1-Up

by Dean Smith

‘Heroes of Venturis VIII: Mordoom’s Revenge

  A game by Pixelstar Studios’

  Bewildered, he watched on as a familiar figure appeared at the kingdom’s gates. Valiant recognised the blonde flowing hair and the armour as his own. The people of the town moved in strange predetermined lines he had seen unawakened NPCs do in his travels and he watched as the small Valiant in the images moved similarly. Little Valiant could only seem to move in straight lines and after walking straight ahead for a few steps, he turned and marched towards Wingcrest’s Inn. Little Valiant paid for a room and the images turned dark as a jingle played out. The next moment, the inn reappeared and Valiant left it to go to the weapon and item shops next door. This all seemed so familiar to Valiant and he soon realised why. He was witnessing the start of this whole saga. He was watching himself move around the game world. After finishing his shopping, Little Valiant was asked to go to the castle to assist the king in a serious matter.

  It was almost the same as he remembered but he remembered those times being more animated, more full of life but what he was witnessing felt stilted and stiff. As he watched that day unfold before him, a truth rose to the surface of his mind. He once wished to go back to the way things were, to go back to sleep and deny the nature of Venturis, to live in the blissful ignorance of when he thought the world was his. He thought it was better to be a flawless hero in a rigged game then to fail but he was wrong. Mordoom and Nina had shown him that but he was also wrong about so much more. The NPCs may have only existed for him, but he was no different to them, he had no free will, no chance to choose his own path because, like them, he was a puppet to the player’s will. He was as trapped as any NPC.

  ‘We can’t go back to those times.’ He said to no one in particular. Rita wanted to reach the game’s conclusion but nobody knew what it would mean for their world if the game ended. Would they all cease to exist? Would they be reverted to their previous roles and robbed of their sentience and free will? Neither option was good. Rita had to be stopped before she could realise her plans.

  When the battle with Vardant began in the game, something strange happened. Code appeared on top of the images.

  ‘Vardant.DAT corrupted.’

  Just as Valiant remembered, Prince Vardant behaved strangely in the game as well and when Valiant won the turn based battle against the demon prince, the images became filled with static that never seemed to lift. Nothing that had happened after that battle had occurred within the game’s parameters. Everything that all the awakened people of Venturis had done since then had been of their own volition and what he had witnessed confirmed that. He went back to his thoughts of Rita. He couldn’t allow her to risk everything, if she couldn’t be reasoned with then she had to be stopped. The thought weighed on his mind, he did not want to hurt her but he couldn’t deny that the needs of many outweighed hers and the true meaning of being a hero was selflessness. If needs be, he would have to put his own desire to save Rita aside and treat her like the villain she thought herself to be.

  Reluctantly resolved to this course of action, Valiant forged ahead and through the door in front of him.

  The room he found himself in was circular and small and devoid of anything aside from a light in the middle. This was it, this was what Valiant had come to find although he was still in the dark about what it was, the only thing he knew for certain was that the light held the information he needed to save Venturis.

  He stepped forward and reached out and he was faced with thoughts of that first day when he and Rita were pulled into the void of static that had previously been Vardant’s body. This time he wasn’t being pulled into the otherworldly beacon of change, this time he was choosing his own path. When he touched the light, he saw the walls of code he first saw when he and Rita touched the void, back then they spoke the truth of the world to him but now, a different truth flowed through him, the reason why everything had changed.

  Every once in a while, their creators would add more code to the game that would change and add features to it, the text he saw told him that this was called a ‘patch’ and many had been implemented without incident for years in the various ‘Heroes of Venturis’ games but the latest patch was a different story.

  A red line of code came to the forefront and unlike the rest, it didn’t speak to Valiant, it screamed instead. It screamed nonsensical sounds that were so loud that Valiant felt as though his ears would bleed. Within this unbearable agony, the truth sprouted in him that quietened the noise. The latest patch had a line of bad code that affected one boss in the game, Vardant, and upon defeating him, Valiant (or, more specifically, his player) had caused a catastrophic failure within the game and the patch was lost in the code, reprogrammed to be kept within a cache disguised as game data. Valiant looked at his surroundings as the mystery of the temple was solved. This whole place was the patch but he still had more questions, and he looked to the code for answers.

  This patch would have added two new features but would have also fixed a bug that allowed players free rein to mess with the game’s code. Valiant’s pulse quickened as that line stuck out to him and he understood why this place had called out to him. The previous bug and the line of bad code in the patch had caused a new bug to be created in which the characters themselves could edit the code and game data, not just players and this patch held the fix needed to erase that original bug and could be used to fix the bug it created as well.

  Valiant laughed as the solution glowed in front of him, with this patch they could remove Rita’s powers and without them, she couldn’t enact her plans. Valiant and his allies could save the world but before he could get carried away, he looked through the rest of the code to learn about the patch, in the terminology of what he had read, the sentience of Venturis’ population could be considered a bug and he wanted to make sure that, before he considered using this patch, he wouldn’t inadvertently wipe out their newly gained freedom.

  Such fears were soon assuaged as the code made no mention of free will, using the patch wouldn’t seem to change a thing in that regard.

  Feeling confident he wouldn’t doom the world back into servitude, he plunged his hands into the code. To use this patch, he would have to deal with the line of bad code and ironically enough, the issue this patch was meant to fix would be the thing that allowed it to work. He wasn’t sure of what he was doing but at this point Valiant operated on instinct. He had watched Rita remove code before although he didn’t know it at the time. It was how she deleted things and when she created things, she wrote new code. He found the bad code and braced himself for its awful sound. Reaching deep into the pit of his stomach, he harnessed the hum of power within him and imagined the bad code fading into nothingness and as he did, its screech grew quiet. When all was silent, he knew he had succeeded.

  The patch had been fixed and now it was down to him to implement it. He activated the two new features, one of which made him feel uncertain while the other filled him with hope but when it came to the bug fix, he couldn’t implement it from here. To fix the bug, he would have to confront it head on.

  He opened his eyes and watched the light. He willed into something small that could be held in his hand and taken with him and it became a small coin. He decided that the current shape wouldn’t fit his purpose, he needed a weapon. As though it answered to his thoughts. The glowing coin warped and changed before Valiant’s eyes as it shifted from its coin form into something more foreboding, a glowing dagger.

  ‘Patch Acquired!’

  ***

  Beyond the convent was a valley in which Mordoom hoped they find the final party member. The valley in question was known as the Arcane Scar and according to Nina’s friends, it was called that because of a deep concentration of magic that enshrouded the place which could empower followers of the magic arts but they had no way of knowing if that was true or if it was just a bit of lore to enrich the place for the players. Mordoom hoped it was true, If it was, he could become stronger than ever and help
more than he did before.

  Before they could reach the Arcane Scar, however, they had to deal with a forest path that was teeming with random turn based battles. It felt like every step caused another battle to occur. At first, Mordoom almost welcomed it as he was interested in seeing his new allies in action which was impressive as they had adapted to the game’s style of fighting quickly. Fabian, as expected, was a master with the bow and he ended battles in a speedy manner while Sabine took to the front lines and attracted the enemies attention away from her more fragile allies. She would go toe to toe with the monsters while everyone else was free to attack her targets without risk of reprisal from them and when Sabine’s defences fell and she took hits from her opponents, Fabian would spring into action with a song of healing that undid any injuries she had received. The two new party members complimented each other in battle and it was rare that Mordoom and Nina had to do anything with those two around, in fact, it wasn’t until near the end of the path that Mordoom got the chance to act in a battle.

  During the battles along the path, Mordoom had learned a new spell ‘Dark Inferno’ and he was eager to test it out. The spell’s description said that it was an empowered version of his ‘Dark Fire’ spell that could hit multiple enemies at once and during a battle in which they faced three grotesque Spiderbat monsters, Mordoom used it for the first time. The spell began with him flicking a small ember at the enemies that, upon contact with them, exploded into a roaring sea of violet flames. If Mordoom could have moved from his spot, he would have leapt back in shock so instead he just opted for a shocked expression and a short burst of laughter when the flames cleared to reveal their defeated opposition.

  ‘Did you see that?’ He exclaimed as soon as the victory screen faded. He turned around and the first face he saw was Sabine’s and she wore a dark expression.

  ‘I saw dark magic, it’s hard to be impressed by such an evil thing and harder still to believe that you’re meant to be a hero if you rely on the dark arts. Let’s face it, you will never be a hero.’ Sabine’s words were harsh and cut through him and Nina stepped forward as though to interject on his behalf but he held up his hand and stopped her. He couldn’t let Nina or anyone fight his battles for him. Sabine had a problem with him and he needed to understand it and help her see he wasn’t who she thought he was.

  ‘Magic isn’t good or evil just like your sword isn’t aligned with one or the other, it’s what it’s user makes of it. Just because this game denotes a spell as ‘Dark’ doesn’t mean it’s evil or I’m evil for using it. I know you think I’m a villain but I’m not any more and I never would have been if given the choice. I didn’t choose to be a villain, the game chose that for me and now I’m just doing my best to be a hero just like you. If my powers upset you that much then I’ll stop using them, I’ll find another way of helping because I value you as an ally and hopefully one day, as a friend and I don’t want to offend you.’ He smiled weakly at her, he didn’t want to stop using his powers for they were what made him useful to the team but if it helped Sabine trust him, it was worth it in his eyes.

  Sabine looked conflicted by what he had said and she took a moment of silence before responding.

  ‘No, you’re right. I keep thinking of things in the old way, that this world is divided into good and evil but that’s not the case anymore. Not all heroes are perfect and not all villains are well.... Villains. I don’t want you to stop using your powers, I can see how useful they are. Forgive me for acting so unfairly to you, I’m still trying to understand this world and all of its intricacies now that the old ways are no more. I’ll do better to see you, not as you were but who you are now. I may mess up, I’m not perfect as I’ve learned as of late but I’m willing to try.’

  This sudden turnaround surprised Mordoom but he welcomed it. He held out his hand.

  ‘Shall we try starting over?’

  Sabine nodded in response and shook his hand.

  ‘Allies,’ she said simply, ‘and hopefully friends one day.’

  Mordoom felt his weak smile grow into one of his goofy grins as the tension he had felt since she joined their cause lifted in the face of empathy and understanding.

  ‘I’m glad you guys have patched things up but I think we should rest awhile before moving onto the Arcane Scar, we have no idea what lies ahead and these battles have taken their toll.’ Everyone murmured in agreement with Nina and they rested on the threshold of the valley. While doing so, Sabine kept close to Mordoom and kept glancing at him awkwardly.

  ‘I think... I think I can relate to you in some way. It’s not the same thing obviously but I can relate to that feeling of living with what the game had forced upon you so much I feel shame for being so hypocritical.’ He waved away such things, and she regarded him with warmth before continuing. ‘It might seem like a silly thing to complain about but my clothes define me to others and that definition is wrong. I’m not a prude and I love my body but it should be my choice if I want to show it off. I have skills, I am good at what I do but as it stands, I’m just something nice to look at and that’s because of the creators’ choices and not my own. I want to be a hero that is defined by my actions, not by my looks. I know this isn’t the same thing as being seen as an irredeemable villain but I wanted you to know that I think I can understand you, and, more importantly. I want to understand you.’

  It was remarkable, half an hour prior, Mordoom was certain that Sabine hated his guts and now he saw in her a kindred spirit, a being of empathy and all it took for them to move past their problems was for them both to be open with their feelings and to acknowledge each other as who they are, not who they used to be. Within the confines of the game, conflict could only be solved through combat but it was times like these that Mordoom truly understood how far the world had come in such a short time.

  ‘Mordoom?’ Sabine looked uncertain once more.

  ‘Yes? What is it?’

  ‘I’m overstepping the mark here, I know but I’ve seen a darkness within you and I used that to paint you as the villain I thought you were. I was convinced you were just playing the part of a hero for some nefarious scheme but now, I realise my mistake. That darkness wasn’t evil intent… I think it was sadness.’ She raised her hand to his shoulder before hesitating, before finally deciding to grip it gently. Mordoom’s own hand held hers. ‘I get the impression you think you need to be happy all the time, to play the fool even to raise everyone’s spirits but you don’t have to wear a mask. If you’re feeling sad then feel sad. You’re in friendly company, we’re here for you.’ Sabine’s words once again cut deep but this time the feeling wasn’t unpleasant, she saw his pain when nobody else did. For the sake of everyone else, he had put a brave face on since Vilemire and tried to be who he thought his friends wanted him to be but it was hard.

  He had lost friends, he had helped in their defeat and although he knew it was for the best, it did little to soften the great ache he felt in every fibre in his being. He also saw the irony in her words, he had told Valiant something similar in his lowest moments, that he didn’t have to be the hero all the time and here Mordoom was, being hypocritical and doing what he warned Valiant against. Mordoom laughed with shining tears, he couldn’t keep his pain down any more and Sabine pulled him into a hug as he let it all out and told her the full story of the events of Vilemire. Nina joined them in holding on to Mordoom while Fabian kept his distance and surprisingly enough, his silence. Instead, he strummed a sad but hopeful melody on his fiddle that seemed to fit the situation perfectly.

  ‘That’s awful, I can’t imagine what that was like for you.’ Sabine spoke as Mordoom, feeling better for letting it all out tried to compose himself. He wished that he didn’t have to return to Vilemire once his current task was done. He didn’t want to lose anyone else, but that was why he had to return to that place with his friends and allies. Above all else, he wanted to ensure that no one else would feel loss like he had. When he put his feelings into words, it was Sabine’s ey
es that shone with the threat of tears.

  ‘I can’t believe I ever thought you were a villain, I think you have the purest heart of all of us.’

  ‘That’s our Mord. He’s the heart of our group.’ Added Nina.

  Such kind words had rendered Mordoom silent, he couldn’t find the words to do justice to how glad he felt that he had found them all. He was so glad that Rita had mistakenly sent him to Valiant and gave him the chance to prove himself.

  Instead, noticing that everyone was rested, Mordoom wiped his eyes and told the group that the last party member awaited them. The time for heart-to-hearts had ended, and it was time to return to saving the world.

  Beyond the loading screen was a large desolate valley that looked like a scar on the earth and in the air hung a strange spectral fog that glowed in a myriad of blues and purples. Mordoom could see why this place was called the Arcane Scar.

  In the middle of the valley there was a humble house, the only dwelling that Mordoom and company could see within the area. If their last party member, a great wizard, according to Nina’s gang, lived in this valley as they said then the only place he could live was in that small rickety house.

  Mordoom expected to be besieged by random battles with every step like they had been before but the valley was devoid of monsters and even background music, it was all eerily quiet and empty, almost unnaturally so. Mordoom could feel the tension rise as uncertainty took hold as they drew closer to the house. What if Nina’s people had been wrong? What if they accidentally lead them to the doorstop of some hidden raid battle they had no chance of winning? Mordoom tried to dispel such thoughts but the act of doing so was harder than simply willing them away.

  Somehow, despite being the most erratic member of the party, he ended up being at the head of the group when he knocked on the beaten up wooden door of the house.