by Scar, Rick
As Leah’s brother allowed Emma to credit herself as his video editor, her channel was now getting lots of visitors, and many of them subscribed. Just as promised by Will, she was swiftly becoming popular.
The things concealed by Will were his challenges, his conversations with some NPCs, and the ways he’d reached this or that place. No one yet knew what he’d been collecting in the Taargada Forest or how he’d cleaned the cursed places.
Will was not going to reveal the full scope of his abilities. Some of his skills could save his life when fighting another player. A few others were sure to catch up with him soon. Crimson Berserker was already Level 50, despite staying at Floor 3.
But these omissions did not prevent many from enjoying his adventures. Two of his fans were Mollie and Katharine, who’d come to support the idea of getting Raven to join the Rollin’ Dice clan. In the evenings, the two would turn on the large wall screen and, hugging, get immersed into the world of a different floor.
Being different from the bulk of those videos posted on Video World, his were rapidly approaching the top by the number of views. However, Will realized it was not yet the time to make his videos paid for. To make a decent amount of money out of his channel, he had to make his battles more spectacular. His current pragmatic, slaughterhouse-like style was not what most people would pay to see.
At the moment, Will lacked the time to get down to it. Honestly, he hated the very idea of making his battles into a show. Utility and efficiency had been his top values since the age of twelve.
Eventually, he decided to learn to kill instantly. That could become the unique selling point of his videos. But… Floor 24 was not going to let him do it most of the time.
***
Among millions of threads, chats, groups, and discussions devoted to Raven’s adventures, there was a private one known to but a few and never driving much attention. Its name was: Raven and Unknown Floor… Which Exactly?
The player who’d created this thread was very selective, allowing only six people into his chat room. All of them had started their game on a floor different than the first three.
***
The rogue followed the girl until he stopped abruptly, his eyes widening at the sudden idea that struck his mind like lightning, one of those that had been tormenting his body a short time ago.
He’d become so focused on a single country, he gave no careful consideration to the ring’s properties.
Having this ring, he could join other kingdoms to Adamarona without war.
A golden spark flashed across his scaly eyes. Inhaling deeply, Will smiled. He did not care what challenge awaited him; he would do anything for a chance like that. His broad smile turned to a grin, then vanished.
Six people were walking along the dark corridors barely lit by magic lamps. Outside the palace windows, the evening was falling over the country still oblivious of the drastic changes to come, transforming the whole world’s map, once the new king ascended to the throne.
Chapter 127. Being a King… Choice or Destiny?
H earing of an ancient wizard, Will imagined a very old, gray-haired man whose mind would switch on and off in turn. This picture he’d made from Emin’s and Nanel’s words was shattered the very first moment he met the elder.
As the two of them, leaving the royal guard behind, approached a steel door leading into one of the towers, they were suddenly enveloped in complete darkness. A moment later, they were hanging in the air, their hands and feet chained.
“What the…” All of it happened too fast for Raven to see how exactly this trap or spell had worked. Seeing the man in front of him, he swallowed the rest of the phrase. Although there wasn’t much light, it was still enough to discern the tower’s master.
A man in his thirties stood before them, his light-blue eyes peering at his guests through his wood-rimmed glasses. His face was round, his skin tanned, his nose somewhat crooked, and his sturdy body was clad in a dressing gown.
Taking a good look at his guests and making sure they were not enemies, he cancelled the spell. Will and the princess landed on the floor, lurching but keeping their feet.
“You’re here. Good. You. Messenger, yeah? Come.” The wizard spoke fast, spitting words out, as if his long life had made him realize that wasting any time talking was too great a luxury.
Reluctant to get hanged again, Will approached. “Greetings, eld…”
“Shut up. I don’t care, if you want to be the king. That’s for messengers only. Special conditions. First: get all the papers. Second: win the nation’s respect. Third: put half of the treasury and half of the gold you’ll be earning from now on into developing the country.”
Raven was stunned at hearing such a long sentence uttered by the elder—and one that conveyed such a negative meaning. The left edge of his upper lip twitched with displeasure.
“And the last—”
“Stop.” Will took the risk of interrupting this pushy old man encroaching on his future earnings. He realized he should’ve kept silent rather than cross the man he depended on. And he would have if it were about anything but his gold. “Please tell me: what happens if I spend the treasury as I… as we see fit?”
The wizard seemed calm as he listened to Will. Then, with no change in his face, he spread the fingers on his left hand and moved it up and down.
Before the rogue could ask what that meant, his body soared into the air and fell down abruptly.
- 240
He soared again.
- 234
…and again. Fortunately, the days when he’d had no choice but to endure crazy ones were gone. Coming to, Will counter-attacked.
Double Jump.
Pushing off the air platform, Will leapt towards the wizard, his body keeping a vertical position, which made his jump look like a brief flight. While in the air, he threw a dagger, hitting the wizard’s left shoulder.
The elder was apparently taken aback, used to everyone being too scared of him to disobey. He stared at the slowly regenerating wound left by the blade.
Air Knife.
Another of Will’s skills hit the wizard’s chest, inflicting damage and pushing him back. Reaching the opponent and grabbing him by the neck, Will put a physical dagger to his throat. A cold, angry growl escaped Raven’s lips: “Sorry, old man, but pressing me is a very bad idea.”
He peered into the wizard’s eyes. Suddenly his body disappeared; Raven’s hand fell, hitting the floor.
A soft applause came from above, followed by a dry, senile voice cleaving the silence: “Not bad, young man. Not bad. Attacking an ancient wizard with a plain knife, fearlessly. You must be crazy or… No. Sure you are crazy.” He giggled.
Magic lamps flashed up, spreading bright light across the large, high-ceilinged room. Now Will could take a good look at his surroundings. The room was two floors tall, the first floor crammed with book shelves and connected alchemic retorts. There were several tables cluttered with dozens of glass flasks and tubes, and the floor was strewn with papers and open books. The blackboards along the walls were painted with strange formulas and runic hexagrams. The air had a weird chemical smell, probably left by a recent experiment.
Standing on the second floor landing, on top of the winding staircase, leaning his elbows on the railing and smiling, was an older copy of the wizard Will had talked to. The real (or not?) elder had gray hair and a leaner body, but all the other features were identical.
“I wondered why a powerful wizard would have such slow reactions,” Will said while estimating the distance to the landing where the other man stood.
“Because he was just an illusion to distract and deceive those guests I would rather not see.” This wizard’s voice was much different: slow and pensive.
“M-m-m… m-m-m…” a muffled moan came from the side. Turning there, Will saw the princess glaring at the old man angrily, with compressed lips and resentful eyes.
“Have you lost the faculty of speech? You could’ve warned me that wi
zard was false,” the rogue reproached her.
“M-m-m… m-m-m… m-m-m-m!” She gestured fiercely towards the elder, her face twisted with rage.
“Hey. Did he seal your mouth?” A skill like that was a scourge of humans and creatures with voice-activated magic and skills.
Nanel responded with many quick nods, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
“Oh, I see. Is this one real?” the rogue asked with doubt, glancing at the wizard who watched them calmly.
The princess gestured again, shaking her head, but then she suddenly froze as if turned into a stone statue, her hands lifting in the air, and her gaze on the royal elder.
“What game are you playing, wizard?” Raven stared at the old man, still wondering if he was real or just another fake.
“The game of our life. I’m just having fun. Carried by the wind are the seeds of triumph and failure, joy and sorrow, loneliness and fear and hope. No one knows what seeds will fall where, but they keep raining upon our heads, and we call that fate.”
“Do you want a philosophical dispute, old man? It’s not really the best time.” Watching the elder, the rogue struggled to figure out which step was correct. What should he say or do?
After a few moments of silence, a weird question came right into his ear from the wizard: “Being a king… is it a choice or destiny?”
The landing where the wizard had stood a moment before was empty.
Starting with surprise, Will turned slowly to see the old man by his side.
A mysterious NPC believing he’d lived a very long life. All Raven knew about him was Nanel and Emin’s words, plus what he’d seen and heard here over the past few minutes. Too little information.
Radermin. Daltaro. Lekhor and his friend. The little priest. Nanel. Lamia. Farris. Will had been able to pick a key to each of them. But all those NPCs (except for Farris) were rather good-natured, their intentions clear. The royal elder was nothing like that; Raven was unprepared to meet him.
A creature in love with his magic. Reflecting on the essence of life and fate. Disliking visits and attention, engaging in conversations only when absolutely needed. Even calling the princess it, he prevented her from talking.
What is your heart craving, old man? An answer to your question about being a king, or an introduction to the mysteries of this world? What do you want more: solutions or riddles? Raven struggled to fathom what hid inside the other man’s piercing blue eyes.
“This question has no answer, wizard. You’re wrong to assume that only one of these may be true: choice or destiny? But what is my choice if not what my destiny brings me to? Choosing is living, and life is intertwined from destiny. How can I know that, changing my intention, I’m not following my destiny? I don’t think the Book of Life is written, sitting on the shelf somewhere and gathering dust. It is being written every moment, with each step we take instantly recorded in it.
“Today, I decided to spare an enemy. A few days, months, or years later he will come to kill me. Or maybe he will forget me and live out a peaceful life. My decision becomes his choice, and his choice becomes my destiny. These concepts are intertwined so closely that my having a choice of either becoming the king or not is nothing but an illusion. Just as your love for magic. Was it your choice or destiny?
“Having lived so many years, you surely know more than me. I don’t think I can tell you anything new, but here’s my answer. Being a king for me is no choice and no destiny. It’s my desire. My thirst. My goal. And please, please don’t ask me if these come from choice or destiny. I’d rather keep my sanity than ponder about that.”
Will heaved a sigh. He was craving a drink and a rest for his brain, but their conversation was not over yet.
Giggling, the ancient wizard turned around and walked towards the table cluttered with papers. “You are young, but I like your thinking. I’m still looking for answers myself. My time is precious.”
“Why are you wasting it here then? Why are you not traveling? Not making experimenting?”
Skimming through his papers, the elder glanced over his shoulder at Will. “I keep the word I gave long ago. Here is the document. Now, you may leave.” He waved a hand, removing his spell from the princess.
“Wait outside, Nanel.” Will stopped the girl when she was about to freak out at the old man. He’d rather not have more trouble come to her.
“You leave too,” the wizard said. “There is nothing more to discuss.”
“Actually, there is.”
***
Congrats! You’ve gained Lamaniel’s interest.
+43
Current attitude status:
Lamaniel 43/100 — neutral
At least I’ve hooked him. We’ll see what comes of it. Leaving the tower, Will planned his future steps and the relationships he had to establish to have his back covered.
“What’s next?” Raven asked the princess who walked ahead, still scowling. “Nanel?”
“WHY?!” she screamed, stopping abruptly and wheeling around. “Why did he call me? To mock me? This old far—” Blushing, she coughed and turned away, mending her pace to leave behind the royal elder’s infamous dwelling as fast as possible.
“Um. I see you’ve picked up some language from us adventurers. Hey, wait. You didn’t answer me!”
Chapter 128. Mortals, Beware!
T he Fortuna clan
Crimson Berserker and his team stood in front of a decrepit citadel that reeked of dead bodies, in anticipation of completing the last part of their epic quest. Reaching Level 55, he’d refrained from taking a specialization as he wanted more than a simple one. Now, completing the fourth task in this chain, he’d received a message that the last part paid a unique specialization appropriate for his class.
The vials they’d collected in the dead city of Ekaro were presented to an NPC wizard. Examining the items, he had speculated that the ancient evil was waking inside the crypt of the infamous Leroux family castle, so they had to find the ingredients for the cleansing rite and also create an item that could renew the seal.
After a long wait, everything was ready.
“Now!” Ronnald turned to his group and, waving his two red-glowing axes—one of diamond and another of golden rank—he went in first.
Congratulations! You are the first players to visit this location.
+25 Influence points;
+3% Dark magic resistance in this area.
***
They’d spent six hours fighting all sorts of undead creatures, filling the halls of the abandoned castle with their carcasses. Vampires. Bats. Krayses (half-dogs, half-rats). Dukchakras: flying upper halves of male and female bodies, with giant arms and covered in venomous slime—their most unpleasant skill was spinning around fast like humming tops, sending their slime flying all around for an AoE effect, and doing great damage with their claws.
Fighting their way in and taking a brief rest, the group of Fortuna players now approached the last line of defense: a long flight of stairs climbing to a large door covered with stirring body parts belonging to humans and other creatures. These parts moaned and groaned, their screams sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Barely lit by the fading torches flanking the door, this sight was still terrifying enough to make the players itch to leave this place as soon as possible. Carried around by the echo were eerie whispers, children’s screaming, insane laughter, and metal screeches from behind the door.
“We’re almost here.” Covered with blood and other substances, Crimson Berserker wiped his eyes and mouth with the back of his left hand, his right one still holding an axe.
“You look disgusting,” Racer said, smirking. He was the second best melee player in the team, the Reaper class. Reapers used any weapon that looked like a scythe.
“You too!” Ronni snapped back, glancing at his blood-stained comrade.
“Yeah. You both look like fiends of hell, so stop admiring yourselves.” Their talk was interrupted by the team’s buffer. “Are we going
or not?”
“Cool it, Floyd.” Kate smiled. “Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I have a date today,” the priest grumbled. “And we’ve been here for five hours already.”
Racer and Crimson exchanged glances and laughed out loud.
“What poor soul have you caught?” Racer asked the buffer, putting his arm around his shoulders.
***
Ten minutes later, everyone’s health, energy, and mana were restored, their skills with reasonable cooldown times use-ready. Taking a view of the whole group, Ronni nodded. The two tanking guys started up the stairs.
The closer they got to the door, the more disgusting it looked. Now the two could make out each single details, but both of them regretted taking a closer look. Used to killing half-rotten zombies, they considered themselves as steadfast, but this door… It seemed to be living flesh, with swarms of appallingly realistic worms, bugs, and flies breeding on it.
The most difficult part was now upon them. The cleansing rite lasted for 20 minutes, and enemies would rush them in waves this whole time.
Responsible for the rite was Sadil, the healer girl playing the Holy Maiden class. She started to read the spell, putting the ingredients down in the correct order.
As she finished the spell, the items spread on the floor started to glow, coming together to form a soft-blue sphere that emitted a purifying magic that nullified any curse, evil-eye, and mental attack debuffs within its range. Its name was the Sphere of Purity, and its recipe of diamond rank had been obtained by Crimson Berserker during quest completion. The sphere could not be stored for more than 30 minutes, which was why it had to be created on the spot.
Taking the sphere with both hands, Sadil brought it to the door, activating it. The sphere started to blink. Soaring into the air, it sent space ripples that extracted a deafening shriek from the door. It was answered by shouting and howling from the halls. The first wave was about to crash down on the players.