“Yes,” I had no doubt that I was right. “I was not the first to unbury the hatchet of war, so it’s not up to me to bury it. They wanted to kill me‒ I fought back. So you say I killed someone? That means there was no place for them in the Game!”
“Stop!” The teacher said suddenly. “Record your current emotions. Describe them! What do you feel?”
“Indignation,” I decided to follow the teacher’s advice and listen to the emotions roiling in my chest. “Yearning for justice. Desire to set things in order and eliminate injustice.”
“Actually, that’s why you turned Dark,” the old man smiled. “Judges are rarely Light anyway.”
“I still don’t understand anything,” I honestly confessed to the teacher.
“In the Game the difference between Light and Darkness is minimal, strange as it may sound. The difference is in how the player replenishes his Energy. What is Darkness? It is absence of Light. What is Light? It is radiance from any source. Actually, that's the difference. Light makes it possible to replenish Energy using external sources: holy relics, artifacts, symbols of faith and other similar objects. Darkness replenishes Energy directly from the surrounding world, pulling it out of emotions and everything that is not a material object. You have to remember: as soon as Light appears, Darkness disappears; that’s why an ordinary Dark one cannot enter the places that you are used to calling churches: for the majority of dark players the amount of Energy spent is equal to the amount of Energy received; so if you take away the source, it will result in practically instant respawn or death. The same thing is true with respect to the sources themselves. For example, the closer you place a Christian cross to a witch, the weaker she becomes, up to dying. As you understand, both Light and Dark players can be good or evil; the difference is just in the way they restore Energy.
“Then why do they loath each other so?” I answered in surprise. “If the difference is so insignificant?”
“You weren’t listening carefully. The Light ones replenish Energy from physical sources, and the Dark ones from emotions. But what do you do if in the environment around you there aren’t enough emotions?”
“Take an elixir.”
“That’s an option, but we’ll discuss that later. Suppose you have no elixirs. What would you do?”
“I’d need to generate emotions,” I guessed.
“That’s right! Do I need to explain further or will you guess yourself why the Dark ones aren’t well liked?”
“Generating emotions…,” I was rolling the thought around in my brain until a sudden epiphany froze me to the spot. “Torture. Inflicting pain. Killing their kin…”
“Artifacts of many Dark players have an “Accumulator” property which enables them to store additional Energy,” the teacher continued sadly, picking up at the point where my thought trailed off. “No need to frown; this property is not available in the Academy. It’s much simpler to fill the surrounding space with emotions of pain and despair than with joy and happiness. Questing for Energy, some Dark ones don’t care about NPCs, minions or even other players, sometimes destroying entire game worlds just to top their ‘storage battery’.”
“You are speaking with such regret as if you’re also a Dark one and those examples are not to your liking.”
“I am the only teacher in the Academy who has the right to show his true face. You’re right — I am also Dark, just as you. I’m known under different names: Father Frost, Santa Claus, Joulupukki and hundreds of other names. The overall point is to bring emotions to the worlds. Positive emotions. This is how I can save my Dark brothers to some extent and prevent them from turning into animals who are only capable of inflicting torture.”
Yet another layer of the Game was revealed to me. While I was an NPC I always wondered why most of the religions call on their flocks to be modest, peaceful, obedient, following the traditions and certain dogmas. It’s because a crowd of like-minded people have no emotions! They would, like robots, follow the instructions without generating Energy! And since there’s no Energy, the Dark ones would feel uncomfortable. They would either turn into various “Vlad the Impaler” types, or simply leave the uncomfortable game world forever. That’s why one of the teachers mentioned that I wouldn’t feel comfortable on Earth: it’s inundated with the Light ones!
“Wait… it’s clear about the Dark ones, but where do the sources of Light receive their energy? If they continuously dispense Energy, then sooner or later they must dissipate.”
“Or recharge,” the teacher smiled. “That’s exactly the point the Light ones very much dislike to discuss. Sources of Light recharge all the time by drawing Energy from those very same emotions. Only the Light ones use different words for that: Inquisition, crusade, jihad, prayer, voluntaryattainment of nirvana. The Light ones came up with a million ways to replenish the sources of Light, covering cruelty with pretty words. This is, in fact, the full answer to your previous question as to why there’s a war between the Light and Dark ones. Simply because it’s a war for Energy sources! The Light ones have learned to gather it from the living, and the Dark ones, most of the time, are used to simply killing everyone. Conflict of interest‒ it’s elementary. Besides, we shouldn’t forget that it’s the Light ones who make the elixirs!”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“Think. Now you know the nature of Energy replenishment for both Dark and Light players. So why do the elixirs work for both?”
“Because it contains both a source and emotions,” I stated the obvious, but from the teacher’s look it became clear that it was just the beginning of the train of thought. “So the elixir is made from something wondrous, which has both a physical body and an emotional one... Wait… It’s…”
“The only ones who have both are living creatures.” The teacher confirmed my guess. “Sentient living creatures. NPCs. The exchange rate is quite democratic: one elixir takes one NPC, who is processed in his entirety. As I mentioned, the Light ones have a monopoly on that; in the process they also recharge their sources. Since the NPCs are going to die anyway, why let them do it quickly and painlessly? They can be useful instead.”
“But that’s horrible!” I said, stunned.
“It’s the Game.” The old man shrugged his shoulders. “You weren’t concerned about killing mobs in computer games? Imagine that you’re playing using full virtual reality immersion.”
“But why am I turning Dark?” I whispered, impressed by what I had just heard.
“Finally you become interested in what’s happening to you personally! Remember what I asked you in the very beginning: what you felt as you were killing other recruits. You didn’t say “regret”, “conscience”, “guilt”. You named “indignation”, “yearning for justice”, “desire to set things in order”. That’s where the answer lies. First of all, you needed to become Dark. You did that by killing the elf. You were fully aware of your actions, rejecting the “Thou shalt not kill” that had been drilled into you since childhood. A murder was accomplished on your instructions; however, your subconscious, shaped by your upbringing, realized that this was Evil. Actually, that’s how the allegiance is chosen in the Academy: the attitude of the subconscious towards the actions you commit. This cannot be changed. After that it becomes simpler: you committed actions your subconsciousness perceived as “bad” while your mind was telling you that it was “right”. Each discrepancy like this shifts the scale further and will continue to do so – you aren’t planning to give up killing, right?”
“So if someone has been told since childhood that killing is good, he’ll become Light? And with each killing will accumulate more and more Light?”
“You’re getting the idea. Yes. And another thing I need to tell you: the Light ones have one clear advantage: if they have a source, it’s hard to kill them. While the Dark ones can be unsettled if you throw a source of Light at them. Keep this in mind and be careful. If you have no more questions about allegiance, I’ll tell you now abou
t other special features of the Game.”
“Wait. I have two questions. The first one is: is it possible to level up the allegiance? In other words, does it have its own levels? Second: why would the Chancellor kill a Dark player?”
“You already know the answer to the first one: just as with any other phenomenon in the Game, allegiance has its own levels. It’s unlikely that you’d receive the first one while still in the Academy, but should this happen you’d be able to use the feature of Dark players: absorb emotions from your surroundings to replenish your Energy. As for the second question: our Chancellor is a unique being, I wouldn’t state it with any degree of certainty. Maybe he will and maybe he won’t, it would all depend on his mood at that particular moment. But in general, well, he isn’t particularly fond of the Dark ones. There’s more Light than Dark in him by now.”
“What’s unique about him?”
“He is a Dark vampire.” The teacher though for a very long time before answering. “Constant struggle of Light and Darkness can drive one mad, so the Viceroy shut him in the Academy forever. The Chancellor cannot leave it.”
“Emm… But aren’t vampires Dar… Blood! Vampires have a source of energy: it’s blood! They are Light by default!” Today was the day for revelations. “But wait: how did he become Dark?”
“It’s the upbringing,” the teacher grinned. “It’s all in the upbringing. By the way, I’m looking at your logs… Don’t worry, that’s an option only available to teachers, and then only in the Academy… You could have become a vampire. With your attitude to killing things you would’ve become one more Chancellor and would have been unlikely to survive after the Academy. The Game doesn’t need freaks. If that’s all you have, let me complete your training. I still have a lot to tell you…”
Book of Knowledge has reached a new level. You need to increase the level of the artifact properties: “Context search” (1), “Weapon” (1),“Protection" (1)
“Those who select the path of knowledge have certain advantages,” the teacher smiled when at the same time as the upgrade message appeared for the Book of Knowledge I was returned to the Academy. “Good luck in the Game, Dark one, and remember: a Judge should not yield to emotions! Dark players cannot use their own emotions, so why feed a potential enemy?”
I fully agreed with the teacher’s statement; I increased “Protection” by another point and looked glumly at the players crowding around me. There were a few mages among them. No one was in a hurry to attack: Dangard’s order had already been made known at all the locations. I walked straight through the crowd of players, keeping my face carefully blank. I had some unfinished business in the forest, and nobody present could interfere with that. Why should I jump from stone to stone like a monkey? There would be time to do that later.
Two years of training, a year each at the ranges for attack and defense abilities, brought my stock of elixirs down to 38; however, the result of voluntary solitude was worth it. I was able not only to enhance my attack and defense; I was able to organize all the knowledge I received from the trader, Dangard and the teacher. I was also able to finalize my attitude towards the Game and my place within it. What had guided me before? Emotions, impulses, desires, standards of conduct, wishes of the group – completely not thinking about the most important thing: what will the benefit be to me personally? Players enter and leave the Game alone, so first and foremost one needs to think about one’s precious self. Which is something I had not been doing at all previously. As an example, the story with Dolgunata kept coming to mind: I gave her the location of the hidden teacher, and what I received in exchange was respawn. This kind of thing should not be repeated. As for the druid herself, I could not touch her within the Academy. She should lead the Paladins through. I was not thinking from the standpoint of love for the class, but rather from the standpoint that Sharda wouldn’t let me in the Citadel’s library if he should learn that I hadn’t helped my “brothers”. The gnome did have some kind of hang-up about that. However, letting Nata off the hook completely wouldn’t do either: if I were to indulge in such folly as forgiveness, I’d stop respecting myself. The druid had to be punished; the only question was: in what way? During the training I’d been unable to come up with a clear answer. Only one thing was certain: I was in for a good fight with the panther, so I trained thoroughly not only in my abilities but also in agility, training my body, which was not at all used to physical strain. The funny part was that the emotional toll of the first six months of the first bout of training was much harder than now. At that time I had no goal or understanding of what I was doing. While now I knew very clearly why I was mutilating the trees or repeating rolls and push-ups. The Game doesn’t like the weak. If I wanted to survive I’d have to tear at each and everyone with my teeth… After all, I wasn’t Dark for nothing…
“Come on sweet, show up already!” I whispered, holding my hand above the guiding line. Following the training I didn’t immediately rush to the Labyrinth, as might have been expected; rather, I decided to test the skills I had acquired in real combat. The recruits now served as cannon fodder for me; they weren’t fit for fighting back and so there was no way to test my strength and defense ability with them. But I knew who would be a worthy opponent for me: forest guards. The fact that it was possible to run away from them meant they were relatively slow. If that was true, why not attempt to fight one of them? At worst, it’d cost me a few elixirs, one level and an hour of my time. Nothing irrevocable. However, if everything were to come out as planned, I’d gain a lot more.
My legs trembled in fear and the hand I was holding out dropped onto the guiding line by the force of inertia. The guard snuck up on me, if this term was applicable to him, from behind; had I not taken the precautions, I wouldn’t have even known what killed me. I turned around and the Book of Knowledge helpfully highlighted in red a boulder that hadn’t been there previously. I took a few deep breaths, sending some oxygen through my body to get rid of the induced fear, attached the artifact to my hand and, making sure to touch the beam, approached the stilled guard.
Test number one: testing attack abilities.
An hour later the guard started blinking and then disappeared, leaving nothing behind: no crumbles, no experience, no loot and no satisfaction. I used “Templar’s Blow” a couple of times, but did not observe any visible effect; so I decided against wasting Energy, using just “un-enhanced” blows. This chunk of stone apparently couldn’t care less what was hitting it. Once two more guards departed to rest in eternal peace bringing me nothing except fatigue, I declared test number one completed: it was not possible to level up using guards in stasis.
Test number two: testing defense abilities.
You were killed and sent to a respawn point
You lost one level
Your current level: 9
It didn’t work. Having waited for the guard and made him still, I expected to fight a frontal attack, but the blow came from behind. The stone highlighted by the Book didn’t even stir, while a beam that had been in that place to begin with turned into a horrible monster and, despite my so-called upgraded defense, killed me with one blow‒ just piecing me straight trough. Test number two was a failure as well.
Morally preparing myself to the last foray into the forest, I wandered from one teacher to another; I couldn’t help noticing how few players were left here. While at first everything was overcrowded with players getting in each other’s way, now each clearing had at most two or three players scared of their own shadow and hesitating to approach the teacher. There were no more mages, Paladins, or organized groups: apparently, they’ve all gone to the Labyrinth. There was only one path leading to it, but again I forced myself to retreat. I had an unfinished task, and couldn’t afford to move on until I fully studied and resolved this issue. I needed to understand where the arrows on the guiding beams led…
Three hours later they led me to a rather wide clearing located about four meters above the gr
ound. In the center there was a two-meter crater whose jagged edges indicated its unnatural origin. There was someone sitting next to the crater, thinking; at a first glance at its figure I associated him with the Predator. The creature that was unable to destroy the future Governor of California. However, after I looked a little more carefully, the similarity faded somewhat. The player was a biped sentient orthograde being with very well developed muscles, over six feet tall – even though I could be wrong on that since he was sitting. He had strong legs and something like sandals on his feet, and wore knee guards made of some strange bluish material that looked like metal and dragon skin at the same time. Above that was a strange skirt-like piece of clothing with a wide belt that had a blue crystal instead of a clasp. His torso was criss-crossed with ribbons the same color as the belt; the shoulders were covered with guards in the shape of the skulls of some unknown animals with the same bright blue crystals for eyes. On top the player wore a cloak reaching the ground. A meter-long double-pointed staff was attached behind the right shoulder. All that glory was crowned with a dog’s head that looked very much like a terrestrial Doberman, and made one think of Anubis. I wondered what kind of a strange race that was?
“I can sense you!” The stranger shouted without moving. “Come out and we’ll talk.”
I stood still for some time thinking he was addressing someone else, and expecting another player to come out into the clearing; however, there was no one hurrying to step out from behind the stones. Activating my defenses, as I had no idea what to expect of this player, I stopped at the edge of the clearing looking for a guiding line. There was none.
“It’s safe here. Come off the Way.”
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” It must’ve sounded rather rude, but I wasn’t going to believe the word of some random guy. Stepping into the clearing and holding my hand over the guiding beam, I was prepared to drop if a guard were to show up, but after ten seconds none appeared. The stranger wasn’t lying, after all: it was in fact safe within the clearing. I walked around the center disfigured by the explosion, keeping it between myself and the recruit, and stopped a few steps away from the crater.
The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1) LitRPG Series Page 25