Soulstone: Oblivion (World of Ruul Book 3)

by J. A. Cipriano

  I actually laughed, and Crash joined me. “Yeah, we get it. Thank you, Janno.”

  We carried the food across the cobblestone street to a common area with wooden tables, where a dozen or so players sat eating or talking. As we claimed an empty table, George hopped on to the seat next to me and stood on his hind legs, wrinkling his bunny nose at the salad just out of reach. “Hey, boss. A little help here?”

  I picked him up and set him on the table by the bowl. “How’s that?”

  “You’re a prince,” he said, and dove in.

  Crash was busy staring at his newly acquired staff. “You know, I probably got the wrong idea,” he said gloomily. “For a minute I thought Janno was hinting that this thing’s way more awesome than it looks, but it’s probably just a piece of junk, like he said.”

  “I’m not so sure about that. Wanna find out?”

  “Yes.” He handed the staff eagerly over the table.

  I took it and focused on the item. “Identify.”

  * * *

  ELEMENTAL STAFF OF KING MURNATH

  Damage (Small Monsters): 5

  Damage (Large Monsters): 5

  Range: 50

  Material: Aged Dwarven Knurlwood

  Durability: 1000

  Bonus: +15 damage against Water/Ice opponents

  * * *

  “WOW,” I said, handing the staff back to Crash as I quietly conveyed the stats. “That’s one hell of an inferior weapon.”

  His eyes went wide, and he glanced across the road at Janno, who was still sitting calmly behind his booth with a vaguely pleased expression. “That’s crazy. There has to be a catch or something,” he said as he stored the staff in his inventory. “I mean, he sold this for twenty Rhuvians? And why would he give it to me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because no one else really pays attention to him?” I said. “I mean, you don’t see any of the other players lining up at his stand.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  We ate our dinners, and as Crash was picking over the chicken bones on his plate looking for more meat, I said, “We need to decide what we’re doing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, all I know right now is a whole lot of stuff we can’t do.” I heaved a breath. “We’re both level 15. That’s nothing out here in the main world. We can’t try to rescue Two’ Manchu, because Sabre will crush us. I don’t believe for a second she’ll actually trade him for the … you know.” I didn’t want to say soulstone out loud, in case anyone could overhear us. “And we can’t stay here, because that Wynn guy is level 70 and the Chinese camp the place for newbies. We have to level up, and we can’t go back to Silver Gables because of the fifteen-level cap. So where are we supposed to go?”

  Crash furrowed his brow. “How am I supposed to know?”

  “You’re a developer!” I reined in my shout to a low, harsh whisper. “You have to know something about this world. Anything. Come on, man, think.”

  He scowled for a second, drummed his fingers on the table. “I really don’t — wait a second. Do you remember that event we had last year, Oblivion Knights? The one with the crystal MCs?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” I had vague recollections of a one-off Titan Gate tournament back in the real world at last year’s World Championships, with a bunch of elemental stuff and rule variations. “What about it?”

  “It was based on a dungeon. We never really got a lot of information about it, but we were told that the monsters scale to the average party level and it was basically supposed to be a level-grind area.” He looked off into the distance. “Since it turned out they were basing Titan Gate on this place, the actual dungeon must be here somewhere. We could try to find it.”

  “You know what, that sounds perfect. Except for the ‘try to find it’ part. Does that mean you don’t know where it is?”

  “Of course I don’t,” he said hotly. “This is my first time outside Silver Gables, same as you. I have no idea where we are.”

  “Okay. Chill, dude. Let’s think about this.” I glanced around, half hoping for a map shop or something. “Do you know what the place is called?”

  “Yeah, it’s … hold on.” He blinked a few times. “We just called it the Elemental Dungeon for the event, but it had a different name in the notes. We changed it because it sounded too ominous. Oh, that’s it,” he said, snapping his fingers. “The Dungeon of Oblivion.”

  “Oh, good. Sounds like a fun place,” I said. “Elizabeth, do you know anything about the Dungeon of Oblivion?”

  “The Dungeon of Oblivion is an instanced dungeon located at the Caves of Despair, in the Kingdom of the Golden Knight,” Elizabeth told me in her pleasant, sexy voice. “Players who enter the dungeon must complete the quest and defeat all enemies, or remain trapped forever. Hence, the Dungeon of Oblivion.”

  Well, that sounded even worse. But if the monsters scaled to our level, then we should be able to beat the dungeon. Probably. I just wouldn’t tell Crash about that particular requirement yet, because he’d probably chicken out of going. “Okay, so we have to find the Caves of Despair,” I said.

  George looked up from his nearly empty salad bowl at that. “The Caves of Despair? Seriously?”

  “Yeah, it’s not as bad as it sounds,” I said. “Let’s ask Janno if he knows how to get there.”

  “How do you know it’s not as bad as it sounds?” Crash muttered. But he stood with his plate and looked across the road at Janno. “All right, let’s ask him.”

  We headed back to Janno’s Fine Comestibles, and the old man rose to greet us with a smile. “Thank you for returning your plates, young adventurers. Your courtesy is much appreciated. And how do you like your new staff, my friend?”

  “It’s great,” Crash said, swallowing like he didn’t want to mention how great it really was.

  “I suppose it is, for such an inferior weapon.” The look of anticipation was back in Janno’s eyes. “Is there something else I can do for you today?”

  “I hope so,” I said. “Any chance you know how to get to the Caves of Despair?”

  “Indeed I do. Or at least, I can give you a way. For a small price of one hundred Rhuvians, I will sell you a single-use map to the Caves of Despair.”

  I managed not to groan. “One hundred Rhuvians. You got it.”

  The coins vanished from my inventory, and Janno handed me a stained scroll tied with a bit of string. “This map will lead you to your desired destination, but it will vanish once you reach it,” he said. “Oh, and be warned, my adventuring friends. The path to the Caves of Despair will lead you through a PVP zone. Watch for attacks from other players on the way.”

  “Fantastic,” I said as I accepted the scroll. “I can’t wait.”

  2

  As we made our way back to the town square, I transferred the map we’d bought from Janno to my inventory. “Okay, Elizabeth. Tell me about the map.”

  “The Destination Map reveals a path to a single destination for the user,” my HUD responded pleasantly. “To activate the map, input the destination.”

  “All right,” I said, calling the map to my active screen. A semi-transparent parchment unrolled itself in my peripheral vision where my stats typically appeared. “Destination, the Caves of Despair.”

  Dark blue ink began to bleed onto the parchment, forming rough geographical features. A compass rose blossomed into existence in the bottom left corner. Words wrote themselves onto the map — the Town of the Golden Knight, Combat Canyon, the Plains of Solitude, and then the Caves of Despair. Finally, a dashed red line marched from the town through the canyon, across the plains, and into the caves.

  The last thing to appear was a big red X at the end of the line.

  “What are you doing?” Crash asked. “Does the map work?”

  “Yeah, it works.”

  It looked like we were supposed to leave town through the south gate. I started to turn, to look for landmarks or signs somewhere, and the map turned with me as a blinking gree
n dot appeared at the center of town.

  Sweet. It was interactive.

  “This way.”

  I led our diminished party toward the south gate, trying not to think too hard about going through Combat Canyon on the way to the Dungeon of Oblivion with nothing but me, a priest, and an ice rabbit. Maybe we wouldn’t run into any other players in the PVP zone.

  Sure. And maybe Angelina Jolie would be waiting to welcome me back when and if I returned to the real world. Dressed as Lara Croft.

  It was a good ten minutes before the south gate was in sight, and I realized this town wasn’t just fancier than Silver Gables had been, it was also a lot bigger. It made sense, really, considering how many players the world was currently supporting. I’d never expected so many.

  “Hey, Crash,” I said as we approached the gate manned by two NPC guards. “Any ideas about the current player population in here? Because this is crazy.”

  He shrugged and glanced over his shoulder, like he thought someone was following us. “None whatsoever. I mean, I never imagined there’d be hundreds of people back home with their brains in jars, but I guess that’s not how the rest of them got here.”

  “Yeah, apparently not.” Sabre had talked about the government-sponsored program that sent her into the game back when Reagan was president, and from the way the first players we’d interacted with in this town talked, apparently a lot of countries had involved their governments in trying to fight the Maelstrom virus. I was more than a little jealous, since the government-sponsored players had whole bodies waiting for them — if they survived this place. “Wish I knew how big this place really was.”

  “Hey, don’t look at me,” George piped up. “I’d never been out of my nice, peaceful field before, until you happened to me.”

  “I happened to you? Am I really so bad?”

  George smiled, as far as bunnies could’ve said to be smiling. “I guess you don’t totally suck.”

  “Wow, thanks.”

  “I’m just kidding, boss.”

  “I know you are.”

  The guards on the gate watched our approach with vague disinterest. When we reached them, the one on the left heaved a sigh and moved to open the gate.

  “Headed out to Combat Canyon, are you?” he said.

  “Not really,” I told him. “We’re just passing through.”

  “You hear that, Wayne?” the guard said to his buddy. “They’re just passing through. You know, going to spend some quality time in the Plains of Solitude. With their little bunny rabbit.”

  George snarled. “Why, I oughta—”

  “Easy, George.” I didn’t really care what the guards thought, but it was a little weird that they’d bothered to comment. And they really didn’t have to insult George. “What’s it to you where we’re going, anyway?”

  Wayne, the other guard, gave a derisive snort. “It’s nothing to us. Right, Brady? You go out there and kill yourself a big pile of adventurers. I mean, who cares about saving Ruul when you can load up on loot?”

  Crash and I looked at each other. “Saving Ruul?”

  “You see what I mean? Adventurers these days,” Brady said, giving another long-suffering sigh. “All you newbies are the same. You don’t even care about the mission, you just want a ton of Rhuvians and all the gear you can steal from the corpses of your fellow adventurers. Back in the day, adventurers were real heroes.”

  “That’s right,” Wayne put in. “Why, they’d walk uphill in the snow barefoot, both ways, to complete their quests. Never complained about not having cool gear, either. They worked with what they had, and they liked it.”

  “Holy shit, who programmed these guys? My grandfather?” Crash said under his breath.

  Brady shook his head. “Yes, those were the days.”

  “Look, this is all really fascinating, but can we just go through, please?” I said, hoping that good manners would score a few points with these guys. “We don’t want to kill adventurers. I promise.”

  Brady looked skeptical, but he finished opening the gate and stepped back. “I’ll tell you what,” he said. “If you really manage to get through Combat Canyon without murdering any of your fellow adventurers, you will be rewarded on your return to the Town of the Golden Knight.

  “Yes, you will be," Wayne added. "Richly rewarded."

  As the two old men who really didn’t look that old finished speaking, a message popped up in my peripherals and a voice spoke.

  System message: You have been offered a quest. Do you accept?

  Another side quest? Fantastic. One look at Crash said he’d gotten the same system message. I thought about turning it down, but the last random side quest I’d been offered had gotten me a buttload of spells, not to mention enough goodwill to become the mayor of the Town of Silver Gables. Interesting things happened around here when you accepted side quests no one else was willing to take.

  Crash was shaking his head vigorously. But then, he hadn’t wanted to take on a single extra risk since we got here, even though he knew damned well they paid off. I made a decision.

  “All right. It’s a deal.”

  System message: You have accepted the quest: Journey of Mercy.

  A quest inventory tab appeared on my display, but when I made the tab active, it was empty.

  Crash’s eyes just about bugged out of his skull. “Are you crazy?” he hissed. “We can’t not kill people if they attack us! Everybody around here has a way higher level than we do!”

  George nervously hopped up and down a few times. “What’s going on, boss? Whatever you just agreed to, it doesn’t sound too great.”

  “You’ve made a wise choice, young adventurer,” Wayne the guard said, ignoring the protests from everyone else. “These gifts will help your party complete the quest.”

  Wayne gestured at me, and Brady gestured at Crash. Twin blue bolts shot from their hands and enveloped us, sinking into our avatars like we were sponges.

  System message: You have received the buff: Virtuous Protector. The effectiveness of all defensive spells will now be increased by 100% during PVP battles. Your Constitution and maximum Health will now be increased by 50% during PVP battles.

  “Awesome,” I grinned. “What about George?”

  Brady and Wayne glanced at each other, and Wayne tossed a blue bolt at the rabbit. George blinked in surprise as the blue light faded into his fur. “Oh, sweet,” he crowed. “I’m so buffed!”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “No, thank you, adventurers.” Brady swept a hand in the direction of the gate. “We’ll be waiting for you to claim your rewards.”

  I walked through with George at my heels. After a few steps, I had to turn and stare at Crash, who was still standing there with his jaw dropped. He finally shook himself and trudged after me, shaking his head in dismay.

  “We’re going to die,” he muttered as we headed down a big, rocky slope of land to the canyon spreading out below. “Some of these guys are at level 70, or even higher. Didn’t you hear them in town? 70, Kahn!”

  “We’re not going to die,” I insisted. “If we really have to, we can just abandon the quest, but do me a favor and don’t make that your first choice, okay?”

  “Fine. But I’m not dying for a reward. Even a rich reward.”

  “I’m with you on that, but I don’t think we’ll have to.”

  “Yeah, seriously, you lame-ass excuse for a priest. Have a little faith in the boss,” George added.

  Crash glared at him. “Shut your furry trap, bunny.”

  “That’s George W. Bunny to you.”

  The canyon loomed ahead, and I slowed my pace and held a hand out for Crash to do the same. “Listen, before we go in there, let’s make sure we’re ready to deal with … whatever,” I said.

  “Great idea. Except we have no way to know what we’re dealing with.”

  “That’s why we need to be ready for whatever.” I checked my inventory, looking for the best weapon to have handy. “Okay, I’m goi
ng with the Sword of the Skeleton King, and everything that goes with it,” I said as I equipped the Skeleton King’s Armor, Gauntlets, Leggings, and Boots. “My Black Mithril Dagger is pretty good, but I still need a second dagger to avoid the Unbalanced Weapon debuff when dual wielding. And I’m guessing you’ll use that new staff, right?”

  “Right,” Crash said glumly. “I’m already equipped with all my best stuff, though.” He sighed as his eyes glazed over, indicating he was looking at his inventory. “You know, I could really use a shield. And maybe a cloak. And—”

  “How about some guts?” George interrupted. “I’ve got plenty to spare, if you want me to split them up with you.”

  Amusing as George’s constant stream of insults were, I knew when enough was enough. “Lay off him a little, George. It’s not his fault that his gear sucks. Don’t worry, we’re going to find you plenty of phat loot on this mission, okay?”

  Crash shot me a look of gratitude and managed to buck up a little. “Yeah, all right. We’ve got this. No problem.”

  With that, we headed for the canyon.

  The mouth of the entrance between the vast, rocky cliffs that formed the canyon was probably fifty feet across, and the gap widened slightly as it went along. There were massive figures carved into the stone at either side of the canyon, two knights facing one another, their swords held high and crossed above the entrance. A line of crackling red light ran along the ground between their feet. That wasn’t at all ominous.

  We stopped just before the line.

  “So, what happens when we cross over?” Crash said.

  “No idea. Hopefully nothing.”

  “Yeah, except that we’ll be in a PVP zone.”

  “Oh, quit being a couple of big babies.” George glared up at us, and then hopped his furry butt over the red line. When he did, a glowing white bar appeared over his head. To the left of the bar, it said LVL 10, indicating his level.

  I blinked. “Must be a health bar,” I said as I stepped across the line to join him. Of course, I couldn’t see over my own head to find out if the same thing had happened to me. “Well?”