by J D Astra
“So...” Otto hacked down the last Moorkin, a child-shaped, hairless gray monster with needles for teeth and daggers for fingers. “You told Naitee you were going to become the greatest Sorceress in Eldgard to take down a tyrant?”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
We were silent as we picked over the small bodies, collecting bits of gold flakes in corked vials of water or half-eaten fish heads. The loot was pretty slim from these guys, and I was beginning to feel bad that Otto accepted payment in the form of half the earnings.
Otto tossed the bodies into the swiftly flowing underground stream that ran alongside the path we took. He said he was doing it to avoid leaving a trail, but I think he just liked tossing stuff into the water. The cavern walls echoed with the splashes of small bodies, and I looked up through the tiny hole in the ceiling, the only point of light in this area.
It was good I had all the class kits unlocked. Fireball had been most useful as a torch for the last half hour as we wove our way through the maze-like passages of the Wayward Caverns. With a name like that, we should’ve known it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
“How much farther?” Otto asked as he smacked his hands together in childish joy.
I opened the quest again. When we entered the Wayward Caverns, it had updated with additional information:
<<<>>>
Quest: The Path of a Sorceress
Naitee needs you to replace the rare ingredients you just consumed and prove your proficiency as a spellslinger. She has provided a scroll to unlock the basic abilities of all four Sorcery magics for 5 hours. Use them wisely.
Lumalgae will be located at the deepest pool in the Wayward Caverns. The deepest pools will be found where the water’s flow ends, to the south.
Quest Class: Uncommon, Class-Based
Quest Difficulty: Moderate
Success: Using all four schools of magic, collect 4 ounces of Lumalgae from the Wayward Caverns, 3 Rose Quartz stones, and 10 soot essences from 10 different Balrigons, then return to Naitee before the night is done.
Failure: Fail to gather all the necessary ingredients in time.
Reward: Class Change: Sorceress, Varying Kits; Unique, Scalable Item.
<<<>>>
The collected items were conveniently crossed out for me, and I noticed as I collected each one, a little counter popped up in the corner of my vision, flashing how many I had out of the total needed. The level of care taken for convenience was really nice, though absolutely not necessary for what the game had become.
“Looks like we’re on the right path.” I shrugged as I closed the quest. “It just says the Lumalgae will be in the deepest pools of the cavern, and the deepest pools will be far to the south where the water flow ends.”
Otto glanced to the stream, his face screwed up in frustration, and I had the disgusting realization I was sure he was having. He’d been sending all the bodies along to the deepest pools...
“Great.” He grumbled. “At least we have something to follow.”
We moved on and the path twisted this way and that, the river an ever-present guide to our destination.
“Who’s this to-be-tyrant person you’re trying to stop?” Otto asked, and I wondered if it was safe to talk with him about it. Down here in the cavern it was pretty unlikely I would run into other players, and my NPC was supposed to be loyal to me, so maybe it was alright. If Otto was going to be with me long-term, he’d need to know eventually.
“His name is Osmark. Robert Osmark. He used to order me and many others around before we came here. He’s been working with really bad people and has a plan to raise them, and himself, to seats of power. I’m not sure what that plan is yet, but I know he intends to rule over all of Eldgard.”
I gritted my teeth at the thought of what he could be scheming, and the fact that I wouldn’t know it until it was already happening because of my damn fat-fingered code. If I’d been smart, I would’ve sanctioned a virtual machine and tested the code there. I should’ve known better than to trust a potentially false positive from my own machine. Testing in a contaminated environment like my own branch was a second-grade mistake.
The burbling of a Moorkin drew our attention, and Otto waved his sword through the air. The little devils had natural stealth and would pounce at us from the walls, making the start of combat a confusing moment of flame throwing and sword swiping, hoping to land a hit.
It was me this time who struck first, my fireball smacking the Moorkin right in the face. It dropped from the ceiling with a horrible high-pitched cry and splashed into the river. They were effective swimmers, but my fireball had taken most of the thing’s Health, and it was carried away by the coursing water.
“He sounds like bad news.” Otto sheathed his sword, then stroked his green chin. “The free cities have been fighting Imperial rule for many years. Gaining control of the Imperial cities and their armies would be a good starting point for a bad-news-man like that.”
“True.” I bobbed my head in agreement. And Osmark would never want to be anything other than human. Stuck up, fancy-pants prick couldn’t stand to look less than perfect all the time. Before the crunch, we all had to look our best, too. I mean, come the hell on, we were developers; shorts, T-shirts, and flip-flops were our MO, but not at Osmark Tech. It was button-downs and tailored pants or you got a talking to. Well, at least I didn’t have to deal with that anymore.
Otto continued on. “I think I should stick with you for a while, at least until we get this Osmark character under control.”
“Yeah, why’s that?” I chuckled. “You gonna take aggro for the whole world?”
He shot a glare over his shoulder. “If I have to, yes.”
Interesting, so the Overminds were helping him find reasons to stick around with me from the data I gave him. Were those changes occurring at the core of the NPC’s values, or were they just getting weaved into what already existed? There was so much I didn’t know about the NPCs. I had worked mainly on the questing systems, which definitely gave me an advantage in power-leveling.
“I care about this place. I care about these people. Not that you would, you just got here, but they mean something to me.” Otto walked from the sparse sunlight cast by the hole above us, and around the next corner.
I did care about the people, all three something million of them. I cared what this place might turn into, and I wanted to help shape it into something we would all thrive in. Osmark wanted it under his boot. His creation, his rule, just like with Osmark Technologies.
I conjured a fireball and held it in my hand and double stepped to catch up to Otto. “The reason I want to stop him is because I care what happens here. I arrived a few hours ago, but many of my friends will be arriving or are already here. I care about them, too, and all the other Travelers.”
Otto was quiet, following the path of the water, and I couldn’t tell if he thought the rushing stream was too loud to talk over or if he didn’t want to talk to me. My nagging, anxious gut told me the latter, and I told it back that it didn’t matter what an NPC thought of me.
“I don’t want anyone to be subjected to Osmark’s rule,” I added, trying to get anything out of him.
“You want to protect the Travelers,” Otto snapped. “I want to protect everyone.”
Otto wasn’t real. There was no reason for me to need to protect him, because he wasn’t really alive. The millions of people who came here were all alive—thinking, feeling beings. Otto and the other NPCs were just strings of code executing predetermined behaviors on a server.
“I don’t want anyone to become Osmark’s slave, to build his paradise while we rot in the gutters,” I added for finality. Having Otto upset with me would make it difficult to work with him. My comment was vague enough that I hoped it would placate him. If not... well, I guess it didn’t matter if I lied to a few lines of code.
Otto held his hand up in a “hold” motion, and I stopped and doused the flame. The blackness of the cavern brought a sudden claustro
phobia. Slowly, my eyes adjusted, and I noticed a soft green light emanating from up ahead. The stream beside us flowed to a wall with a small gap, just enough for the water to flow under. Otto motioned for me to come up to where he was, and he squatted down to allow me to see.
The cavern corridor curved once more, and then it opened to a massive cave, lit by glowing green patches on the walls. As I focused on the patches, I saw a tiny descriptor pop up: [Lumalgae]. Ha. I get it.
“Let’s go ge—”
Otto clamped his hand over my mouth, and I pulled away, but his hand held me still like a Facehugger. He hushed me, barely making a noise, and then pointed lower into the cavern. There was a drop beyond the path we were following and pools at the bottom. And in those pools, an absolutely gigantic tentacled monster that had no business being in freshwater.
The [Cave-Dwelling Septillian] was curling its twenty-foot tentacles around the dead Moorkin, lazily leaning its head back to drop the bodies into its massive gaping mouth. From what I recalled of sea creatures, squid and octopi had a beak at the center of their bodies, between all the tentacles, but this thing had a very large, very toothy mouth on the ovular abdomen that poked out of the pool.
Knowing I’d seen the threat, Otto released my face. Given its name, it was safe to assume it had seven tentacles, that one large mouth, and... no eyes? There didn’t seem to be anything on the part sticking out of the pool other than the mouth, not even ears, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t hear us.
“What’s the plan?” I whispered to Otto. He’d been fairly proficient at tactical planning. He likely knew this creature much better than I did, so I would let him take the first stab.
His eyes narrowed as he evaluated the creature.
“Definitely weak to fire.” His gruff voice cracked as he tried to whisper, and so he turned his back away from the opening. “It’s distracted now, so getting a few good surprise hits in could be our boon.”
A noise I knew well from owning several cats drew my attention. The hurp, hurp, bleeerrrk of vomiting echoed at a sickening volume, and we crept to the cave entrance for a better look. The Septillian leaned forward, spewing a rancid smelling mixture of Moorkin chunks and bile into the pool around it.
We watched in wrinkle-nosed horror as the chunks were sucked down into the pool. Shadows of tiny tentacled creatures swimming under the surface zipped past the patches of Lumalgae. Not just a few... dozens.
Otto pulled us back from the edge. “Is this the only place to get Lumalgae?”
I nodded, and Otto mumbled some curse under his breath.
“Let me draw aggro with the first two hits, I need two, then you lay into it with fireballs and whatever else will work.”
I gave him a thumbs-up. Otto furrowed his brow, and I realized that the NPCs in Eldgard likely wouldn’t understand a lot of our gestures and colloquialisms.
“It means ‘okay’ where I come from.”
He bobbed his head and half turned away, then looked back at me, holding up two fingers. I rolled my eyes and shooed him toward the cave mouth. Otto pulled his sword from its sheath and stepped lightly as the massive creature retched again. Hot acid and metallic blood wafted through the opening with the sounds of splashes, and I covered my nose.
I moved to the opening, watching as Otto took the way down very slow and deliberately. Each footfall was purposeful in its placement on the algae-slick rocks, and he remained steady all the way down the twenty-something-foot descent. The pounding waterfall dampened his steps, which were completely inaudible to me, and I hoped to the creature as well.
The Septillian seemed unaware of Otto’s presence as he moved within range and raised his sword overhead, his aim to slice down on one of the meaty tentacles. The sword glistened with green moisture as he brought it down into the Septillian. The creature recoiled, its massive mouth giving a high-pitched screech of anguish. Otto moved in for another chop, and I began the cast of my first Fireball.
One of the six remaining tentacles swiped at Otto’s legs, and he jumped, narrowly avoiding being swept off his feet. He sliced down on the offending limb and landed another hit. I unleashed my held ball of flame, aiming straight for the creature’s wide-open mouth.
The fireball hit with a sizzle, and the monster cried louder. The pool was now alive with movement from the smaller [Cave-Dwelling Septillian Spawn] as the adult thrashed about. The HP bar flashed orange above its head as my next fireball hit and procced Burning Affliction, but it was only missing a mere 5% of its total Health.
A wet thwap brought my attention back to Otto as one of the many tentacles smacked him back against the cave wall. I shot two more Fireballs and landed another Burning Affliction hit, but my Spirit was beginning to dip. I needed to pace myself—it would be a long fight.
The monster’s many limbs searched the ground and walls as it roared in frustration. Otto, as large as he was, dodged and hopped with practiced ease, making his way back into striking range.
I moved to cast Boulder Dash, but negative buzzing echoed in my ear and a notice of “out of range” appeared in the corner of my vision. I could still cast the spell, but it was very likely I wouldn’t land the hit because of the distance. With my poor visual acuity, I judged myself to be about sixty feet away, but didn’t really bank on that being accurate. If I came nearly within tentacle range, I should be close enough for all my spells.
Otto grunted as another smack landed him on his ass. His HP bar was at about 50%, and the Septillian... 70%. Okay, it was time to unleash hell. I knew from experience that Fireball would dispel Numb, and similarly, Ice Lance would end Burning Affliction, but disorientation or the Drain spell shouldn’t interfere.
I took the way down a little more precariously than Otto had, tripping and slipping twice, but the Septillian was so involved with the tank, it didn’t notice me at all.
“Get back up there!” Otto yelled at me as he waved his sword in front of him, landing a few scraping strikes on two offending tentacles.
I tossed a boulder toward the Septillian and cursed when a tentacle batted it away. “I was out of range! I’ll be fine!”
My Spirit had recuperated on the climb down, so I hucked a few more fireballs and another boulder, landing a hit to the brain center, which disoriented the creature. Our onslaught was finally having an effect, and the creature bellowed a new war cry as it hit 50%.
Dozens of tiny yips and growls filled the cavern, sounding like an army of angry chihuahuas, as the surface of the pool rippled with the presence of the Septillian Spawn. The squid-beast slapped its tentacles against the cave floor, knocking boulders and stalagmites free as the ground shook below us.
“Go back!” Otto yelled, his Health bar blinking a slow warning at 30%. He retreated a few steps, grabbing a red vial from his bandolier. Before Otto could suck down the liquid, a loose rock fell from the ceiling and slammed into his back just as the Septillian batted him in the gut, sending him and his Health bar reeling.
“Otto!” I screamed, slapping the Septillian with another fireball before running to Otto’s aid. I grabbed the vial from the ground—it miraculously hadn’t shattered on impact—and tossed it to Otto.
He caught the potion, then pointed the outstretched hand at something behind me and screamed, “Watch out!”
I whirled about, catching a brief flash of tiny tentacles flying toward my face.
Sucker Punch
I STUMBLED BACK IN darkness as the cold, wet suckers slapped against my cheeks. A notification appeared in my darkened vision:
<<<>>>
Debuff Added
Grapple: You are being grappled! Stamina regeneration is reduced by 15% and movement speed is reduced by half until you are freed from the hold.
<<<>>>
The Septillian Spawn’s tentacles wrapped around my head—or at least tried to. It seemed my mane of hair inhibited the creature from getting a good lock on the back of my skull. I reached up and dug my fingers into the rubbery skin of the monster, tearing
the creature from my face.
I gasped for air past bile-soaked lips. I wanted to retch, but I instinctively resisted the urge to do so as I cast Drain on the offending spawn. Red spurted out in every direction as the creature exploded in a shower of blood. The spell critted for 42 damage, killing the little Septillian in one fell swoop and restoring 21 Spirit to my dwindled pool.
Another flying baby tentacle monster was careening my way, and I noticed the adult was flinging them at us! What a good, protective parent, sacrificing her babies to save her own skin. Some of the things we’d programmed into the game surprised me still.
Drain seemed effective, so before the flung baby creature came anywhere near making contact, I insta-cast and killed it outright in a puff of red. The little ones only seemed to have about 20 HP, perfect for the Drain spell. I checked my Spirit bar compulsively as I hit the little ones with Drain. The air around us tinted with crimson as baby after baby erupted into red mist from my spells.
Otto was back on his feet, Health bar at a steady 60% up from 20%. Two of the adult Septillian’s tentacles had large gashes from Otto’s efforts, and I could see a third was well beyond use. With the boss-monster still hovering around 45%—apparently Otto had inflicted some bleed debuff—it was time to get serious. I couldn’t be wasting my spells on the infants.
I pulled my staff from its holster and batted the next creature away, only hitting for 10 damage, but leaving the spawn broken on the stone floor. I repeated twice more, letting my low Spirit climb back up. When the bar was nearly full, I ran for the back of the narrow, tall cavern. Here, the thrown babies would splat on the ground before reaching me.
Otto was slicing in at the boss’s exposed body near the three damaged limbs while dodging and sometimes getting a nice wet thwack to the gut from the other four. I shot three fireballs in quick succession at the Septillian, getting a burn off on one of them. The scent of deep-fried calamari and blood filled the room, but the boss held fast to life.