“Sounds devastating,” I said, hefting one of the javelins to test its weight. “These are already deadly when thrown from a static position, but when you add in the momentum of the chariot… I pity anyone on the receiving end of that.”
Heku smiled and nodded his head. “Even the iron plate worn by the dwarves and Karillians would be hard pressed to stop it.”
“Now hold on, this first part is a bit bumpy,” Heku said as he flicked the reins and I grabbed hold of the rail. After a second or so, my body adjusted to the strange movement of the chariot. It felt a lot easier to stand and maintain my balance than I thought it would. I didn’t know if it was the game, or just my digital body, but as we picked up speed, I didn’t really care.
Heku gradually increased the speed until we were racing along the field at full speed. I was holding on to the rail with both hands, watching the ground speed by. The Saa guard stood unperturbed by the movement of the chariot beneath us, his stance adjusting effortlessly like a sailor on the high seas.
He looked back over his shoulder and explained how to speed up, how to slow down, and all the other intricacies of the chariot’s controls. After I could recite them back to him from memory, he brought us to a stop and we switched positions.
As soon as I took the reins, things shifted. An additional layer of HUD appeared over most of my field of view. It was a like someone had taken the interface for a racing sim and turned it into a mini-game.
*** Congratulations! This is your first experience with the advanced vehicle system within Sosaku online! ***
*** Would you like to spend one Combat Skill Point to learn the Charioteer skill or one General Skill Point to learn the Teamster skill? Full combat operation and maneuvers will only be available with the Charioteer skill. The Teamster skill bestows the ability to drive wagons, carts and other conveyances pulled by teams of animals. ***
*** (Charioteer, Teamster, Both) ***
I was definitely going to take Charioteer. Why would anyone be content with just steering some horses when they could wreck their enemies with a mobile war machine? I had the points and figured I might at some point pick up a wagon or something, so I chose both.
***Congratulations! You have learned Charioteer (Rank 1)! 1 Combat Skill Point used! ***
***Congratulations! You have learned Teamster (Rank 1)! 1 General Skill Point used! ***
Tooltips appeared next to all the various new controls as a burst of info shot through my brain, making the connections between the techniques taught to me by Heku and the game interface.
The chariot had its own damage indicator. Both wheels, the front, the sides, and the harness were individually represented on the UI with a display reminiscent of an old school mecha game where the pieces would start green and then transition to yellow and red before being destroyed.
Each of the horses had their own health bars listed above the chariot’s display as well, with a secondary bar labeled panic which was currently empty.
The newly implanted knowledge told me that as the horses took damage, or were otherwise spooked, that panic bar would go up. The closer it got to the top, the less responsive the team would be to my commands.
Two ammo indicators were listed off to the side, letting me know the current levels of javelins and arrows the chariot currently held, and a small meter at the bottom of the interface showed the chariot’s current speed in a notched semicircle with green, yellow, and red wedges.
I knew that green was considered the maintainable speed, for steady travel, where yellow was far less sustainable, and red was for balls to the wall charges and couldn’t be used for very long without damage to the horses.
I raised the reins, watching the interface show the small shifts in direction as the horses moved with them, and when I flicked my wrists, the speedometer clicked up a notch as the horses picked up speed.
Grinning to myself, I brought the team up to the edge of the yellow and raced around the field, the wind whipping past my face and sending the cloth of my headpiece streaming behind me.
“Wooooohoooo!” I yelled and heard Heku chuckling at my back.
After several laps around the field, both my teamster and charioteer skill ranked up to two, giving me more control over the war engine.
I slowed the chariot down to a walk and headed back towards our starting position, adrenaline still coursing through my body from the experience.
“Good, Adept,” Heku said with a smile. “You are a quick study. Now is time for the hard part.”
I looked at him curiously as we switched stations. He grinned in response and said, “Now, we teach you how to fight.”
He whipped the reins and the chariot took off, jumping to a fast gallop. We traveled past the practice field and around the outpost to a new field set up with archery targets and what looked like rows of straw dolls dressed in ratty leather armor.
When we reached the far end of the field, he brought the chariot to a stop and moved aside so I could retake the reins. Once again, the interface appeared as Heku continued his instruction. “As the driver, your primary duty is to keep your chariot steady and on course, but should you need to participate, the horses have been trained to maintain their course and speed until directed otherwise. Unless doing so would be harmful to them.”
As he said this, another flash of information passed into my brain and a new indicator appeared near the speedometer tied to the functionality he was describing. I knew that if I secured the reins on the small pommel raised on the front wall of the driver’s position, the chariot would continue at its current speed and heading until the reins were taken up again.
*** Teamster/Charioteer ability unlocked—Cruise Control. ***
“Now don’t worry about charging into an enemy line, these beasts have been trained to bite, kick, and trample those who would oppose the empire and will not shy away from a foe. I wouldn’t recommend charging a spear wall. The horses would obey, but all you would get would be a quick trip to the afterlife for your crew and the horses.”
I nodded along as he continued, “While your hands are free you can fight how you wish. Wield a spear, a bow, javelin, or spell, but be mindful of your footing. Should you lose your perch, the horses won’t come back for you.”
He chuckled at that and gestured towards the course. “Take it slow and let’s see what you can do.”
I nodded and steered the chariot onto the course, bringing it up to a trot and setting the “Cruise Control” on. With my hands free I started sending Sunstrikes at the targets as we rode by, missing most of them. Some by extremely wide margins.
Heku chuckled. “As you can see, it is not as easy as when on foot.”
*** System Note: When fighting from atop a mount, or as the driver of an advanced vehicle, you will suffer a penalty to ranged attack accuracy. This penalty is diminished by your rank in the appropriate, associated riding or driving skill. ***
We made several passes and most of the time I missed the targets, but I was showing improvement. Eventually, my Charioteer skill leveled up, which improved my aim a little, but it was still undoubtably a waste of my mana to try spell slinging while in the driver’s seat.
“Okay. Move over there and stop,” Heku said and gestured towards the edge of the field.
When we came to a halt, he dismounted and moved around the side of the chariot, doing something near the wheel. When I peeked over and saw what he was about, I couldn’t help but grin.
In place of the rounded bronze hubcaps that had been installed when we left the outpost were a pair of two foot-long blades, their edges spiraled like a corkscrew.
Heku saw my smile and finished attaching the blades, speaking as he did, “These are one of the true strengths of the chariot. I sometimes wonder which is the worse fate. To be trampled under the horses and crushed beneath the chariot itself, or to be cut in half by its whirling blades as it races past.”
He climbed back into the carriage and took up the reins once again. “Let me demonstra
te.”
The chariot took off with a lurch as he cracked the reins, driving it at a sprint towards the lines of straw soldiers. He swung wide and brought us in at a tight turn, racing past the first line of targets.
Straw stuffed limbs and bodies flew in our wake as the blades cut through the faux soldiers, and I could barely hear Heku above the buzzing sound as he said, “While the blades do their work, the crew can rain death upon those in the back ranks, targeting their support staff and sending them all to see Anpu!”
He wheeled us away from the lines in a diagonal. “As we return, our bowmen can still fire, making even our withdrawal deadly to the enemy.”
The chariot came to a halt and he handed me the reins. “Now you.”
I took us back out and then made my run. At first, I brought us in way too wide and when I tried to adjust, I ended up overcompensating and missing the first half of the line, barely scratching the end of the dummy formation.
“Again!” yelled Heku as I brought us in for another pass.
He talked me in, helping me adjust my course so by the end of the turn we were almost perfectly parallel, but too far out from the line to do any damage.
“Good. Now closer,” he said with a wild grin on his face, and around we went.
It took way too many tries for my liking, but by our last pass I was able to take out the entire rank of targets while Heku entertained himself by throwing javelins into the robed dummies in the back ranks of the faux army.
For our last exercise, Heku took the reins and demonstrated a frontal charge which was a lot easier than I expected. Once the path was set, the horses were almost eager to get their murder on, trampling the center of a small formation of straw soldiers under their hooves as the whirling blades of the chariot wheels tore through those at our flanks.
I repeated the feat on a second arrangement of targets, doing less damage to their forces than Heku had done, but he explained it had to do with knowing where to hit the line and at what angle. In essence, skill.
We removed the wheel blades before returning to the outpost and stored them in a small cubby beneath the driver’s position. The same cubby held a small repair kit that could be used in case of minor damage in the field. Heku explained the tools and their uses to me, and once the description was done, I was excited to see the practice had been worthwhile.
*** Congratulations! You have become more skilled with Teamster and have reached Rank 4! ***
*** Congratulations! You have become more skilled with Charioteer and have reached Rank 5! Chariot blades and trample damage has increased! In addition, damage to chariot teams will cause a lesser amount of panic. ***
I felt some of the lessons Heku had tried to impart related to spacing and impact angles settle into my mind, along with some subtle rein handling techniques that could sooth the war trained horses.
As we returned the chariot to the stables and I recovered my shield, I couldn’t help but marvel at the level of detail that had been put into this game world.
…
39
Time had flown while I was learning to drive, and both Kjara and Mika were waiting at the main hall when I returned. I was a little confused, but it was very possible that I’d missed the system messages about them rejoining the world with all the excitement.
Mika looked up as we entered the main hall, a bit of bread or something stuck in his facial hair. “Where the hell have you been, Kheph?” he said, earning a room full of startled looks and more than one drawn blade.
He looked around and gulped, raising his hands. “Woah, I uh-”
“It’s okay soldiers,” I said, gesturing for them to stand down. “The dýrafólk and I have been through a lot. No offense taken.”
The Saa put away their weapons, some still looking offended while others were quietly chuckling to themselves.
Kjara took a look around the room and slowed her approach, giving me a smile instead of our normal greeting of late. No need to see just how far we could push their programmed behaviors.
With a small smile, I led the way to the stables where the chariot had been restocked and the team switched out for a fresh one.
As soon as we were out of sight, Kjara snuck in for a quick kiss and rested her head briefly on my chest.
A smile still on my face, I glanced between my companions and asked, “How go things out in the real world?”
Mika shrugged. “Pretty much the same. I’ve got a few days left in my vacation then it’s back to work for me. It’s nice though, being able to unwind a bit and experience the sun for a change. I work nights so usually I’m sleeping throughout most of the day.”
I chuckled and gestured to the desert sky. “Well, if you wanted sun…”
He laughed along and replied, “I guess you do get what you ask for after all.”
Kjara smiled. “Got a report from the medical folks. Looks like the bots are doing their thing and fixing you up pretty quickly. Before you know it, you’ll be out and back on your feet.”
“Great. It’s still real strange to wake up in the game every day. I didn’t make it to breakfast with my family often, but man do I miss it.”
Kjara put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s not that far off. I know the R&D folks are always looking for ways to improve the technology, so maybe they’ll have a breakthrough.”
I zoned out for a second, imagining being back in my own body, my own bed and sitting down to dinner at my family’s dinner table, the one leg propped up on a bit of folded cardboard to keep it level.
“Kheph?” Kjara inquired, snapping me back to the present.
I wiped a tear from my eye and shrugged. “Just thinking about home,” I said and gestured towards where Heku and one of the outpost’s stableboys were finishing up the prep on our chariot.
I took the reins and showed Kjara and Mika where they would be stationed during our trip to the Vale. Kjara of course claimed the archer’s post, although we stowed the horn bow in favor of her own, better weapon.
Mika however… well, let’s just say that his stature was less than ideal to man the javelins, so instead we figured out a way to mount his own crossbow quiver next to the brace of javelins so he could act as a secondary archer on the trek.
I drove us over to the practice field and took us through a few trial runs so my companions could get a feel for things. Luckily for them, the penalties for shooting as passengers was almost negligible and they were able to hit their targets just as accurately as they could on foot.
Kjara loved every minute of it. Fast vehicle. Wind rushing by. What wasn’t to love? I thought Mika probably would have enjoyed it too if he hadn’t still been salty about his child-seat view of everything, or my offer to get him a step stool.
Once everyone was as comfortable as possible in their positions, we bid our hosts goodbye, boarded our war wagon and headed north and west towards the Vale of Dreams.
At one point in the game world’s history, the road we traveled was likely well maintained, but since the empire’s relations with the moon elves of the Vale had deteriorated, along with seemingly every other race on the continent, so too did the road.
Only the chariot’s reinforced wheels and the horse’s well shod hooves kept us from ending up broken down on the side of the road within the first mile or so of the trek.
Surprisingly, the road became better maintained the further we got from Va’pu. The moon elves of the Vale were a bit slower to give up on diplomacy than their Saa counterparts.
When asked, Heku had estimated the trip to the border of the elven lands to take a few hours of travel by chariot, so I was a little surprised when Kjara spotted something to the north well before when we expected be in range of the Vale.
“Be on guard,” she said, pointing to the plume of dust rising from the horizon ahead.
I squinted, trying to make out anything. “Can you see what’s going on?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, but we’ll be in range to see soon en
ough.”
Mika cursed and loaded his crossbow, looking towards the dust with a resigned expression on his face. “Who wants to bet it’s trouble?”
I looked back at him. “It could be. I know we’re still a bit far out, but it’s close enough that it could be an elven patrol.”
His expression was the epitome of skepticism. “When is the last time you played an MMO and you encountered a friendly party on route to the next step in a major quest line?”
“He’s got you there,” Kjara said. “Plus, a patrol wouldn’t be kicking up that much dust. I give it a fifty percent chance of being bandits of some sort. Knowing Kheph here it’s likely a nemesis he made back in Tael’va who’s rallied his family or something to come pay him back for a spilled drink-”
“Hey!” I said, but she just kept going.
“Could be other things as well, but regardless of who or what it is, I’d get ready to fight,” she said and readied her bow.
I eased back on the reins and brought us to a halt.
“What? Why are we stopping?” Mika asked.
“Like Kjara said, if we’re driving into a battle zone, we should go in prepared,” I said and retrieved the wheel blades from their storage compartment.
I added the blades to the chariot’s wheels and buffed our weaponry. For the hell of it, I tried buffing the chariot as well and was pleasantly surprised when the magic took hold, covering not only the wheel blades with the spell’s opalescent shimmer, but the horses’ hooves and chariot edging as well.
*** Congratulations! You have gained a better understanding of the Jackal's Tooth spell! Rank 7 Achieved! ***
“What the hell is that?” Kjara said as the magic spread over the chariots form.
I grinned. “Seems the spell considers the whole chariot as a single weapon. Going to submit a bug once we’re done here since that may be a bit much for one casting. I could see casting it on the blades, hooves and chariot bits individually, but all at once?”
Mika grumbled under his breath, but it was too low for me to hear. But I could imagine.
Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2 Page 29