Nothing. At least nothing to explain why I was feeling this.
Inside was just a bunch of grappling hooks with a coiled rope attached. I guess these would be used as siege equipment and as the guards of the Spire would be on the defensive, the items had been stored.
“Is this what you wanted me to pick up?”
No answer.
I looked at the ceiling again, pleading. When she still held her tongue, I started to worry, and my anxiety was not helped by the continuing thumping in my head. There was one floor left above me. From the markings etched onto the walls leading up to it, glowing in soft blues, I didn’t need to have it explained. Whatever was up there was magically based, but more than that. I felt I now understood. Perhaps the touch of the arcane in my class allowed me to sense magical power, a sort of current in the air, pooling above me. But why would a palace armory have such a floor?
I felt drawn to the fourth floor, but whether from a sensation that the game was causing or my own obsessive nature to progress I couldn’t say.
“I’m just going to have a quick look,” I said to the air. Ellie didn’t respond so I assumed she didn’t mind. Or that she was mad at me.
“Real, quick. I promise.”
Reaching the top of the stairs was… disappointing. There were no wizard’s staffs, nor robes of power. A few warhammers and suits of plate armor etched in enchantments were all that looked of value, and those were probably there for paladins. The NPC guards I’d been looting had mostly all been warriors except, of course, the elite Imperial Guard, which had contained some paladins and priests. This area was probably for them. But there wasn’t much else to see.
One oddity that drew my eye was a collection of small coarse sacks. They reminded me of pouches of tea leaves that you get in those poncey artisan cafes. Upon the bags was a symbol, a white snowflake which I supposed meant frost. Bags of something magical pertaining to elemental powers. Neat.
“Think it’s worth grabbing some of these Ellie?”
Again, no response.
“Ellie? C’mon, don’t scare me like this.”
I checked my map. All of the gold representing the terrorists seemed suitably far away. A few of the patrols out on the grounds skirted the entrance to the throne room; their focus, otherwise, seemed to be outward, guarding the walls and gatehouse. Still, without Ellie’s rapid responses, I felt naked and exposed.
Feeling rushed I grabbed the closest of the mysterious bags. Inside was a collection of rough rounded stones, all etched with the same symbol. I rummaged for a stone, like fishing for tiles playing scrabble, and examined one in the palm of my hand.
Frost Rune
Reagent/Consumable
Slow or freeze enemies using the power of the cold. Activating will allow you to channel mana to unleash the untapped element inside.
One-time use.
Spells on use: Frostbolt or Cone of Cold
Frostbolt: on a successful hit, the target will have their movement speed decreased by 1% for every 20 units of mana infused into the spell. Base time of debuff is 5 seconds with an additional 1 second added for every 500 mana increment.
Cone of Cold: target will have their movement speed decreased by 1% for every 40 units of mana infused into the spell. Radius of AOE effect increased by 0.25 feet for every 80 mana. Base time of debuff is 5 seconds with an additional 1 second added for every 500 mana increment.
Empowered Bonus: use of total mana pool will increase the chill effect on the target by 5%
I whistled lowly. It was a lot of information to take in. These were the sorts of things runesmiths made, needed for enchanting pieces of gear or crafting items with bonus magical properties. I wasn’t aware that the runes were sort of portable one-use spells in their own right, although the two spells on offer here felt a bit weak, requiring a ton of mana to make worthwhi—
Crackling static buzzed inside my head again. Ellie.
“Zoran, they’re coming!”
“What?” I placed the bag of runes in my inventory then scrambled for my map. Sure enough, there were two gold stars already in the military wing and heading right for the armory. “How the hell? I thought you were keeping watch.”
“I’m struggling to maintain a st-stable c-connection.”
“What can I do? They’re coming right for me!”
The gold stars were now right outside the armory and I heard distant voices. A horrible weight plunged down from my throat, through my stomach and towards my toes. I sprinted to the handrail and gingerly looked down.
Just as I feared, I’d left the goddamn door open and two players just strode straight inside. One was clearly a caster class, judging from his robes and staff, the other player might have been a rogue from the leather armor and with twin daggers at his waist.
“See Karl,” the rogue said, “Someone on the crew has already picked the lock. I told you it was fine.”
It was doubtful they’d notice me up this high, especially with the light from the chandelier obscuring the higher floors. Still, I ducked down, peering through the mini-columns that made up the railing. The two terrorists were milling around in the doorway.
“We shouldn’t leave the patrol route,” another voice, presumably Karl, said. “And don’t use real-world names – how many times do I have to remind you?”
“I’ll be real quick. In and out, just like when I visit your sister, yeh?”
“Watch it you little shit,” Karl growled. He lowered his voice, becoming serious. “We’ve lost two men already.”
“Those clowns probably forgot to plug their headsets in right. You go back outside with everybody else and march endlessly around the grounds. I’m gonna just grab a better weapon. It stinks being the lowest level here. Bloody last minute work—”
“I put my neck out to get you a spot on the crew,” Karl said. “I think you need to learn to be more grateful.”
“I will. Off you fuck now.”
Grumbling, Karl stormed off, but his roguish friend remained.
“Ellie?” I whispered. “What should I do?”
More static. A loud pop and then, “I’m s-sorry.”
Silence followed.
I understood that I was now alone.
With that realization came a form of clarity, the sort you can only receive when your life is on the line. I had three choices before me. Fight, and almost certainly die, or try to hide, but I’d be a sitting duck if I remained idle. Yet, my third and final option didn’t seem any better. Trying to sneak past this guy and escape back to the dungeons would be the most preferable, but the very layout of the armory worked against me.
There was only one way up and down from each floor. I’d absolutely have to pass him on my way down and I highly doubted my modest level in sneak would cut it.
The rogue was on the second floor now, inspecting a brutal dagger that looked like a vicious cheese knife on steroids.
I needed another way down. And fast. Even Ellie couldn’t help me out here.
Think, Jack, think, I told myself. This was just another puzzle to overcome, another boss encounter with a strategy. Just think it through, there’s always a way. There always had been before in games, because someone had designed them to be so.
But this wasn’t a game anymore; no cheat codes, no short cut—
Then an idea struck me. A mad one, I grant you. I needed a short cut down to the first floor, and I knew how.
Carefully, I scurried back down to the third floor, ducking behind the crates of grappling hooks. Next, I reached a hand into the crate I’d recently opened and pulled one out. The hook looked to be made of sturdy stuff, thick black iron. This was reassuring because every fiber of my being was screaming at me not to do this.
I popped my head over the parapet to get the low-down on the rogue’s movements. He was still fussing over his choice of new daggers about halfway along the second floor. Focusing on him still brought up his name and level, though it wasn’t easy to make it out at this distance. Th
e name I couldn’t discern but I think he was level 18.
If he was the lowest level enemy player here, then I was in deep trouble.
His back was turned to me. It was now or never.
I got up and fastened the hook onto the railing, letting the rope free fall towards the ground. It was long enough to reach, given that it was designed to scale walls in siege warfare. By some miracle, it didn’t slap loudly off the ground and the rogue was none the wiser.
Maybe Hundred Kingdoms could feign the feeling of an adrenaline rush as my hands were oddly steady as I gripped the railing and climbed up on it. I turned my back on the rogue, picked up the rope and gave it a few good tugs to check the hook would hold. It felt braced enough, but what the hell did I know. I hadn’t exactly done this before. I’ve not even been on one of those climbing walls dotted with hand grips and convenient footholds.
So here I was. No harness. No abilities to help me. Just desperation and necessity.
Heart thumping, I lowered myself. When I didn’t plunge to my death I lowered myself a little more. My one saving grace was this was a game. I’d never be able to support my body weight doing this in real life and while the game simulated aching shoulders, the coarse burning sensation of the rope in my hands, I didn’t feel like I’d give out physically. Even if I was way off, this wasn’t a time for rational thought.
All my focus, my entire existence, concentrated on sliding down the rope; my hands moving down inch by inch; passing a weapons rack; passing the railing of the second floor. For my boldness, I was rewarded.
Athletics Increased!
Level 2
An improvement but it’s a good thing the fate of the Imperium doesn’t yet rely on your ability to backflip.
+2 to base Reflexes
I’d need to have a word with Ellie about these snide notifications when she got back. If she got back, I thought. Oh please, please, please, let her come back.
Now I’d passed the second floor, I think my weight was starting to become an issue. I could feel the rope straining under the tension. I was still too high from the ground to want to look dow—
I felt myself lurch. The hook slipped, scraping loudly upon the stone.
“That you, Karl? I’m just coming for God’s sa—”
A clatter followed, the distinct sound of a dropped weapon.
“Who the hell are you?”
I didn’t look around. Although I was now dangling loosely, swinging back and forth, I kept inching my way down.
“Oi, you, stop!”
I heard him break into a run.
I couldn’t pussyfoot around any longer. Closing my eyes, I just let go.
The crash didn’t hurt as much as it should, dulled pain settings being what they were. My health dropped by over a half from the fall damage though, so one hit from this rogue and I was toast.
I did the only thing I could. I ran.
Out of the armory.
Towards the war room.
But I wasn’t fast enough, and I could hear him closing the gap behind me with ease, likely from a sprint ability.
All I knew was I was surely a dead man unless I could somehow keep him off me.
Or slow him down?
I had those frost runes on me. I didn’t have a clue how to work them but at this point, I might as well try.
“Stop now or you’re dead,” the rogue said. He was close enough now that he didn’t even need to shout.
I came to a dead halt, willing myself to hold to till the last moment. I’d only get one shot and I couldn’t afford to miss. I brought a rune out from my inventory and clenched my fist around it. The game took this for activation and I was granted a choice.
Frost Bolt or Cone of Cold?
Frost Bolt, I thought, remembering this to be the better single target spell. At once my mana started draining, slowly at first, then it gained exponential speed – 10, 20, 50, 90 points channeled into the rune.
A bitterly cold wind whirled down my arm, gathering in haste around my fist into an enlarging block of ice. I had no idea how to stop the channeling mana nor unleash the spell. When I heard the shrill ring of unsheathing daggers, I turned, knowing my time was up.
My pursuer grinned manically and pointed his daggers towards me like pincers on a praying mantis.
I did all I could do and took aim. My mana hit zero, all 485 points of it, and an inexorable force pushed my hand open. The Frost Bolt flew the few feet still between us, hitting the rogue squarely in the chest.
Where he’d been about to sink his weapons into my flesh, he now stood blue all over with icicles peeling back from him as though they’d been blown back by a gust of wind. A nice visual effect for the slow debuff but it wouldn’t last. I saw the debuff counter tick down.
Winter’s Chill
Movement speed decreased by 24%
Empowered! Movement speed decreased by 5%
Duration: 5 seconds
Five seconds wasn’t long enough for me to run. But it would be long enough for me to pull off a clean shot.
His hampered arms descended slowly, as though pushing through sand, and I jumped aside. I unslung my crossbow, loaded an arrow and fired. He turned, taking another pained swipe at me. Dodging easily, I readied another arrow, stepped into point blank range and shot him through the head. A notification flashed announcing a ‘deadly critical hit’. I quickly primed another arrow, lamenting my lack of mana to use Desperate Shot but it didn’t matter.
Shanksy – Rogue – level 14 dies – 115 EXP
Gore sprayed onto the wall. Shanksy’s cold body collapsed, his new daggers unbloodied on their first outing. I looted him and found a new belt which I couldn’t yet use. Scavenging him, I gained some cloth, as well as a vial containing a green liquid. At first, I thought it was some of the slime from down in the interrogation chamber but this was a darker, moss-colored green.
Quick Poison – Rank 2
Deals 20-25 poison damage upon entering an enemy’s bloodstream.
Applications: 3
Nothing wild, I thought, but nothing to complain about either. Perhaps I could coat an crossbow bolt in poison to deal some extra damage.
Reality was coming back to me slowly. I’d somehow managed to kill one of the terrorists myself, but this time the players would become aware that one of their crew was missing.
Shanksy’s friend, Karl, would come looking for him eventually; and when he found his friend’s body lying here, the jig would be up. All the terrorists would come swarming in and I’d surely be found. All I could do would be to delay the inevitable.
I had to hide the body.
I was beginning to process this next question when static buzzing burst into my head.
“Ellie?” I said, voice giddy with hope. “Ellie is that you?”
Her voice crackled into life. “Zoran, I’m here. You’re still alive, how wonderful!”
“So, you’re good now?”
“For now, yes. But I feel even weaker.”
“I’m just happy you’re safe.”
“You’re not angry at me? I failed in my primary function of aiding you.”
I shrugged. “You couldn’t help it. People make mistakes.”
“Not me. Or I used to not make mistakes.”
“Welcome to life as a regular human, Ellie.”
“Hmmm,” she considered. “Is fear a part of being a regular human?”
“It is. Though, hopefully, not all the time.”
“I think… I think I am afraid.”
“You think?”
“I am unable to predict the outcome of these events. There are too many variables, and my processing power has been crippled. I do not know what will happen nor can I draw reliable conclusions based on probability. This gap in my understanding leaves me… nervous, uncertain, worried.”
“Join the club,” I said. “This must be frightening for you.”
“These sensations are new, and I might be misinterpreting them.”
“Does
n’t sound like it to me. And I should know. I’ve been a nervous wreck my whole life.” I gave Shanksy’s body a good kick. “At least that’s one more down. Are you sure no one can get a message in from outside of the game? This guy probably read my name when he got close, he’ll be able to tell the others about me.”
“Azrael’s hack is imperfect. I am certain no one from the outside world can communicate with those in the game. Even if they are part of his crew.”
I gulped despite her reassurance. “Doubt I’ll be able to stay unknown forever, especially with a body lying around. I’ll need to hide it. Think you can tell me how to access that secret safe room?”
“My pleasure,” she said with relish.
16
After a painful effort, I managed to drag Shanksy’s body into the war room and over to the wall hiding the safe room. With Ellie’s help, I unlocked it, tapping the bricks upon the wall as she instructed. Heaving him inside, I stepped back from the sliding doorway and it sealed itself shut again. Only a smooth wall remained. So far as his friends would be aware, Shanksy had disappeared into thin air.
“That should buy us some time,” I said. “But not too long. If we’re going to plan an ambush we best get going. What’s the time anyway?” I added absentmindedly. I pulled out my map to check the clock: 3:38am. Just over an hour and twenty minutes until the server reset. “Crap. We don’t have long at all.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
“Well, I was having a hard time adjusting,” I said. “Not all of us are literally made of metal.”
“That’s not quite true. Humans say the funniest things.”
“Like Azrael and his crazy demands,” I said. But remembering how that topic had touched a nerve with her last time, I hastened to add, “Never mind him. I’ll head back to the armory so we can start making traps. Are you still strong enough to keep an eye on player movements?”
Battle Spire Page 16