by N H Paxton
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Quest Alert: In the Nick of Time
You have completed the quest In the Nick of Time! The bandits retreated, and the leader of the bandits was dispatched permanently. There were minimal losses within the hunters of the village, and the entire village now has you to thank for their continued freedom! You have received 3,500 XP, your reputation with the villagers of Val’Fore has increased to Honored, and your reputation with the villagers of Cressfal has increased to Respected! Your Unique reward was given to you by the village elder, as an “Awakening.” Every “Awakening” is different and has an unexpected impact on the individual upon whom it is bestowed. Part of your Awakening is a gift of 3 additional proficiency points with which to do what you will. Your good deeds have not gone unnoticed.
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x4 Level Up!
You have (20) undistributed attribute points!
You have (7) unassigned proficiency points!
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I immediately dumped 10 stat points into Intelligence, then 3 into Vitality, 5 into Spirit, and 2 into Constitution. I held off on my Proficiency Points, although I had been given a rather large number of them.
“What was that all about?” Ina’s voice was, for the first time ever, suspicious.
“Have no idea.” I felt something change within me, but I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw a green indicator on the edge of my vision. I focused on it and was shocked at what came up.
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Class Skill Unlocked!
You have unlocked the Job Class* of Engineer!
Engineers benefit all around them by improving and modifying equipment. They can also manufacture traps and engineer weapons. The class kit for Engineer places heavy emphasis on tactical advantages, eschewing melee and physical combat for more civilized forms. As an engineer, you will be responsible for the technological advancement of the entire nation of Eldgard. No pressure!
Job restrictions:
Ranged weapons/Engineered weapons preferred; melee weapons and skills will suffer a debilitating reduction in effectiveness.
Light armor preferred; heavier armor will reduce skill effectiveness and will reduce efficiency in creating engineered products.
+20% to materials harvested from gathering sources
+30% improvement in ranged and engineered weapon accuracy
+15% in speed to produce traps
+1% chance per point in Engineer tree to receive “Enlightenment”
Enlightenment grants you a blueprint for the item you have manufactured. Blueprints are tradable items that allow the knowledge of the great Engineers of Eldgard to be shared with anyone who has the skill and technical knowhow to read them.
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And as quickly as that, I had a job class. But what was that asterisk tagged onto the “Class” word? I was focusing on the asterisk, hoping for more information, when a new quest popped up.
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Quest Alert: Weaponizing the Alchemical
Having an innate knowledge of engineering, you understand that there are many specialties involved in manufacturing and developing engineered products. As a result, you have gleaned that there is a deeper class that you can unlock through the collection of a very specific book—The Arch-Alchemist’s Engineering Grimoire—which details the painstaking process of literally weaponizing alchemy.
Quest Class: Epic; Unique
Quest Difficulty: Infernal
Success: Recover the Arch-Alchemist’s Engineering Grimoire from the tunnels locked away for centuries below Rowanheath
Failure: The grimoire is destroyed before you have a chance to read its contents
Reward: 5,000 XP; new job class unlocked: Alchemic Weaponeer; class-specific weapon
Accept: Yes/No?
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I knew there was no turning back when I saw that. Somehow, the bitch called fate wanted me to follow the path I once took in life, now, in V.G.O. I accepted the quest with a stone-faced nod and a word.
“I have been given job, and quest for advanced job.” I stood there, mulling over the situation, very confused. What had the elder unlocked within me with his touch? Was this the reward for completing the quest he had offered before the bandits attacked?
“You’ve got a class!? That’s great, Vlad! I’m so excited for you!” Ina was so pleased for me that I couldn’t help but smile. Yes, sure, it was great, but I had wanted to be a sorcerer.
“Is good, but is challenge. Quest is in Rowanheath, underground.” I looked anywhere I could, except at Ina. The fire was mesmerizing in the way it danced, the people were a joy to watch, but I felt Ina’s eyes watching me, and I didn’t want her to see my concern.
“We should take tonight, Vlad. We should enjoy it for everything it is worth, then tomorrow morning, we will head off to Rowanheath. It’s only a day’s journey from here, thereabouts.” Ina had, somehow, taken my hands in hers. She turned me around, slowly. The world slowed down to a crawl, and everything else was suddenly no longer important. Our eyes met, and I knew that everything would be okay. It all would work out the way it was meant to—I could feel that.
“Ina, do you dance?” It was a bold move, as I had no idea how my body in V.G.O. would react to dancing.
“Why yes, I do. Not well, though.” She rolled her eyes as we walked over to an open area, and we danced.
We danced like maniacs, as though nothing mattered. We also ate, and everything that was available was delicious and hearty. The crisp skin on the meat, the soft and juicy flesh of the fruit, everything was incredible. It was like I had never eaten anything in my life, and maybe that was just the point.
After the party, Ina and I retired back to the inn room we had shared the night before. It was an emotional time as we lay together, and we both let our emotions run hot. What started as a simple kiss led to much more, and we found ourselves in a tangle on the bed. It was my first sexual experience in a great many years, and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
Afterward, we lay in the bed and stories were told, of Ina’s life before me, and of mine before her. Laughs were shared, and tears were shed as we reflected on our pasts and the things we missed. Everything we experienced was real and intense and wonderful, and I never wanted it to end. But we had a journey ahead of us that would take us to Rowanheath and deliver us to our fates.
My rest was not restful that night, as I was constantly plagued by dreams of death. Not solely mine, but the deaths of all of my loved ones, in sequence, from start to finish.
First I witnessed my mother die again, slowly, as she succumbed to early-onset dementia and became someone who didn’t know any of us. She regularly referred to me as my father, when they had met. So, for the two years that my mother suffered from her failing mind and body, I was Dimitri, and my father was a stranger in our house. He said it was fine, it didn’t bother him that much, just to know that she remembered his name at all was enough. Toward the end of her illness, my father became increasingly depressed.
I dreamt of the evening I came home from my mother’s care facility late; my father had left hours before. I came home to none of the lights on, except for one of the bathroom lights, down the side hall. We hadn’t used the side hall since my sister had left for university and moved to America afterward.
I shouted for him, called his name, but there was no response aside from the buzzing of the vent fan in the ceiling. I knew something was wrong, so I rushed down the hallway, only to find a glistening red puddle at the entrance to the bathroom. It led to my father’s pale and rigored body. His head was practically gone, the top half splattered against the bathroom walls. There was a shotgun locked in his hands. I screamed, because it doesn’t matter how hard your life has been, seeing your father’s corpse in front of you will destroy you.
Suddenly I was in my mother’s care room, her nurses with her, the monitor beeping slowly as her heart rate was reduced to almost nothing. Lucidity came to her eyes as she looked at me for the last time. H
er hand brushed mine, and she grasped my fingers and gave me a gentle smile. That was the last thing I saw before her eyes faded to a glossy haze, her heart stopping, the monitor screaming in alarm.
The head nurse, knowing my mother had a DNR, or Do Not Resuscitate order, in place, reached over and flicked the power switch on the monitor. A doctor came in, I don’t remember his name, and checked his watch. He pronounced my mother dead on April 22 at 14:35.
I stood there, stock-still, unsure of what to feel, or what to do. My eyes refused to blink, my soul refused to stop shaking. I stood there for an hour, maybe two, before I was ushered from the room. And then, when I had finally left her side, I cried. It hurt, everything was sharp stabbing pain inside. I had lost my father and, not even two weeks later, lost my mother.
Then I was standing in the entryway of my apartment, the one I had lived in while going to university. Bruno was over, and he had grabbed the post while he was coming upstairs for me to help him with his studies. I had a letter postmarked from America—it was from my sister.
She had run into trouble and was trying to get out of a very bad situation. She had fallen in with some foolish people that were deep into drugs, and not just using, but selling and running them. She said she had only one thing she had to do before she could be free: she had to run drugs across the ocean, as a mule, into Russia.
The letter had arrived nearly a month after it was postmarked, and I had assumed she was in Russia by then. I tried to look her up, I contacted people I knew that would have connections, but I was too late. One of my contacts found an obituary for her. She had been smuggling heroin rectally, and the assumption was that one of the bags had ruptured. She was killed of an opioid overdose; it wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t pleasant either. They had found her body after a prolonged stay in the airliner lavatory. By the time she was found, she was already gone.
I remembered Bruno being comforting in his own way, but the numbness I felt was deeper than anything I could recall since.
The dream refused to stop there, though. I was standing by Ina’s bedside, watching them administer the “last” round of chemo. The IV drip was bright yellow in my mind, though I don’t remember it actually having a color. She smiled at me as the infusion started, then everything went to hell. I remembered the way she actually died, and it was not like this. The dream ripped the fabric of reality and made things so much worse.
Her body spasmed in agony as her chest exploded, and a giant beast made of dripping gore and cancerous growths fought its way out, tearing through her body like it was waste paper. It was absolutely massive and terrifying.
I backed up but was already against a wall. The lupine creature stared at me with its dead eyes and jammed one of its clawed forelimbs into my face. I felt the skin, bone, and sinew tearing, shredding as I screamed.
I watched this happen both from my own eyes and as an observer at the same time. I heard my own screams become a gurgle, then my body went limp.
Journey of Fate...
Timeline: 1 day before Astraea, 07:05
I WOKE WITH A SCREAM. Everything was fire, and my brain was once again accosted by shrieking. Ina was not in the room, and that was probably for the best. I slammed my head against the headboard of the bed before realizing that I wasn’t under attack by a sonic weapon—it was the alarm again.
I forced my eyes to open to check that I could still see, making sure the dream wasn’t real. The room danced in front of me, the dizziness from the sudden and abrupt awakening slowly fading. I dismissed the alarm with a word; I was getting better at handling the interfaces of this game world.
I saw I had another message, so I opened it. It was that Osmark Technologies goon again, his face the epitome of customer service. I wanted to punch him in the face so badly, just to prove a point.
“Good morning! You’ve successfully spent your second night in V.G.O. and are now twenty-four hours away from completing your transition. The pain and discomfort you’re experiencing today will be more intense than yesterday’s, but just remember that a good, hearty breakfast will help to alleviate some of those pains. We hope you have a wonderful day, and thank you for choosing Osmark Technologies!”
That was the end of the message. It chirped away, and I mentally deleted it.
“Ugh, what nightmare.” I struggled to sit up in the bed.
My body was whole, none of the nightmare was real. My thoughts, though coming with pain, were sharp even after the night of dancing and drinking, which didn’t do me any harm thankfully. It looked an awful lot like my tolerance for alcohol had carried over. Finally, a perk to being a Russian.
I was startled when the inn room door popped open and Ina walked in carrying a bowl of the same breakfast gruel we’d had the day before. Surprisingly enough, I was looking forward to eating it, even if it looked like the remains of something I had just seen in the dream.
“Well, good morning. Had a rough night’s sleep? You were tossing and turning and doing a lot of groaning.” She handed me the bowl and sat down next to me on the bed. She fished a pair of wooden spoons from her belt and passed me one before starting to eat.
“Had nothing but nightmares, all of nightmare, endless.” I shuddered as I thought about what I had witnessed. There was nothing for it. I remembered that V.G.O. was created based on player’s memories being imported through neural mapping. I was only hoping that it wouldn’t happen again.
“Nightmares are the tales of those we’ve lost, a reminder of the love they once held, and how we change it into our own grief.” Ina’s voice was a bit muffled as she continued to shove food into her mouth while speaking, but her words rang true in my head.
She finished her bowl of gruel before standing and strapping a large pack on her back. Had she prepared that while I slept?
“Hurry up, Vlad. We’ve got a day’s walk ahead of us, and that’s if we go at a normal pace. Let’s try to get there before evening, eh?”
I finished my bowl as well, draining the remainder of it like a drink. I immediately felt stronger, more fit, and my “Hungry” debuff vanish.
“Is no time like now. Wait, is that how adage go?” Stupid broken English wouldn’t even let me use the proper adages. This was just becoming a sick joke. Developer heads would roll.
“Do you mean ‘no time like the present’?” Ina smiled as she playfully corrected my wording. She turned to walk out the door, and I followed.
It was less than ten minutes before we were headed south on the slightly worn path that would see us to Rowanheath. According to Ina, we would have to travel south for about four hours, before turning west, then heading back north. The journey would force us to skirt the southern tip of the mountain range that separated Rowanheath from the Tanglewood. It was a natural protective barrier, and I appreciated every bit of it. After the nightmare I’d had, I needed some comfort.
As we walked, Ina pulled a short bow off her back. I hadn’t noticed it before, but that might have been because I was so distracted. She handed it to me while we traveled and gave me a quick rundown on ranged weapons, especially bows and crossbows.
A notification filled my screen when I equipped the short bow.
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Skill Unlocked!
Skill: Ranged Weapons
Ranged weapons are useful for tactical strikes from a distance, as well as hunting for your dinner. They are comprised of short bows, longbows, great bows, and war bows. They are especially effective against lightly armored targets, though a master of the bow can punch through even the hardest armor. This skill is always in effect and costs no Stamina to use.
Skill Type/Level: Passive/Level 1
Cost: None
Effect: Increases ranged weapon damage by 5%
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I quickly dismissed it, ready to be given more information from Ina.
“Firstly, always have ammunition. Second, make sure your weapon is in good condition.” She handed me a bundle of arrows consisting of twenty solid, well-made oak
shafts with bronze tips. “These are broadhead tips. They’ll cause considerable damage to your target.”
I slid the bundle into the quiver she handed me next, then slung it over my shoulder. We paused at a small game trail which was well worn and ran into the Tanglewood.
“So, game trail is like clue?” I asked her the question because I had never been hunting before.
She nodded and put a finger to her lips. Then she flattened her hand out and crouched down to the ground, before being enveloped in shadow.
Holy shit, I thought as she practically disappeared in front of me. There was a strange outline to her body that I could see, but aside from that, I wouldn’t have known she was standing there. I did the same thing, but had a hard time finding the right balance. After an attempt or two, I managed to enter stealth and got a prompt for my work.
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Skill Unlocked!
Skill: Stealth
Stealth allows you to creep through the shadows, making you harder to detect by hostile forces. Successful attacks from stealth mode activate a backstab multiplier for additional damage.
Skill Type/Level: Active/Level 1
Cost: 10 Stamina
Effect: Stealth 7% chance to hide from enemies
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I wasn’t planning on using it for anything in the near future, but it was cool to have. Once I acquired the skill, Ina stood up, breaking her own stealth, and nodded approvingly.
“Good. Stealth can be great for hunting and trapping game or even in combat situations. I don’t usually use Stealth; my armor is a bit heavier than I’d like for that kind of practice.” She smacked herself in the chest, and the metal interwoven into her ringmail clanged a bit.
“Stealth is good, will provide tactical advantage.” I stood as well, and we continued on the trail south.
About half an hour into our journey, we spied a small collection of rabbits feeding near the edge of the Tanglewood. Ina crouched and slipped into stealth, after pulling a crossbow free from her hip. I followed suit and crouched myself. I pulled my short bow from my back and nocked an arrow. I took aim, as best as I knew how, and released the arrow. It went way wide, but half a second later a crossbow bolt skewered one of the rabbits that were now scattering in every direction.