Crystalfire Keep

by J. A. Cipriano

  My eyes widened a bit. I had never seen a raid-level loot orb up close, only in the wiki’s archives of screenshots. Strangely, it seemed smaller in person, probably why I didn’t immediately recognize it. “Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Keep is just about to open. They never did announce a concrete date and that month is almost up.”

  “Then what the whack-a-mole are we waiting for?” Burndall cried. “Touch the thing and let’s see what we’ve got!”

  Crysta glanced at me, and I nodded. With that, she touched the swirling orb. It burst with a fanfare of sparks and fireworks into the normal holographic loot list. The one difference was that this one was surrounded by an animated border, swirling through all four elements: sparks of electricity, spurts of flame, waves of water, and cracking stone.

  Lucar, the Tide Warlock’s Remains Contain:

  Eerie Black Onyx (Quest Item, lootable by all)

  She didn’t hesitate to gesture at the ‘Loot All’ option at the bottom of the list, sending the Onyx to our inventories. That sudden ping in our brains was enough to even get the attention of Wazif who had been trotting to the second lump of metal. I was already bringing the pitch-black stone into my hand as Burnie grumbled.

  “Man, I was hoping for some seriously phat loot, not another quest!” He rolled his eyes as he decided that the least he could do would be to look at it like the rest of us. “At least my man here is making me a sweet sword.”

  “I wouldn’t get too down,” Kayla pointed out, rolling the Onyx in her hands. “Have any of these quests not had amazing rewards?”

  I ignored the back-and-forth for the moment, focusing on the stone itself. It was almost the exact size of most Grade S Gems I had seen, a perfectly smooth oval cut opal that fit in the palm of my hand. What was a bit chilling about it was its pure blackness. There was none of the shine or gloss of a normal cut-and-polished stone. It was as if the onyx was eating the light that touched it with not even a single photon escaping its grasp. Despite that disturbing quality, the stone didn’t do anything untoward to my gauntleted hand. It was as hard and smooth as it should be with only a faint coolness typical of a gemstone.

  The tooltip that popped up in my sight was a bit more helpful, of course.

  Eerie Black Onyx (quest item)

  The darkness of this perfect stone seems to consume all the light that touches it but what is more disturbing is its origins. Culled from one of the newly emergent Undead monstrosities, it must have some ties to the crisis at Crystalfire Keep. It would be best to take it to Princess Kallisandre in Granholm for examination.

  As soon as I took that all in, another prompt popped to life as the tooltip faded.

  Quest ‘A Piece of Darkness’ available!

  Objective: Bring the Eerie Black Onyx to Kallisandre in Granholm!

  Reward: 5% Experience, Grade S Darkness Element (Modification Gem)

  Burndall let out a low whistle as he looked chagrined. “Okay, count me corrected. After seeing what this sweet Light Gem does, I’m drooling at the thought of a Darkness Gem too!”

  “You won’t be the only one, Burnie,” Crysta nodded slowly. “Darkness Gems are even rarer than Light Gems, and no one in the raid scene really bothers with them, not with most of the end-game baddies being of the Darkness Element.”

  I looked up at that, eyebrow arched. “Why not?” That got everyone’s attention but Wazif who was staring with wide eyes at his Onyx still. “Well, think about it. Wouldn’t a Darkness mod be the best way to defend against Darkness attacks? Besides, with the transformative qualities of Primal Elemental Gems, who knows what it will turn a skill or spell into?”

  Though Crysta looked at me a bit odd as if I was talking craziness, Kayla was the one who was nice enough to spell it out. “You know how the metagame has been for a while, Max. The sole focus has been on DPS, zerging through the content, so that means playing entirely on elemental weaknesses. Sure, some of the tanks might use a Darkness Gem for a defensive ability on certain raids, but it’s not common in the least.”

  Me, I’d never ascribed to the metagame. I played a full-on support and defensive tank with nary an offensive ability to my name. Not only that, I played one of those most maligned classes in the game. Considering our success to this point was founded on that outside-of-the-box mentality, I felt I was justified in breaking the meta.

  Wazif finally broke away from the allure of his stone. “And that is yet another reason why I don’t normally do this” – he waved his free hand around the gallery – “part of the game. I really loved the idea of the infinite variety of the Gems and yet, it always boiled down to who did the most damage.”

  “Well, that isn’t how we do things,” I explained and realized I really didn’t know how to define that ‘we.’ “Like in this group. We don’t do things that way.” I glanced around at the others, and despite the problem we had between us, it was Burndall that was the first to back me up.

  “Yeah, we try to do our own style, right?” As if to punctuate his point, he spun his black blade a few times.

  “Right,” Kayla added with emphasis. “I don’t think you could say that any of us are exactly standard builds.” She glanced over at her guildmate. “Even Crysta here doesn’t exactly play by the rules of the guild.”

  Crysta laughed at that as she nodded. “Yeah, well, I had the advantage that Vanni was the top tank and I could keep up. Amethyst may not have liked it, but she really couldn’t, you know, argue.” The laugh and the smile that accompanied it faded as she talked, starting the moment she mentioned her comatose fiancé. She didn’t quite crash as hard as she had but it still hit her hard and I couldn’t blame her.

  Wazif was obviously confused by the cheerful Aurum’s downturn but the rest of us understood and sprang to action, even the kid. Kayla and I put a hand each on her shoulders, while Burndall smiled, a real smile for someone that usually preferred a cocky grin or a sly smirk. “Hey, whatever’s going on up there, it’ll be cool, and you’ve at least got some kickbiscuit friends to help make it better, right?” And there it was, the classic smirk as he pointed both of his fingers at Crysta.

  Say what you want, it made her start to giggle again.

  “Thanks, guys,” Crysta nodded, smiling a bit at Burndall while patting Kayla and my hands. “I’m okay.”

  Wazif nodded slowly, a look of relief washing over his face. “I’m happy to hear it, even if I have zero clues about what’s going on.” Before anyone could explain, he raised a hand to cut us off. “And I don’t need to know. After the whole bit in the Fire Sultanate, it’s probably better if I don’t so I don’t accidentally let anything slip to Nahma.”

  “Hey, don’t kick yourself over it,” I replied as I gave Crysta’s shoulder a last squeeze before letting go. “You had every right to be curious. All the same, I think we all appreciate your discretion.”

  Crysta nodded emphatically. “Totally.” She glanced around the room. “Hey, I don’t want to sound like any kind of bossy but you better finish mining. Don’t want to miss a score like this, right?”

  “He better not, especially with that sword he’s making me,” Burnie chuckled as the vaguely embarrassed looking miner started and ran across the room to one of the remaining metal nodes.

  “Well, while he finishes, I’ll go ahead and slot in my Teleport Gem.” Kayla was already adjusting the Gems studded in her armored robes. “We’re going to Granholm, I take it?”

  “I suppose but, well, do you want to try to make your guild’s PvP thing?” I walked up to Kayla and put a hand on her shoulder. “Because we could wait on this turn-in if you wanted to catch the tail-end of that. I don’t think anyone would mind.”

  Her answer didn’t really surprise me but it did seem to catch Crysta’s attention. “No, it’s fine. This has to do with the Keep and that makes it way more important.” She looked up at me, her watery blue eyes almost glowing with resolve. “It’s more important for all of us, especially that prize. If this really mark
s that the Keep is about to open …”

  “It’s about to become a race,” I finished.

  Wazif looked over as his pickaxe flew with amazing speed. “Does that mean I need to stop mining or is it not that much of a race yet?”

  “Dude, you better finish,” Burndall laughed, “because I’m gonna need that new sword!”

  The jovial miner fell into with that laughter as he worked before stopping abruptly as if something suddenly occurred to him. He looked up and over at all of us before hesitantly asking, “Uh, this may sound stupid to ask but you don’t mind that I’m coming with you?” He took a deep breath. “I guess what I’m trying to say is … does this make me part of the” – ‘Firsters’ was what I thought was going to say but he seemed to correct himself – “uh, group?”

  To be honest, it wasn’t something I had even thought about before he broached the subject. Wazif was a friend, a member of our fan guild, and someone I knew I owed something special for his help with the Vale, but I wouldn’t have thought of him as part of the, well, Firsters.

  Look, if everyone else was using the term, why shouldn’t I?

  And it wasn’t because I thought we were too cool or too elite or too powerful for him. It came down to the fact that he had been upfront and open when he told us he wasn’t an adventurer or a champion or a front-line player. Wazif had said he was a craftsperson and explorer, leaving the fighting to others.

  What we did, what we were doing, was most certainly fighting and the NSAF feedback didn’t let you forget that.

  I wasn’t the only one who seemed taken off-guard by the question, so I immediately snatched the four of us up into a custom chat channel. “Maybe,” I said to Wazif, “just give us a second here.” Everyone joined in within a second or two and the discussion was off.

  Crysta: I thought he was, like, a super crafter or something? I mean, I don’t know him well and it’s not like he’s been through all this with us.

  Burndall: He is and I’m totally with you on this, well, mostly. Thing is he’s a pretty cool dude and he didn’t do a bad job fighting Tall, Dark, and Bony there.

  Kayla: I’m more worried about what brought about the sudden change of heart. When Max and I met him and traveled with him, he was really emphatic on his whole ‘I don’t want to get hurt’ thing.

  Crysta: So, like, is it a question of trust? Because Burnie isn’t entirely wrong. He did think pretty fast on his feet.

  Shale: I’m as surprised as the rest of you but I think what we need to do is ask him why. He’s got deep immersion so his expressions, his emotions will come through with what he says. I think that’ll tell us more than anything else.

  That settled it. Burnie flashed me a thumbs-up, Crysta nodded thoughtfully, and Kayla smiled. I glanced over Wazif who was still watching us as his arms swung his pickaxe on autopilot, following the canned mining animation as he finished off the node.

  “Well, here’s the deal,” I began.

  Wazif frowned and deflated a little. “You’re going to tell me no, aren’t you?”

  “Whoa, no, hold on there, you’re jumping the gun.” I rubbed the back of my head. “Look, we just want to know, well, why? Why do you want to lump yourself in with us when we’re likely going to get our butts kicked more than a couple of times in the days ahead?”

  I wasn’t going to lie to myself, after all. We were going into a big, end-game dungeon, a ten-man raid that we still needed to get six people for. Wipes were going to happen and dying, well, dying in Elementalis Online hurt more than most people are willing to admit.

  Wazif’s brow furrowed as his barrel-shaped body heaved with a deep breath. “I’m going to sound like some starry-eyed fanboy, but I’m not. I’m eighty-seventeen years old, after all.” The room let out a collective sigh at the Filter working its wonders. “Anyway, the truth is that this … this was the most fun I’ve had in the game so far and more exciting than scaling the highest peaks I have. Don’t get me wrong, I love walking this world and I love finding new ores and making new things for people to use, but at the end of the day, those things won’t make anyone in this world we share … Elementalis, I mean, not up there … stand up and take notice.”

  He clenched his hands into fists and yeah, I could see the starry-eyed kid in him still, something I think we all shared no matter how young or old we were. “What I’m trying to say is that I want to see that part of the game I’ve been missing, see the whole world out there. You’ve shown me, us, really, all the players that have seen what you did, that I can do it to so … why aren’t I? But I don’t think I can do it without you guys. I wouldn’t know how.”

  The big Ember shifted uncomfortably as he finished, that sort of discomfort that I think anyone would have if they just bared their soul to a bunch of people they knew more as figures to idolize than actual people. The room was dead silent for a few moments as we processed Wazif’s impassioned speech.

  I knew my answer but, leader of the group or not, this wasn’t a dictatorship, not when it came to this sort of thing. I turned my gaze around the room, catching each of my friend’s eyes one by one, looking to get their opinions and, well, votes before I said anything myself.

  Burndall winked and shrugged. “Considering how much of a noob cakes I was when we first teamed up, I’d be kind of a danish if I said no, wouldn’t I?”

  Crysta was literally wiping at the corners of her eyes even though she was smiling. Wordlessly, she nodded at me.

  “I think you already know what I think,” Kayla smiled. “At least I hope so,” she added as she waggled her fingers at me, showing off her Ring of Promise prominently.

  I nodded, pretty sure I did know what she was thinking, something I got confirmation of when a UI alert flashed in the corner of my vision as I turned back to Wazif.

  You have gained Trust with your Promised! Your Trust is now at 25 points!

  Congratulations! You have reached a new plateau of Trust! Do not forget to select a Promised Perk from the Promise management menu.

  Ignoring the desire to take a look at that immediately, I focused instead on our new groupmate. “I don’t think anyone could have made a better argument.” I smiled broadly. “Wazif, welcome to the team!”

  4

  Despite that bit of a happy ending, there was unfinished business that lingered in the back of my head as Kayla wove the spell to bring our group to Granholm. There was the whole bit with Burndall, something I wasn’t going to be my usually hermit self and try to avoid, but something that had been looming this entire time since we first started down the road to Crystalfire Keep.

  We were only four, now five, champions and the Keep was set for a full raid group of ten avatars. I had always assumed that with two of their members already leading the charge, the Sisters of Artemis would be more than eager to fill our ranks when the time came.

  Now, though, I wasn’t so sure about that. It was becoming clear to me that the shades I had seen in the Vale were close to the truth and Kayla’s relationship with her guild was fraying. Who knew how well Crysta was doing, with her recent absences and the fact that Vanni wasn’t in-game to provide that connection the top brass of the guild? What had been certainty was not anything but.

  All the same, I tried to push those worries aside for the moment. I would talk to Burnie, make it all up to him, as soon as we did this turn-in. As for the rest, well, it wasn't like we had talked to the Sisters about it and heck, I had been purposefully ignoring the small but growing pile of guild inquiries that came after we became, well, Firsters. If we couldn’t find the people we needed one way, there surely was some raid guild willing to work with us.

  We stepped out of the shimmering portal of water Kayla conjured and into the Earth Kingdom capital’s Crystal Plaza. The stout granite walls of the angular architecture made me feel at ease. Maybe it was a built-in response funneled into my brain because I had chosen a Craggar avatar but the feeling was real all the same. The soaring crystal behind us backlit us with its soft white ra
diance as the usual collection of peddlers and vendors, both NPC and player, were set up along the walls.

  Crysta and Burndall were eagerly chatting with Wazif about what he could do to prepare for the adventuring life as we moved out into the open-air city center. As was commonplace, the crisp mountain air buzzed with chatter from various groups of champions socializing, planning, or trading under the boughs of the oak and pine groves that circled the main plaza. There was an extra electricity in the air, some sort of excitement among the crowd, but I didn’t really pay it much mind as we made our collective way towards the Champion’s Hall.

  No, I noticed it but I was more focused on the future and on Kayla’s hand in mine as we walked side-by-side. Flashing a smile at her, one she reciprocated, I mentally nudged open the Promised tab on my social menu, partly out of curiosity and partly just to make it stop flashing. As it resolved in the corner of my vision, I decided to tackle something that had been bugging me since we first started into Tamiroth.

  Hey, if I was going to learn how to deal with people, I was going to take the lesson I already had from my mess-up with Burndall and not let this new potential issue linger. Besides, it tied into that whole guild help thing that would be so important soon.

  Shale: Look, Mina, I know I’ve asked about this but frankly, I’m a bit worried –

  Kayla: Asked about what? It helps to ask the question before you apologize for repeating it.

  Shale: Point taken. I’ll get to the point then. Is everything really okay with you and the Sisters? This isn’t the first time you’ve shirked guild activities to do stuff with us.

  There was a pause there, long enough that we were entering the bustling hub of Champion’s Hall before she had an answer.

  Kayla: Honestly, maybe it isn’t. I didn’t want to worry you, not with all the problems I know you have, but things have been a little … icy lately. But, with all the things going on with the game and Crystalfire, I think I can smooth it all over with Amethyst.