Demon Lords (World-Tree Trilogy Book 2)

by EA Hooper

  “Sounds like a plan,” Quinn said, following him in that direction.

  The three players jogged for about an hour with no monster encounters. They passed a few valleys and the bases of twisted trees, but they had yet to spot anything interesting.

  “Okay, I’m going to check our surroundings,” Vincent said, coming to a stop.

  The Ranger grabbed his Builder’s Tome from his inventory, then paid the cost to build a tower of stone below his feet, raising him high enough to see over the mist.

  A rectangular stone stood in the distance, poking from the mist. To the far right of the stone, he saw six spires, making a shape similar to a ribcage. After checking his compass, he jumped back into the mist where his friends had been standing.

  He looked around, realizing both Xan and Quinn were gone.

  “What the hell?” he shouted, equipping his Guardian’s Blade. In a panic, he opened the party chat.

  >Vincent: Xan! Quinn! Where are you?

  “Boo!” Xan shouted, jumping out from behind the stone tower.

  Vincent jerked his sword toward the sound, but he paused as Xan and Quinn approached.

  Both the women chuckled at his expense.

  “Sorry, I just thought it’d be funny,” Xan said, grinning.

  “You should see the look on your face,” Quinn told Vincent.

  A long gray arm whipped from the mist, its talons wrapping around Xan’s entire body. The twisting, leathery arm snapped back into the haze in a split-second, taking the young woman with it as she screamed in surprise.

  Both Vincent and Quinn shouted at once, “Xan!”

  The two players charged in that direction, struggling to find the silhouettes moving through the mist. After a few seconds, they spotted Xan standing alone with a Light-Drain Longsword in hand.

  “Where’d the monster go?” Vincent questioned.

  “I don’t know,” Xan replied. “I hit it a couple times with my sword, and it dropped me. I never even saw its full body. Just that long, creepy arm.”

  “Whatever it was, it was fast as hell,” Quinn noted. “I didn’t even have time to react.”

  “Me either,” Vincent admitted. “We need to stay on guard. Next time I make a tower, I’m taking you two with me, even if it costs more Builder Points to make it wider. We can’t let each other get separated.”

  Xan cast Clarity again, but she kept her phantasmal sword in hand.

  Vincent also kept his Guardian’s Blade ready as he glanced at his compass. “We can either go northwest toward a towering rock or northeast toward some spires. They make kind of a ribcage shape, so it looks a little ominous.”

  “You think the Jump Gate could be between the spires?” Quinn asked.

  “I don’t know,” Vincent said. “The angle would be a little off, but it wouldn’t be the oddest Jump Gate we’ve found. Although, I doubt it’d be placed so close to our landing spot. You know how this game is with its gate placement.”

  “True, but we should at least check it out,” Xan said. “Just to be sure.”

  Vincent nodded, then led the team in that direction. The trio remained on guard in case the monster—or any of its friends—struck again, but they found the first spire before they saw any enemies. They walked past the spires, looking for the center, only to find a circular stone platform with a staircase leading underground. As Vincent approached, his HUD showed the area’s name change from Southern Lost Lands (Region) to Temple of the Deep (Dungeon).

  “Ooh, a dungeon!” Quinn shouted. “Let’s run it.”

  “No, we shouldn’t take any chances,” Vincent said. “Not when we’re so close to reaching Risegard and setting a new checkpoint. We can always return here later.”

  As the three turned away from the entrance to the dungeon, a sparkling light caught their attention. They turned to find a raggedy-haired man appear before them. He tilted his straw hat at the two ladies, then smiled at Vincent.

  “Good sir, we meet again!” he said, taking Vincent’s hand in an overly enthusiastic shake.

  “Who the hell is this?” Quinn asked. “How’d he teleport here?”

  “Take a look at my player profile,” the man said. “Well, player might not be the right word for it.”

  Quinn blinked with a confused look on her face before glancing at Vincent. “It’s an NPC? The one you traded for Soulbound items?”

  “It?” the man in the straw hat said, sounding offended. “Ma’am, I’m standing right here! The name’s Archie.”

  “Yeah, I came across him on Augnor,” Vincent said. “He offered me a quest, and when I finished it, he let me trade him Unique Tokens for a couple of items.”

  “That’s right, I remember it like it was yesterday,” Archie said. “This young man caught my interest with his negative energy spells. I’ve only seen a few people figure that out.”

  “Young man?” Xan said, holding back a laugh.

  “Well, younger than me,” Archie replied, smirking. “If you count perceived time, anyway.”

  “What’re you doing here?” Vincent questioned.

  “Well, I noticed you three stopping by this little location,” Archie told them. “There used to be another NPC that offered a quest in this dungeon. The Great Vanguard missed it on their way through, and no one else ever beat it. When ARKUS removed the other NPCs from the middle-tier City-Worlds, it went uncompleted. I kind of liked that one, so I’ve been waiting for a strong team to stop by that could finish it. Hang on, let me dig out the file.”

  Archie stared off into space, almost like players did when rummaging through their HUD. After a few seconds, he held out his hand to the team.

  Diving Deep (NPC Quest) – Thomas Montgomery Archie Goodman was once a legendary adventurer. At least until his closest comrades were slain by a monster in the Temple of the Deep. Help him attain vengeance by defeating the Dungeon Boss, and you’ll be rewarded 1000 gild teleported to the next Jump Gate. Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  “So, if we complete this quest, you’ll take us right to the Jump Gate?” Vincent asked.

  Archie nodded. “Yeah, it’ll save you hours—if not days—of searching. By the way, you were already heading in the wrong direction.”

  “Wait, could you just teleport us to Styxis, so we won’t have to waste Jump Crystals?” Quinn asked.

  “I’m not supposed to move players off-world,” Archie replied. “ARKUS has a Reward Points function that NPCs like me are supposed to follow, and even moving a player across a world will cost me quite a bit. Breaking those rules can get me in a lot of trouble.”

  “Reward Points?” Vincent questioned, equipping his Builder’s Tome. “Kind of like this thing’s Builder Points?”

  Archie’s eyes widened. “Woah! Haven’t seen one of those in ages. Where’d you get it?”

  “Devil Quest on Kailin,” he answered.

  “Oh...” the NPC replied, looking a little dazed. “That’s a place I’ve tried to avoid. Sad to say, I’m partially to blame for it falling to the devils. I had big ideas and made a few too many deals with them. Hang on a sec.” Archie eyeballed Vincent. “You picked up that revenge quest, didn’t you? Yeah, I see Izrid’s apparition trigger in your background data. You want me to wipe that for you? Izrid will cause you nothing but trouble.”

  “That’s okay, I’m interested to see where it leads,” Vincent said. “Is it normal for NPCs to mess with background data like that?”

  “No, I tinker with the system a little more than I should,” Archie replied. “There’s a reason ARKUS—oh, never mind. Let’s not start on that old story.”

  “You’re not one of those problem NPCs that ARKUS relocated from the population, are you?” Vincent asked.

  Archie chuckled. “Oh, I’m a problem, alright. Just not one ARKUS has the heart to remove—you know, so long as I don’t break too many rules. Let’s just start this quest, shall we?”

  The NPC hurried down the staircase with the players following close behind him. At the end of the steps,
they found a massive, marstone wall with a slit down the middle.

  Archie approached the wall, looking it over. “Alright, now what’s the trigger for this thing?” he said, staring off into the distance again. “See, this is one of those dungeons that only opens if you’re on the right quest. ARKUS threw away a good opportunity for adventurers when it relocated Thomas Montgomery. Don’t get me wrong, I never liked the guy. Too morose, even before ARKUS assigned him this quest. Oh, found the trigger.”

  The massive doors slid open, revealing a tall, dark corridor.

  “Hang on,” Xan said. “Why didn’t ARKUS remove you like the other NPCs?”

  “Let’s just say I’m a little different than the rest,” Archie replied. “It did put me behind a secret prison before the first beta testers entered the World-Tree. You wouldn’t believe how long I was trapped there, but I kept myself entertained spying on players through my system interface. Saw a lot of interesting stuff in my time. Made it my business to keep track of interesting people. That’s how I found out about Vincent. I was watching Lucas when he took over Midrun. Boy was I surprised when Vince gunned him down with negative energy. You three should’ve seen the look of shock on his bratty face as he laid there and died!”

  The three players followed Archie through the long hallway as the NPC talked away. They saw branching pathways disappearing into the darkness. Archie snapped his fingers, and ancient torches flashed with life.

  “Hang on, I need to check the script,” Archie said, pointing a finger through the air as he read.

  The NPC paused, staring grimly at the three players. “Ahem. Adventurers, heed my warning. These dark halls are filled with monsters most foul and terrors most frightening. On a night such as this, I lost my dearest comrades to the ungodly foe that lurks the lowest chambers. If you fear for your life, I implore you to leave and forget these dark halls. Return to your loved ones and thank the Elder Gods for letting you live another day.”

  Archie paused, looking over the three players. “So, you’ve chosen to join me? You three must have hearts of steel. Souls forged by the Elder Gods themselves. I thank you for assisting me on this journey, and I apologize dearly to those of you who will not make it home.”

  Xan clapped in response. “Pretty good.”

  “Ugh, a little cheesy for my taste,” Archie replied. “ARKUS set up the dungeon, but he let Thomas have creative liberty with the script. Not a good choice in my opinion. Half-bakes like him should never be trusted with anything more than roleplaying.”

  “Half-bakes?” Vincent asked.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Archie replied. “So, adventurers, what direction will you choose? You have eight passages on the left, eight on the right, and a large door at the end of the hall.”

  “You can’t just tell us the right path?” Quinn asked.

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Archie asked.

  Xan created Light Butterflies and sent them down each hallway. Their team watched as most of the passages on their map stopped at dead-ends. A few of the butterflies disappeared, however, indicating monsters had destroyed them.

  Quinn ignored the map and approached the heavy door at the end of the hall. Even with her high level of Strength, she struggled to push it open. Her foot crossed the threshold of the next room, and then she fell out of sight with a shout.

  “Oof, bad choice,” Archie said. “That sends you straight to the Abyss Lurkers’ pit. I suppose it’ll save her time, assuming she survives.”

  Vincent felt the temple shaking as he hurried to the door. The two remaining players jumped into the dark pit, leaving Archie behind. They fell what seemed like fifty meters before landing in several inches of water. Vincent’s Gravity Shield broke his fall, but Xan’s Light Shield flickered away as her Paladin Armor appeared.

  The sounds of teeth snapping caught Vincent’s attention, and his Darkeye upgrade showed him the shapes of five-meter-tall beasts clawing and biting at a human silhouette. The twinkle of item crystals in the water caught his attention, too, showing him that Quinn had already slain at least one beast.

  Xan cast Clarity, revealing the creatures and Quinn in greater detail. Only then did Vincent notice how wolf-like the monsters appeared. However, the Abyss Lurkers lacked any kind of fur, and instead had leathery skin that almost reminded him of the arm that had dragged off Xan.

  Vincent attacked the nearest one with a swing of his Guardian’s Blade, unleashing a wave of ghostfire that intercepted the creature before it could attack the already injured Quinn. The monster crashed into the ground, and he shot it through the skull with two Void Guns. Black smoke sprayed from the creature’s head, but it looked like that wasn’t enough to kill it.

  The beast turned to face him, then dove forward, tackling him across the chamber with a large splash. Vincent held its fangs back with Zero Field while his other hand cast Density Field on his sword. Normally, he found it difficult to cast the spell on a sword with the same hand holding the weapon, but the last year of practice seemed to finally click in the heat of battle.

  He swung the heavier blade in an arc, slicing through leathery skin, muscles, and its jawbone. With a swipe of his other hand, Vincent used Zero Field to slam the injured Abyss Lurker against the marstone wall.

  Vincent leapt forward, driving the Guardian’s Blade into the monster’s exposed chest. Another quick swipe sent ghostfire through its innards, killing the beast. With barely a pause, Vincent turned and sent another wave through the air, striking down one of the two beasts that had cornered Quinn.

  The Fighter tore through the other beast with Gravity Fist. Only then did Vincent notice the Abyss Lurkers had ripped off one of her hands. The missing limb didn’t slow her down, however, and Quinn leapt at the monster Vincent had stunned, finishing it off with two Breaker strikes to the neck.

  The older fighters turned to Xan as she killed the last Abyss Lurker with her Light-Drain Longsword. She sighed with relief before turning her attention to healing Quinn’s missing hand.

  Vincent walked around and grabbed any item crystals he could find.

  Abyss Fang (x35) – The tooth of an Abyss Lurker. Legends say alchemists of old had a hundred and one uses for them.

  “Those things have a ninety-five percent alchemic rating,” Archie said, appearing as light particles gathered and rebuilt his body. “You should feed them into your tome. Oh, did you know about the upgrade option?”

  “You can upgrade it?” Vincent asked, equipping the tome.

  “Check out the last page,” Archie told him.

  Vincent willed the tome to flip to the final page.

  Promote this tome to Grade 2 – Cost: 100,000 BP

  “Is the upgrade useful?” Vincent asked.

  “It lets you build more complex structures,” Archie said. “You’ll also have access to more types of materials.”

  “Alright, where’s the chamber exit?” Quinn asked, clenching and unclenching her rejuvenated hand.

  Archie snapped his fingers, lighting the ancient torches that lined the chamber. It was larger than Vincent expected, and he noticed the wall he’d slammed one beast against had actually been a massive pillar. He counted eight similar pillars holding up the chamber, and two gargantuan doors at the ends.

  “I’m not pushing open any more doors,” Quinn huffed. “Archie, quit playing games. Which way do we go from here?”

  “Alright,” Archie said with a sigh. “I wanted to do this the right way, but I guess I’m not one to judge.” He scratched his stubble as he thought. “Down.”

  Quinn glanced at Vincent. “I’m starting to think your NPC friend has brain damage.”

  “Well, that’s not polite,” Archie said, looking offended. “I meant that Vincent could use his tome to build a staircase to take us to the lowest floor. You’d bypass several more chambers of monsters that way.”

  Vincent took his Builder’s Tome in hand, willing the pages to show him a spiral staircase like the one they’d followed into the temple
. Digging through the marstone floors looked like it would cost him several thousand Builder Points, but he went ahead and paid the price. An invisible force cut through the floor, shaping it into steps. Their group followed the staircase as it formed and soon found themselves even deeper underground.

  “Go ahead and add a tunnel pointing this way,” Archie said, motioning.

  Vincent did as the NPC suggested, spending a few hundred more points to make a short passageway that ended in the largest chamber they’d seen in that dungeon. They dropped into the cavernous room, since his tunnel hadn’t properly lined up with the floor. Once again, their boots splashed in shallow water.

  Xan turned to Archie. “Can you light up this place so I don’t have to waste a hand using Clarity?”

  “You got it, ma’am,” Archie replied, snapping his fingers.

  The nearest torches flashed with light first, revealing more large columns. Then, one row after another burned to life, showing their team the full length of the chamber. Archie stepped ahead of the players, leading them across the lowest floor of the temple as he looked around for something.

  “So, that monster should be down here, right?” Quinn said, readying her fists. “What’re we looking for? Something big, I’d bet.”

  “It must know we’re here with all the sound we’re making,” Xan said, holding a Light-Drain Longsword and Barrier Longsword in her hands.

  “Oh, here he is,” Archie said, turning the corner at one pillar.

  Vincent followed, noticing a man sitting on his knees in the shallow water. Another NPC? he wondered, Scanning the man.

  [NPC] Samael Redveil – Age: 35 | Sex: Male | Personality: Brooding

  The new NPC didn’t seem to notice them yet, despite all their splashing in the shallow water, but Archie stopped to read something from his interface.

  “Alright, what’s the script for this part?” he questioned. “Oh, here: Samael! I had thought you slain by that terrible beast! How is it possible you’re still alive? How did you find your way to this dark place? My oldest friend, please stand and speak. Tell me what that beast has done to you?”