by I. Felix
Blake didn't know if the dagger would pierce the monsters or only go through them, not causing any damage. But the answer came with the numbers that started appearing on top of their heads, showing the damage that they were taking. The HP bars of the monsters were rapidly decreasing while they could barely hit Oliver and Blake.
After some seconds, all the ghosts had died, Blake felt himself leveling up twice, getting to level 19, and Oliver also leveled up. At this point, Oliver, that leveled up faster than the human players, was already at level 40 and soon he would be able to evolve to his second form.
The ghosts left some loot, including something called Ashes and Eternal Tears.
"Ashes are left by paranormal creatures. I wonder what they do," the description of the item said. Blake frowned. "Useless," he thought.
"Eternal Tears are one of the main ingredients for the Freezing Potion. Find a Merchant to help you with creating one," the description box said.
This made Blake feel another wave of desperation. Where would his friends be?
"How will we leave this ghost dreamland?" he asked Oliver, who didn't answer but meowed very lightly.
They kept walking, advancing through the haunted prairies. Everything was gray, cold, lifeless, and amidst a lot of mist. Blake felt shivers in his spine at each step. He also couldn't see the minimap on top of his vision, like if this map was somewhere special, without one of the swirling portals.
"I'll never figure it out by myself!" Blake cried out, loud.
He regretted it immediately because the shadows of the trees started gaining form and before he realized it, they were the same ghost monsters as before. This time, there were even more than the first time.
"Oliver!" he screamed, entering the battle formation. He disappeared with the Shadow Hiding and Oliver did the same as the first time, displacing himself. Only a figure of himself remained there in the place, while he was somewhere else.
Blake did the same as before, he appeared when Oliver started to attack and used the Double Attack, spinning around to hit all of the ghosts at the same time.
They all died and Blake leveled up again.
"Well, this will certainly help us to get a bunch of levels," he told Oliver, who meowed proudly.
He didn't have time to allocated his skill. Another bunch of ghosts started to attack and they had to do the same, this time killing the monsters with more ease, but they didn't get a whole level.
"It seems that they appear each time I talk!" Blake exclaimed again, to test his theory.
And it worked, the ghosts appeared, this time more than twenty, and Blake and Oliver had more trouble to kill them all. Blake's HP got to 60% before the last monster died. He leveled up again, now being 21.
Blake didn't say anything after killing the ghosts. Oliver and he continued on the land, looking for a way out, with no luck. It was just an enormous prairie, almost frozen, covered by mist, dead things, and sadness. At each step, Blake's sadness increased. He missed his friends, he was starting to get desperate, and he couldn't even talk, one of the things that he loved the most to do. He felt the depression, the same one he felt on Earth, increasing, taking over him, just like it usually did back then.
He felt like laying down. He saw no reason to stand up, so he sat and they lay. Oliver meowed beside him, licking his face, and Blake smiled but he was starting to forget why he wanted to keep living. He had given up his Earth body already, there was no reason for him to live inside a stupid fantasy. None of that was real and he had no "reality" to come back.
"Maybe I should eject myself," he told Oliver, while he petted him.
It worked like a charm. The shadows around him were respawned and started attacking him, who was laying down. He got up in a jumpscare, his body reacting even if his mind was too sad to do so. Oliver and he didn't need to do any tricks anymore, now they could simply attack without elaborate skills because they were leveling up and the shadows were increasingly weak, even though each time Blake said anything, the number of the ghosts almost doubled.
He killed them all but his HP got to 50%. He leveled up but he felt like he didn't care.
"Maybe I should die," he said, loud again, and more than forty ghosts appeared. He started killing them all again but it was like if his dagger was too heavy for him to keep carrying and he didn't have the energy for fighting anymore. He felt terrible, just like he used to feel on Earth when he forgot to take his meds. He knew that very well.
Oliver didn't seem to feel the same and kept attacking. Blake joined all his strength to kill them all, and level up once again, reaching level 23.
"Oliver, come back to the inventory, I'll call you when I need you once again," Blake told him, feeling like he would faint of how weak and bad he felt. Oliver didn't look pleased but disappeared. The homunculus could go back to the inventory to rest when they wanted or when the owner asked them to go.
Because of his talking, now over 80 ghosts appeared, and he didn't have Oliver anymore. He didn't want to fight.
"I'm a useless piece of shit, living in a fantasy world because I couldn't handle reality, and now I can't even go back," he told the ghosts, while they attacked with biting, burning, and many other different types of skills. Blake just closed his eyes, accepting his destiny. He would die, there was nothing he could do. He lay down, protecting his face with his arms, and he remembered once back in school, when the bullies found him and he couldn't fight anymore, he let himself get beat up, just laying down, protecting his head with his arms, and praying that it would end soon.
And it did.
Dying was really painful. He closed his eyes and waited for the notification box that always popped up when he died. He waited to appear in the tutorial part again, to choose to get the questions right or to go to the Purgatory again. He didn't want to go to Purgatory, he never wanted to feel that again.
But none of that happened.
Everything went white like it usually happened when they were changing maps, but he didn't appear in the tutorial part.
He was back at the forest, the third floor of the Tower, the place that they entered before it was too hard not to fall asleep and they entered that nightmare land.
Now, Blake felt his body again. He even found it very weird, it was like if he just got out of a pool and tried to jump, feeling the gravity twice as strong. He wasn't ethereal anymore. The forest was also lively, full of energy, the sky was blue, it had a great breeze, the sun, and the noise of the river nearby.
And the best sound that he could hear: his friends' laughter. May and Arche were there, greeting him.
"Is this still a dream?!" Blake exclaimed, a little bit scared, a little bit impressed, but mostly taken but an overwhelming sense of happiness.
"You figured it out! I was so afraid that you wouldn't," Arche said, hugging him but also punching him in the shoulder. May also hugged him after Arche.
"We were waiting for you," she said. "You took a long while."
"What do you mean? I didn't figure anything out. I just felt too depressed, like I'd never be happy again, like if life wasn't worth living, and let those stupid ghosts kill me."
Arche and May looked at each other, surprised.
"So you died?" Arche asked.
"I guess that also works. When we die in a dream, we wake up."
"What are you guys talking about?" Blake asked, frowning, but he was bubbling inside with happiness. That place was actually killing him with depression with haunting thoughts. And to think he believed he wasn't afraid of ghosts.
"It was a dream. Actually, a nightmare. We entered inside our own nightmares and fears. So, the only way to leave a nightmare is by waking up. I woke up by cutting myself in the hand," Arche explained.
"And I woke up jumping on water," May said.
"You woke up dying," Arche completed. "That's smart, even though it doesn't seem like it."
"So, that was a nightmare about our worse fears? I dreamed about being alone, I couldn't talk, I had no on
e there, and the depression was overwhelming."
"This is probably your worst fear," Arche said and he didn't have his usual ironic tone. He actually looked supportive and put one hand on his friend’s shoulder. "I dreamed that all my friends were dead. I saw their bodies there and I couldn't do anything to bring them back to life."
"And I dreamed that I was back on Earth, but I knew something was really wrong," May said. "I knew I couldn't go back to Earth, because I'm here. Sometimes I regret my decision of leaving my life behind and coming here but my biggest fear is to one day wake up and have to go back to my 7/11 job."
"Well, did you guys kill any monsters? Because I leveled up quite a bit," he said. "I'm level 23 now."
"That's great!" May exclaimed.
"I'm level 22," Arche said, straightening his eyes but in a playful way. "I had to kill a bunch of zombies. It was terrifying. The dead bodies came back to life and I had to kill my friends over and over and over again."
"I didn't level up, obviously," May said. "But I didn't kill any monsters either. The humans on Earth were the monsters but I just let them attack me. As I'm level 183, they never hit."
"So, it was freaking scary, but it's over now," Blake said. "Oliver, you can come back! Oliver really helped me."
Oliver appeared from the inventory on the ground, looking grumpy because of being dismissed to go to the inventory.
"Don't give me this look," Blake said, getting him and hugging him.
Oliver started shining on Blake's lap. He looked at May, surprised.
"He's evolving! I guess he reached level 50!" May exclaimed, impressed. Blake put him on the ground and Oliver kept shining, then increasing in size. He started by doubling his size, then growing even more, and Blake, Arche, and May were all watching, mesmerized.
He slowly stopped glowing and coming back to normal. When they saw it, he had become a panther in size, all black, with his tentacles and teeth on the end of each tentacle.
"Wow!" Blake exclaimed, shocked. "You're not a small kitten anymore."
Oliver roared, powerful, but also started jumping around the party, happy.
"It's still Oliver in essence," May said, petting his head. Blake got to the ground and hugged him, while Arche had his eyebrows raised, impressed with the size of the panther.
"So, the nightmare was terrifying, but there were good sides to it. Oliver evolved, we leveled up, and I want to live again. Now, what? Are there monsters here?"
"I guess they were from the nightmare land. I'm really hoping that we can rest a little by the river now," May said. Arche nodded.
"And eat. Killing your own zombie parents leaves you starving," Arche said. Blake chuckled.
"Finally, some fun!" Blake said, taking off his shirt, his pants, and staying only in his underwear.
"Hey! May is here!" Arche said, getting a little red in the face.
"So, what?!" Blake exclaimed. May laughed.
"I've seen some underwear in my life, no need to worry," she said. Arche still looked embarrassed. Blake jumped in the river, the cold water invading him.
"AAAH, COLD!" he exclaimed, getting away from the water in a jump. "AAAH, COLD," he said, going back to the water, referring to the wind.
May laughed loudly. "You're so silly," she said.
Arche, meanwhile, was climbing the nearest tree to get some of the juicy fruits that hung in there. They were the size of watermelons, but red like apples, and looked juicy like grapes.
"Hey!" Arche exclaimed to May and she looked up, putting her arms up to get the fruits. Arche got the first one and threw it to her. She got it with an "oof" but she put it on the ground successfully.
"Bella, come here!" she exclaimed and Bella appeared from her inventory, clapping her wings and sitting down by her side, like a lion. "Here, baby. She loves Melonina," May said, handing her the fruit, that started being devoured in a second.
"Hey!" Arche exclaimed, like if he was complaining, but he chuckled afterward, reaching out to get another melonina.
"LOOK WHAT I GOT!" Blake screamed while showing them a fish that he was holding by the tail. "I can fish with my hands, that's how much agility and dexterity I have," he said, proudly, swimming to the side of the lake.
Oliver loved the opportunity to grab the fish from his hand and swallow it with one bite. Blake screamed, scared, but Oliver seemed like he was laughing.
"These homunculus are very cocky," Blake said, surprised. His blond hair was falling all through his face, covering his eyes. He dove again, looking for more fish.
"This fruit is very good," Arche said, without being able to believe that it could be as juicy and sweet as it was.
"It's all in your brain," May said. Arche nodded.
"It's probably the best watermelon I've ever eaten combined with the best strawberry and things like that," Arche said.
"HAH! Don't even think about that," Blake said to Oliver, getting out of the river, trying to protect the fish that he caught. "I want to eat it!"
Oliver didn't feel like leaving Blake alone with his fish. He jumped around Blake, trying to reach for the fish, and eventually jumped on Blake's chest, making the boy fall down, and went for the fish in his hand.
"NOOO!" Blake screamed. "Come back to the inventory, now!"
Oliver started to disappear with a roar of despair. Blake had secured his fish, which was now dead after the hit that Oliver gave it when he was trying to catch it.
Blake found a stick, put it through the fish's mouth, got some more dry branches and leaves, and went to where the rest of the party was sitting.
"Arche, create a fire here with one of your Fireball Potions, will you?"
"Hm... not sure," he said, kidding.
"Hey!" Blake exclaimed. "And to think I had an item for you… but now I’m also not sure if I'll give it to you, then," he said.
"Well, now the terms have changed," Arche said. Blake organized the branches and leaves on a small fireplace, and Arche threw one of the Fireball Potions there, starting a fire.
Blake started to grill the fish there,.
"Where's my item?" Arche asked.
"I was bluffing, there was no item," Blake said, giggling. Arche punched his shoulder. "Ouch, no need to be violent. I'm just kidding, I have this," he said and handed him the Eternal Tears.
"Wow, this is pretty cool, Blake. Very hard to find and the freezing potion is so useful," May said. Arche analyzed the small drops. It looked like small frozen ice cubes on his hand.
"By the way, where is that annoying b...?" Blake asked, referring to the Valky.
"When we started dreaming she appeared in my inventory," May said. "She's not a real human player, so I guess she can't dream. I don't want to tell her to come back now."
"Oh, yeah, please don't," Blake said. Arche chuckled.
They started to enjoy their meal in silence, each of them in their own thoughts. It was a perfect day inside that place, with the sun shining in the right amount for it to be extremely pleasant.
"You know, what? I'm glad I'm here with you," Blake said, after some bites. It was the most delicious fish he'd ever eaten, his brain playing his memories again. "When I was in my nightmare, I felt just like how I felt on Earth. I think if I hadn't come here, maybe I wouldn't even be alive anymore."
"I know the feeling," Arche nodded. "It's weird how the virtual gives you a sense of purpose that the 'real' couldn't. And, what's 'real' after all? Isn't it all happening inside our brains anyway?"
"I guess this here is as real as Earth's reality for us," May said.
"To a better reality," Blake said, raising his fish on a stick. May and Arche raised their meloninas and they all toasted.
After eating, they fell asleep to a nap. Blake was a little scared that he would go back to the nightmare land, but that didn't happen. They were so tired they didn't dream and, when they woke up, they were all feeling much more refreshed.
"Let's keep going?" May asked, getting up. Blake stretched and Arche yawned.
Chapter 14 - The Little Gnome
They were walking through the enormous floor, already doubting if they would find the way to go to the next floor or not, when they halted because they found a little gnome, in front of a small little house, by a tree. The tree was the biggest that they had ever seen.
"Hey, little guy?" Blake said in a questioning tone, looking puzzled by the little gnome. It was small, about their knees-length, completely green, and he wore a red hood, just like the traditional garden gnomes looked like.
"Welcome to the Tree of Life," he gnome said in a very NPC-like way, almost too mechanical to sound convincing. "How may I help you?"
"Well, we want to advance to the next floor level of the Tower."
"This would be through the tree," the gnome said and pointed up.
The tree was as big as a building. It went on to the skies till they couldn't see it any longer. Also, the inside of the trunk was illuminated by a yellow light, the trunk was full of little windows throughout it. It also had a bunch of smaller branches, where they could see little creatures coming and going. The branches connected to each other through thick vines that also worked as pathways. The vines were wrapped with fairy lights. It was a magical view.
The party also noticed that the sky was changing colors. It was getting darker, like if it was becoming nighttime, which made the tree look even better, more magical.
"Okay, so can we go?" Arche asked, also unsure, looking at May, who usually had all the answers. She shrugged.
"Do you have the key?" the gnome asked. "I'm the keeper of the tree. I live there," he pointed at the little house with a red woof and wooden walls.
"How can we get the key?" May asked.
A notification quest appeared in front of their eyes.
"The Tree of Life Keeper needs you to hand him the Key, so you can enter the Tree and advance to the next floor of the Endless Tower. Materials needed to make the key: 5 Twigs, 2 Iron Ore. Do you accept it? Yes/No."