1-Up

by Dean Smith

  ‘Shut up!’ Rita screamed. She raised her hand to Violet and unleashed a blast at her, a brilliant light that, when it subsided, left nothing of the princess in its wake.

  ‘RITA!’ Valiant screamed out in shock, narrowly dodging the dragon’s claws. Before he could deal with what just happened, he had to defeat the dragon. He could see from it’s life bar it would only take one good hit to finish it off and so, using all of his skill points, he selected the ‘Storm Blade’ skill from his menu and felled the beast.

  With the battle over, he ran over to Rita who seemed stunned by what happened.

  ‘WHAT DID YOU DO?! WHY?!’ He screamed at her.

  ‘She annoyed me.’ She responded quietly. ‘She was weak, a victim, a damsel in distress. She could do nothing for herself, she had to rely on a man for everything and I couldn’t stand it.’

  ‘So you killed her!?’ He was so angry that he was shaking. He couldn’t believe she had actually done it.

  ‘Killing would imply that she was alive. She wasn’t alive. She was just code, an object. I told you before, only awakened people like us have any true concept of what life is. The ‘people’ who are still asleep are just decorations. I didn’t kill a person, she wasn’t programmed any differently to that dragon you killed.’

  ‘I don’t care what you say, she was still a person, she could have awakened just like we could have but now she’ll never get the chance!’

  ‘Maybe not everyone deserves to be awakened.’ She said in a sinister voice.

  ‘Who are we to judge that?’ He spat back at her

  ‘I’m the one with the power. I knew from that first quest we undertook that what we were doing wasn’t right. I don’t think I’m a hero, it’s not my function. I need to make use of this power and using it to kill monsters isn’t enough. This world is changing and I can shepherd that change. I can make things better.’

  ‘You’re sounding a lot like the villains I’ve defeated in the past, Rita.’ He hoped she would see sense, he couldn’t accept what she was saying. He couldn’t believe that she had become so cold and devoid of humanity so quickly.

  ‘Maybe they had the right idea, but not the right methods.’ Her eyes glazed over as they often did when she looked into the source code.

  ‘I can make things better, I need to enact change and I know how to do it.’ She looked to the distance, to the east where the clouds were dark. Vilemire. ‘The Source Code says Vilemire is where everything ends, it’s there that I can change things for the better. I can be more than I am, I can save everyone for real, not just in the meaningless ways you do. I can be a true hero.’ She beamed at the idea and Valiant stepped back.

  ‘Come with me, Valiant, be a hero.’

  ‘No.’ This wasn’t right. ‘What you’re proposing is just wrong, you can’t change the world how you see fit like that, you can’t change people against their will!’

  ‘Most people don’t have wills, Valiant! They are slaves to this game and I want to set them free!’

  He shook his head. He couldn’t go along with this.

  ‘You’re wrong, Rita, and if you go down this path. I’ll stop you, I promise.’

  ‘You can try.’ She said cockily, she waved her hands and a twister of energy surrounded her and when it subsided, she was gone.

  Valiant had to follow her, to stop her before she did something she couldn’t take back but Vilemire was on the other side of Venturis. It would take him a lot of time to get there. He considered his options as he spent the next few minutes forming a plan when the energy from before returned and a figure fell screaming to the floor. It was a figure in a dark cloak, one that filled Valiant with dread. He recognised it, he recognised the blue hands which held on to the floor as the figure stood up. He recognised their purple eyes and the blue face staring back at him from under the hood. It was his arch-nemesis, a foe he had fought countless times. Mordoom, the ruler of Vilemire.

  Level 3

  ‘MORDOOM!’ Valiant roared as he drew his sword and shield. Mordoom was a powerful dark wizard who had taken Vilemire as his domain and tormented Venturis ever since. No matter how many times Valiant defeated him, no matter how many times he was believed to be dead, Mordoom would always return with another plot and another score to settle with Wingcrest. Of course he’d pick now to show up! Valiant thought, rolling his eyes at his misfortune. He didn’t have time for this, he needed to figure out what Rita was planning and stop her.

  ‘Wait!’ Mordoom threw up his hands and stepped backwards, he yelped as his foot got caught on a tree root and he lost his balance, toppling over to the floor. He scrambled away from Valiant and his hood fell from his head, revealing a head full of long silver hair and a young blue face whose purple eyes were wide with childlike terror.

  ‘I don’t want to fight!’ The villain hid behind a tree, peering out from it cautiously.

  ‘That would be a first! You didn’t mind fighting before!’ Valiant snarled, this had to be a ploy of sorts, if Valiant wasn’t careful, Mordoom would almost certainly try to pull a fast one on him.

  ‘Yeah but back then I never realised that I lost every time! Being killed hurts you know! It’s only after that weird shockwave a few months back and now that mad princess showing up I see everything for what it was! I’m sick of being beaten up!’

  ‘Wait, ‘mad princess?’ You don’t mean Rita?!’ Valiant lowered his sword, a notion that Mordoom noticed. Cautiously, he crawled out from behind the tree and sat cross legged on the forest floor.

  ‘Yeah! Her! She just appeared in my castle, told me it was no longer mine and then she waved her hands and now I’m here.’ He wiped his eyes, it was a weird sight to behold. Mordoom had always been Valiant’s greatest enemy but here he was, scared and lost. ‘I’m not here to fight you, I swear I just want my home back, I only want to be left alone with my friends!’ Valiant wanted to scoff, to laugh at the idea that the self proclaimed Lord of Evil himself had given up the ghost when it came to villainy but he couldn’t deny that Mordoom was convincing. His blue face was screwed up in confusion and fear in a way that Valiant could empathise with. He felt the same when he first learned the truth of the world and considering how much Rita had changed in the wake of that revelation, perhaps Mordoom was telling the truth. Perhaps knowing that this world was just a game and their lives had just been stories to justify it all was enough to change Mordoom for the better? Valiant felt it was naïve to believe that but then again, he never thought Rita could kill an innocent person and become a villain. It turns out when they aren’t following a pre-written destiny, people can surprise you.

  It would be foolishness to drop his guard around Mordoom but they didn’t have to fight when there was no reason to. Not when Mordoom could help with the whole ‘Rita becoming an all powerful villain’ thing. If anyone had experience in that field, it was him.

  Valiant put his sword away. He put his hand out before hesitating, he still wasn’t convinced that this wasn’t a trick of some sort. Rita’s fall had left him doubting everything which was a horrible feeling he had never known before. He always knew the right course of action, he always believed he was on the right path and doing the right thing but now he wasn’t following a path at all, everything he did was down to him and him alone, he felt as lost as Mordoom looked.

  He held out his hand and Mordoom gratefully took it, Valiant helped the dark wizard to his feet.

  ‘Thank you for not stabbing me.’ Mordoom said with an uncertain grin.

  ‘There’s still time for that if you’re plotting something.’ Valiant narrowed his eyes and Mordoom waved his arms in protest. ‘I swear! I’ve got no reason to harm you! Aside from all those times you killed me but that’s all lava under the drawbridge, I promise!’

  ‘Okay, if that’s the case then I need your help, prove to me you’ve changed.’

  ‘I’ll do anything!’

  ‘You’re a powerful dark wizard, I’m a hero. We’ve both got a mutual problem we need to solve. I need y
ou to use your magic to take us back to Vilemire so I can speak to Rita and sort out this mess.’

  ‘That’s a great plan and I could totally do that, if you asked me an hour ago.’ Mordoom gurned. ‘I didn’t want to tell you this when you were all ‘let’s kill Mordoom’ but something changed when your princess attacked me. I can feel something missing.’ He held out his open palm, and Valiant’s hand went to his sword’s handle. Mordoom's fingers tensed and he grunted in concentration as he stared at his hand. Valiant could see beads of sweat forming on his foe’s face.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Valiant asked.

  ‘Give... Me... A... Moment. I’m almost there! WAAAUGH!’ Sparks burst forth from Mordoom’s hand and a tiny flame, like that of a candle’s, formed above Mordoom’s fingers. Mordoom sighed as he closed his hand, putting out the flame as he did so. ‘I knew it.’ He sounded so defeated.

  ‘What? What happened?’ Valiant didn't understand.

  ‘The princess did something, I knew it when it happened but this confirms it, my powers are all but depleted. She must have taken them somehow, ugh! Was taking my castle after I spent the day organising my magical artefact room in order of size and potency not enough? If she’s messed up my collection of hero skulls I’m going to scream, I swear it!’

  Valiant ignored Mordoom’s ramblings and focused on the important part. Mordoom had lost his powers, if Valiant wanted to get to Vilemire, to Rita, he had to do it the long way, the traditional way. He had to play the game.

  Whilst Mordoom was still rambling, Valiant opened the main menu, a trick that Rita had taught him on their adventures. While he tried to teach her to be the hero she wanted to be, she used her knowledge of the Source Code to teach him how the game worked and how to use what felt like weird limitations to his advantage. Being able to access the menu was a godsend, it allowed him to keep track of everything he needed on his adventures and if gave him access to a powerful tool he had used again and again whilst journeying with Rita. The World Map.

  He accessed the map now which showed the entirety of Venturis as though it was spread out before them like an illusion or a mirage. Mordoom gasped at the sight of it, he was asking questions but Valiant was too focused on the map to listen. Vilemire was located at the most northern point of Venturis and they were currently in a forest in the south. The journey to Vilemire would be long and Valiant had to choose the best route. The direct path would take weeks as it involved travelling through pretty much every dangerous area in the land but Valiant noticed that, to the west a day’s journey away, was Valetide. A port town in which they could get a boat to Goldharbour, a seaside kingdom that was close to the borders of Vilemire. Going by boat would shorten the journey and allow Valiant to bypass many dangerous dungeons, lairs and monstrous domains. Settled on his course of action, he dispelled the map and set off toward Valetide.

  ‘Hey, wait! Where are we going?’

  ‘I’m going to Valetide. You’re not coming.’ He set off walking again but Mordoom ran in front of him.

  ‘You can’t leave me here, take me with you! it’s my home Rita took!’

  ‘That’s ‘Princess Rita’ to you and no, you’re not coming with me. You’ll only slow me down.’ Valiant walked past him.

  ‘But my magic might come back and do you honestly think you can get through to Rita?-I’m sorry, Princess Rita? What if it doesn’t work? She'd obliterate you in an instant.’

  ‘But your amazing magical ability to light candles would save me from such a fate!’ Valiant rolled his eyes, he didn’t have time for this.

  ‘She left me alive for a reason, she must have.’

  It was strange that Rita didn’t kill Mordoom, she didn’t hesitate with Princess Violet, an innocent, but killing her lifelong tormentor gave her pause? Admittedly, it didn't add up.

  ‘That’s true, why would she send you here as well?’

  Mordoom had a sheepish look about him, one that reignited Valiant’s suspicion.

  ‘You know something, tell me.’ He ordered. Mordoom swayed on the spot.

  ‘Teleportation takes a clear mind and a lot of concentration and Princess Rita kinda looked distracted when she sent me away. That could account for why I was sent here, I guess?’ It made sense that Rita was distracted and with that question answered to his satisfaction, Valiant saw no reason to stay. Mordoom's presence here was a mistake and nothing more.

  ‘Please don’t leave me here, I’ll die! It’s not very heroic to leave someone to die!’ Valiant grunted in frustration, Mordoom was right, he couldn’t leave him to his fate and still call himself a hero and maybe Mordoom was right about Rita having plans for him. Mordoom being sent to Valiant was probably a mistake but the fact she left him alive at all probably wasn’t. It was a good idea to keep Mordoom close, even if he wasn’t useful, as doing so would at least keep him out of trouble and away from old habits.

  ‘Fine, you can come along, Mordoom. Let’s go.’

  Mordoom did a little jig in response that was ill-fitting for the tall dark wizard before catching up to Valiant.

  ‘Mordoom’s a mouthful so call me Mord if you like, I could call you Val! Nicknames are a sign of camaraderie!’

  ‘No.’ Valiant said firmly.

  ‘Well, We’ll talk about it on the boat I guess. Oooh, I want top bunk if we’re sharing a room!’

  ***

  With a plan and a destination in mind, Valiant and Mordoom set forth with their first order of business being to get out of the forest which was made easier due to the World Map but was no less time consuming. It took three separate loading screens and several random battles, in which Mordoom screamed in bewilderment over what was happening from the sidelines while Valiant did all the work, to get out of the forest. By the time the unlikely duo made it out of the forest, night had descended upon Venturis and they were both exhausted. Luckily for them both, there was an inn on the edge of the forest. Glad of the warmth and respite from an already perilous journey, they gratefully took off towards it.

  ‘It’s ten gold pieces a night to stay, do you want a room?’ The innkeeper said. The inn itself looked like the one in Wingcrest right down to the minute details. It was jarring but something that Valiant had came to expect. He had also noticed that the variety of people in the world was limited and in the towns and places he visited with Rita, he had seen multiple people with the same face. Rita had explained one evening what it all meant, that within the Source Code she had seen that not everyone in this world had a unique appearance. Beyond the ‘important’ characters, the NPCs (Non-playable characters, Rita told him when he regarded her abbreviation with confusion) had little variety in appearance. Valiant wondered what that would be like and the thought filled him with dread. He couldn’t stand the thought of existing just to be a copy of someone else.

  Seeing the innkeeper had brought those thoughts to the forefront of his mind as well his previous confusion over pretty much everything that had happened. He could feel his mind struggle under the weight and in turn he heard his bed singing to him, he needed sleep.

  He agreed to the Innkeeper’s fee but found himself short of funds.

  ‘Erm… Mordoom?’ He pulled his former enemy to the side. ‘Do you have any money on you?’

  ‘You’re joking right? You’re THE Sir Valiant Emberheart! Where’s all the money from those quests you’re always on?’

  ‘The lifestyle is expensive! Just wait and see how much it costs to keep me in potions and equipment!’ Valiant responded. ‘Plus I didn’t need money when Rita was with me.’

  ‘Wow, you’re short sighted for the saviour of the realm, huh? I can’t help with money, I had no use for it in Vilemire.’

  ‘Damn, what are we going to do?’ asked Valiant, desperate for an answer to fall into his lap.

  ‘Well, if this was still a game, what would you have done if you needed money?’

  ‘Side quests mainly but failing that...’ He saw a line of them in the common area, large glorious pots of goodies wa
iting to be smashed. He felt the peace of familiarity as he remembered those fond days of looting everything he came across.

  ‘I’ve got an idea!’ He strolled over to the pots and drew out his sword and with a mighty swing, he cleaved them all. The thunderous sound of a room full of pots exploding echoed throughout the inn and the dust within them erupted all around them and it clung to every surface. It was strange, why would anyone keep pots full of dust? Valiant wondered before the terrible truth dawned on him.

  ‘Oh no!’

  ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING!’ The Innkeeper bellowed in horror as he entered the room, looking around with widened eyes. ‘My family’s urns! WHAT THE HELL?!’

  ‘I’m sorry!’ Valiant wanted the earth to swallow him up. ‘I thought they would have gold and items inside! Not ashes!’

  ‘OH, SO YOU JUST WANTED TO ROB ME?! THAT’S FINE, JUST GO AHEAD AND PILLAGE THE WHOLE DAMN INN, WHY DON’T YOU?’ The innkeeper’s eyes bulged in a rage.

  The cloud of ashes had caused Mordoom to suffer a coughing fit which got so bad he doubled over and reached for the fireplace for support, the act of which caused the last remaining urn to fall as he knocked it over.

  ‘Grandma?!’ The innkeeper was beyond anger and burst out into very uncomfortable-to-watch tears. Not knowing what to do, Valiant and Mordoom quietly left as the unfortunate innkeeper fell to the floor and wept.

  Mordoom shivered as the cold night air greeted them as they got as far away from the inn as possible.

  ‘So... I guess we’re camping tonight?’

  ***

  After an uncomfortable night under the stars and gaining a new painful memory to cringe over for the rest of time, Valiant and Mordoom continued their journey to Valetide but they were sidetracked by a strange cave they encountered along the way. Hoping to avoid last night’s debacle, Valiant considered exploring it in hopes of finding treasure, but when he tried to enter, an invisible wall prevented him and a dialogue box appeared before his eyes.

  ‘Administrator privileges not found. Entry denied.’ Valiant nor Mordoom understood what that meant and so they carried on to Valetide and arrived there a few minutes later. Valetide was a misty seaside town that was located on a long pier which stretched out into the sea, at the end of which was the Vale Harbour that reached out horizontally which led the entire town to be T-shaped.