.

  “Uh, you know you don’t have to talk to communicate with the guide right. It’s thought-based, through the Nura-link. It just knows what you want and responds,” Don said, his tone confused, worried. “And really, your AI shouldn’t have a gender, or name, or give you sass. I tried to name mine. It didn’t work. Same unisex weirdness.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Eli responded, his voice harsh. “Wait, what did you say?”

  After a few moments, Eli had calmed himself and decided that the group wouldn’t move on until he had a proper grasp on simple aspects of the game. He also needed to talk with Aida, to get help. Speaking mind to mind with his guide, Eli could work through a large amount of information while attending to his conversation with Don and Michelle. He learned that the guide could sift through combat logs, inform him of status changes, share the properties of new abilities, and relay any important information without interrupting his chain of thought, or impairing his awareness. The scrolling notifications at the bottom of his screen weren’t even necessary. An option he hadn’t even thought to look for. After fine-tuning his settings, he asked a question that had been on his mind.

  Aida, what’s going on with you? He said, his mental voice calm,
is everything okay? Don seems pretty sure that you’re not supposed to do what you do. Are you okay? Am I okay?

  After a moment of pause, as if the AI was lost in thought, she responded, “Everything is fine. Just try to remember that you’re not the same as Don. You were an NPC, and he is a player. His guide cannot do what I can do. It’s as simple as that. You have to trust me.”

  If you want me to trust you, then you will have to explain yourself a little better. We’re different; everything's okay, doesn’t give me anything.

  “Fine. Fine, here it goes. When each player generates their first avatar, a guide is formed. This AI is attached to the user's account, not the avatar itself.”

  Okay, so what? Only one guide per person. How does that affect me?

  “A piece of hardware called the neuralink, records and digitizes the waves of electricity given off by the user's brain. It then translates it into code and sends it to the system. Each device used to play this game uses this technology, with different levels of connectivity. Headsets offer users to hear, see, smell, and taste the world around them, along with mental control over the avatars' functions. They cannot feel anything, and the connectivity is low, resulting in a less than real experience. When hit with an attack, they just know it happened. Haptic suits allow the user to feel the game world, but it isn’t perfect. Pods allow for full immersion, 100% connectivity. The game becomes indistinguishable from real life from a sensory perspective.”

  Again, I don’t get it. What does this have to do with me? I was an NPC. As far as I know, I’ve only ever existed here. I don’t have a body for some machine to interface with.