1-Up

by Dean Smith

  Valiant felt weighed down by it all and even though he regretted saying it, he really missed how easy everything was before the awakening and he wondered whether it would be possible to feel as he once did in this strange new world. He hoped so, even when he doubted everything and feared the unknown, he always had hope that things would get better and that helped him find the drive to carry on forward regardless of his worries. He did his best to shelve his worries as the next area loaded around them.

  He was familiar with this place, the Undying Forest. It was the largest forest in all of Venturis and the most dangerous. The paths were numerous and confusing and a wide variety of monsters called the sinister canopy home. Before he awakened, he remembered coming to this place and fighting tooth and claw to help the human settlements that called the forest home. The people were frequent targets of the monsters and would often find their homes and families destroyed by their rampages and whenever Valiant came here back then, he would undertake quests and missions to ease the people’s suffering. He expected that little had changed now.

  He filled his quiet companions in on what he knew and Mordoom reluctantly spoke.

  ‘I don’t know where exactly but the Spirit Tower is in this forest somewhere, if we can find it then we can take a lil’ shortcut straight into the heart of Vilemire. The sooner we get there, the sooner this journey ends.’ He finished sharply and Valiant winced internally.

  ‘I’m sorry, I really am.’ Valiant said quietly.

  Nina shrugged. ‘It’s easy to say that, but you still said what you said. You showed us you were selfish to the point of damning us all without even realising it. It may not seem like much to you but it’s a lot to ask us to forgive. Give us time at least to move past it.’

  Valiant thought that was fair and nodded. For the moment, as ever, all they could do was keep forging ahead.

  As they journeyed deeper into the forest, light became scarce as the canopy above blocked the sunlight to an extent that it was difficult to tell whether it was night or day.

  ‘Yeesh, I can barely see anymore, are you guys okay?’ Valiant heard their footsteps, but they didn’t reply. Valiant thought they were giving him the silent treatment but that didn’t seem right, they spoke to him earlier, why would they stop now?

  ‘Guys?’

  A thick most had rolled in and it was difficult for Valiant to see or hear his allies.

  ‘Nina! Mordoom!’ He called out to no answer.

  ‘They can’t hear you.’ He hadn’t heard that voice in a while but it dismayed him how hurt it sounded, how drained it had become.

  ‘Rita?’ She stepped out of the mist. Rita looked dramatically different from when Valiant last saw her, gone were the sensible adventurer’s clothes and in their place was a flowing dark purple gown and a spiky silver crown on top of her pushed back hair. Her darkly lidded eyes regarded him as he took in her severe appearance.

  ‘Do you like my new look? Is it befitting of the villain I am?’ She twirled on the spot mockingly. ‘I thought the dark mist was melodramatic, but I took these powers from Mordoom so I thought why not use them for effect at least? I should at least try to fulfil the role our beloved players want me to play.’

  ‘You’re not a villain, you’re not anything you don’t want to be.’ Valiant desperately wanted his words to reach her. He stepped forward towards her but stopped, he remembered what happened to Princess Violet and paused, something that he despised himself for doing.

  ‘You’re right, but maybe this is what I want. I don’t want to be a damsel in distress, I failed at being a hero so maybe this is all that’s left for me. Like I said before, how many all powerful beings do you know that are truly good? Power corrupts, you know that as well as I.’

  He had only thought that a few moments ago, and it was another thing he regretted. Seeing Rita before him now only made him want to save her all the more.

  ‘I know what you are thinking, what you want to do. It won’t work. This is the role I’m meant to play but, like any good villain, I will give you the chance to at least see this pointless quest to its conclusion but first, a test.’ She smiled at him and it filled him with ice.

  ‘In this forest, you will face a choice and I want to see what you do and how sweet little Mordoom and clever Nina react to it. You want to be a hero? Now’s your chance. Good luck, I’ll be waiting for you in Vilemire.’ She waved her fingers at him in farewell and vanished into the mist. With Rita gone, the mist lifted to reveal a concerned Mordoom and Nina looking towards him.

  ‘Earth to Valiant, are you okay?’

  He took a moment to regain his senses, and he wondered whether that had actually happened and whether to tell his allies. He opted against it, even if it was real it felt like Rita was messing with him, playing with his doubts and worries and he believed it would serve no purpose to inflict that uncertainty on them as well. He reassured them he was fine, and they carried on like before. Test or not, this forest was teeming with dangers and Valiant needed his wits about him.

  ***

  In Valiant’s memories of the Undying Forest, he recalled a winding forest full of varied paths and dead ends, a natural maze in which only the best could navigate through but the reality proved vastly different. While they found a plethora of pathways, every one of them bar the one they were on were blocked as though an invisible wall had been built in front of them leaving only their current path available. The forest was less of a maze and more of a corridor which made it simple to navigate but it was also a testament to how limited their world was and how, even now that they had the freedom of choice to choose their actions, that the game still pushed them along the preferred path. Valiant longed for the perception he once had of the world before coming to his senses, despite knowing that wilful ignorance and the illusion of freedom would not be better than the truth. Deep down, he longed for the days gone but he also knew, mostly because Mordoom and Nina had spoken sense, that living a lie was no better.

  He wanted to tell his allies this, to voice the realisations they had led him to but to do so would ring false to them, he spoke only words and his word held little worth to them as it stood. Longing for a chance to prove himself to them, he looked ahead.

  The path was winding, long but linear and it led to a small village by a lakeside deep within the forest. The village seemed familiar to Valiant, he couldn’t recall its name, but he had been here before when the world was hostage to the game. It looked almost picturesque from a distance but as they got close, the sounds of battle broke the peaceful vibe they got at first glance.

  The villagers were under attack, a group of Wolfmen monsters were attacking a barn and the villagers were doing everything they could to defend it. Knowing they couldn’t stand by, the trio prepared for battle and charged in. The swirl that signified the beginning of a turn based battle took Valiant by surprise. He was so used to the style of battles that took place in the Obsidian Stronghold he had forgotten that the raid battle system was exclusive to that place. As difficult as those battles were, Valiant enjoyed the freedom of approach that they offered. Still, he had learned tricks to manipulate the turn based battle system to his advantage and the ease of the battle system would make for a nice change of pace after what they had just been through in the stronghold. Valiant also noticed that, unlike previous turn based battles, he was no longer fighting alone, Nina and Mordoom were also by his side in battle.

  ‘I don’t get what’s happening, I’ve seen you do this before but I don’t know what I’m doing!’ Mordoom cried out in panic.

  Valiant did his best to explain the ins and outs as Nina’s turn came up first, she didn’t wait for an explanation as she charged forward and dealt a blow to one of the four Wolfmen they were fighting.

  ‘You’re a mage so when your menu pops up, go for something like ‘skills’ or ‘magic’ and just got with whatever sounds good!’

  Mordoom was next, he took a moment to pick a spell from his menu. ‘Dark Fireball’ was spelt o
ut above him in a dialogue box, and he threw the fireball at a Wolfman, defeating it.

  ‘Good job!’ Valiant wanted to encourage Mordoom as much as possible and Mordoom beamed in response. Upon seeing Mordoom’s magic, it was a Wolfman's turn to attack, and they opted to run from the battle which ended it. Text appeared in front of them, telling them of how much ‘EXP’ they had earned (Valiant had not figured out what that meant yet) and how much gold and items had been dropped from the enemies they defeated which turned out to be a surprising amount. The crowd around them cheered and then parted as the village elder approached the trio.

  ‘Thank you for your help, monster attacks are an all too common thing around here and it’s always a blessing when a hero lands a helping hand. You saved our barn and our harvest and there are not enough ways in which I can show my appreciation for your deeds. Bless you, heroes.’ He bowed and Valiant nodded in appreciation.

  ‘If monster attacks are becoming a problem, we can help if you like? I’m used to sidequests like that.’ Offered Valiant.

  ‘That would be appreciated although we have no sidequests available here, we couldn’t reward you for it.’

  Valiant waved the talk of rewards away.

  ‘We don’t need a reward if it helps you out, right guys?’ He looked to Mordoom and Nina, Mordoom seemed keen on the idea while Nina seemed put out by it all.

  ‘I mean.’ She started. ‘A reward WOULD be nice?’ She shrugged.

  ‘Alas, we have little. It’s okay if you no longer wish to help, we will make do.’ The elder smiled but his eyes betrayed his fear.

  ‘No, we’ll do it, right Mordoom?’ Valiant looked to Mordoom and he nodded in response.

  ‘You know what? How about you guys hunt those monsters pro bono while I’ll stay here and, um, guard the village?’ Valiant rolled his eyes at Nina.

  ‘You do that if you like. Let’s go, Mordoom!’

  ***

  Leaving Nina behind in the village, Valiant and Mordoom headed out of the village down another corridor-esque path which they were told would lead to the Wolfmen’s lair. Once there, they would thin out the horde and hopefully keep the village safe for a while at least.

  The path to the lair was long, and it was made longer still by the awkward silence between Valiant and Mordoom that was becoming more so by the moment.

  ‘Listen, Mordoom.’ Valiant finally spoke after a while. ‘I just want to say-.’

  ‘It’s funny isn’t it?’ Mordoom cut in. ‘A person can deal so much damage with words but they can’t repair that damage with words alone. I know what you’re going to say and I want to believe it’ll be enough but I know it won’t. I can’t get over what you said so easily. The game only ever benefited you and I know the way things are at the moment is scary for someone like you who has always felt in control but you can learn to adapt and thrive but we would never get that chance if things went back to the way they were. We would be forced back into servitude, into playing the roles we were made to play and I don’t want to be a villain anymore, Valiant. I want to be loved, not feared, I want to be happy, not embittered. I want the opportunity to forge my own path. By saying what you said, you made Nina and I fear for what we have. What happens if you meet Rita again and you both agree the old ways are better? She has the power to put things back the way they were, and that’s terrifying for us. That’s why we haven’t already abandoned this quest of yours. We need to make sure you don’t doom us all.’

  Mordoom’s words left an impact on Valiant, he knew his allies’ views from the previous evening but the fact they feared what he could do and how it would cost them hurt him. In their eyes he sounded like a villain, No different to Rita. It hurt to think of her like that and so he maintained that she wasn’t a villain, she was just hurting but that sentiment was losing its hold every time he forced himself to believe it.

  ‘I am sorry, Mordoom. I realise it’s not enough. I will prove it to you somehow, actions speak louder than words. I promise you, I won’t ever allow this world to go back to how it was. Too much has changed for it to go back, too many people benefit from it and I promise you I will do everything to protect their freedoms.’

  Mordoom nodded, not saying anything in response. Words were easy but actions less so. Valiant would need to prove himself to earn forgiveness.

  Their conversation came to a standstill as they came across the Wolfmen's lair but what greeted them was something completely unexpected. The lair itself was a large cave which was not out of the ordinary but the scenes outside of it definitely were.

  Valiant And Mordoom were faced with scores of monsters of different races, Wolfmen, Goblins, Orcs, Lizardmen, Harpies and more. All of them were present and had built strange mismatched structures that spilled out from the cave. The buildings were built from parts of the game world itself and were hideous to look at but seemingly functional.

  ‘Is this what I think it is?’ Valiant said to Mordoom.

  ‘They’ve built their own village.’ Mordoom said breathlessly. In Venturis, monsters were agents of chaos, they did not know peace or have the potential for anything other than spreading misery. They couldn’t be reasoned with or spoken to, one could only run from them or fight them and so to see multiple races of monsters co-existing together and forming their own village when, before, they could barely hold lairs together was just unheard of.

  Wolfparents walking with their cubs glanced up at the duo and roared in panic which attracted the attention of every other monster in the village. Upon seeing Valiant and Mordoom, several monsters ran for cover, while others gathered to form a defensive line. A large monster, an Ogre, stepped forward.

  ‘What do you want? We don’t want humans here nor whatever he is.’ He shot a glance at Mordoom.

  ‘Wow, racist much?’ Mordoom responded in offence.

  ‘Humans have hurt us far too much, blue one.’ The Ogre responded. ‘When we awoke-‘ The Ogre’s words piqued Valiant’s interest. Even monsters were waking up now? What did this mean? ‘All we wanted was to live a life more than what we had and so the monster tribes of the forest banded together to create a place where we could all live in harmony, forgoing the old ways for a chance at a peaceful existence.’ Valiant didn’t know if he could believe it. He had defeated more monsters than he could count in his life and he couldn’t bring himself to believe they could be anything more than a blight on the land.

  ‘But we saw a bunch of Wolfmen attacking the human village, how can you say you want to live in harmony if you’re still raiding villages?’ Valiant was sceptical of this whole set up, Monsters couldn’t be anything more than monsters after all.

  A Wolfman stepped forward.

  ‘That wasn’t a raid, it was a rescue operation that failed because of YOU!’ He snarled at them but the Ogre hushed him.

  ‘They don’t know what they do, Wolf. They don’t know the full story. If we wish to be better than we were we must tell them our side of the story, not take vengeance for things they don’t understand.'

  ‘I think I like this Ogre.’ Mordoom whispered to Valiant, but he wasn’t so sure. This had to be an act, surely?

  ‘The humans took something from the wolfpeople, a cub and they’ve kept the child locked away as means of bait. Although they know it’s a trap, the wolfpeople have been trying to take back their cub, but it’s proven difficult.’

  ‘Why would the villagers do that? Why would they want to provoke you like that?’

  ‘Because of our drops.’ The Ogre said simply. ‘When we fall in battle, we leave behind gold and items. We don’t know why that is, but it is what it is. The villagers have realised the profit in killing our kind and have taken to hunting us. Why go out of their way to hunt us when they can draw us to them? Life in the forest is hard and killing us is an easy way to make a living. I can’t blame them, of course, in the old world, we would do the same to them but I had hoped, now we were all awakened that we could try a new path but the villagers don’t want to listen and so the
old ways are still in force except this time the situation is reversed.’

  ‘That’s terrible. Valiant, we’ve got to help them.’ Mordoom had fallen for their tale hook, line and sinker but Valiant couldn’t blame him. Mordoom was sweet and innocent and this made him gullible, especially considering he could relate to the monster’s story but Valiant couldn’t bring himself to believe it, not yet.

  ‘I don’t think I can believe them, Mordoom.’ Mordoom’s face twisted in shock.

  ‘Why, because they’re monsters? That doesn’t mean they can’t change, look at me! Aren’t I proof of that?’

  ‘You were never a monster though, you were a person.’ Mordoom looked furious.

  ‘BUT THEY ARE AWAKE! THEY ARE TALKING AND THEY ARE LIVING IN PEACE! That wouldn’t be possible if this was all a lie! You only told me a few moments ago that you want to protect the freedoms of this world but what about theirs?’

  ‘I’m sorry but humans come first. You saw those villagers, they were defenceless until we came along, can you believe that they are capable of capturing a monster baby and using it to draw monsters into a trap so they can farm their drops? I can’t, I’m sorry.’

  ‘I understand, I’m sorry you think that way, but I understand.’ The Ogre sounded disheartened but Valiant didn’t buy it.

  ‘Valiant, please! At least open yourself up to the possibility that they are telling the truth.’ Pleaded Mordoom.

  Valiant turned to the crowd of monsters.

  ‘I can’t believe what you are saying is true, it goes against every fibre of my being but if you want to prove me wrong, don’t attack the village again, let us return and speak with the villagers, there’s two sides to every story, after all.’

  ‘That’s reasonable, you may return to them and form your own conclusions.’ The Ogre stated, he waved his hand and the defensive line of monsters disbanded as they returned to their daily business.