“The Ruins of Drabund are a long way away,” Mastermind said, jumping down from the boulder. “I guess, I will summon Pero again.”
So it happened that Mastermind summoned his pet. The two of us climbed the pterodactyl. Pero flapped his massive wings and off to the air we took. I knew at that moment that in the next few days I would travel large distances of the world of Prithvi. I was scared, but I was also excited. I was happy that I was at least taking the stance of the good side in the fight.
Chapter 5
It was after a day of travel that we reached the Ruins of Drabund. It wasn’t easy at all to sleep while being on Pero’s back at night. My body ached for sitting for so long. But the great sights that I had had the opportunity to witness at night had been totally worth it. There was no better feeling than flying thousands of feet above the ground, the moon casting its silvery light on us and the clouds that surrounded us. It had felt like something out of a really nice dream. There were also the villages of the Raks, such a great distance below us. Sometimes the villages had fires lit, but the fires looked like mere dots from our position in the sky.
We landed about a kilometre from the Ruins of Drabund because we didn’t know what kind of danger lurked in the ruins. Whatever monster dwelled there was probably a hundred times more powerful than the strongest Rak I had ever killed. I knew that there was a great possibility that I might die during this most unique of quests.
The placewhere we landed was one of dense vegetation. There were centipedes and millipedes of extremely large sizes in the trees surrounding us. This was probably because Dinoland was not far away.
The Ruins of Drabund seemed to be the last standing walls of what might have been an old castle. The roof of the castlehad long gone. At least that was what I could make from the distance.
“Thank you Pero,” Mastermind told his pet, patting him on the head. “You can return now. But I might need you again in a few hours, so please stay alert. It is bad that you have to work so hard for me, but I am thankful for everything you are doing.”
Perorubbed his head lovingly against Mastermind's face. And hedisappeared.
“I don’t like this jungle,” I said, observing a giant spider kill a butterfly high up a tree.
“Neither do I,” said Mastermind, “So we better do our job and get out of here as quickly as possible.”
We began to make our way through the jungle. It was more like wading through the vegetation. The place where we had landed seemed to have been a pond that had dried up, and the shrubs and grasses grew thick. I was very afraid that I would step on some snake. A bite might make my health drop to zero faster than I could drink a health vial, not to mention I had only a few health vials remaining now. I took out my sword from my bag, and began to clear the vegetation in front of me, hacking and slashing a path through the vegetation towards the ruins. Just then, I had an idea. Mastermind had easily destroyed the floor in the library. Would it be possible for him to make a straight way to the ruins by using his spell? I told him this.
“I am not quite sure of that,” Mastermind said. He looked divided. “What if I use my spell and the monsteror monsters dwelling in the ruins become alert?”
That was an issue. But I felt like whatever monster was in the ruin already knew that we had come, and it was probably watching us at the moment. But since Mastermind was hesitating, I decided to use my own powers. I summoned Danav and Danavma.
“You seem to have come a long way from home,” Danavma said.
“Yeah,” I said, “I guess this place is closer toyours?”
“Much closer than Kapilpura was for sure,” said Danavma, looking at the vegetation surrounding us.
“Can you help us get to the ruins by creating a path through this vegetation?” I asked.
The two monkey people were quite ready to do it. I gave Danavma my sword and she hacked at the bushes and the shrubs. Little Danav (who was not quite little right now since he had inflated his size)didn’t require any sword. Danav just uprooted the bushes and shrubs with his bare hands and helped his mother clear the way.
“I like your pets,” Mastermind said to me, now that we were making faster progress towards the Ruins of Drabund. “They talk. My conversations with Pero are one sided.”
“I guess you can get pterodactyls as pets only after a particular level?” I asked. I reckoned bigger the beast; the more experienced a player must be to make pets of them.
“Yes. Level 50 is necessary to have a pet like Pero. Otherwise you cannot control them,” Mastermind replied.
It took us a good hour, but we were finally able to reach the ruins, which stood on a slightly elevated ground. The ruins themselves were covered in moss atmost places. There were also many stone slabs lying on the ground. The ruins were bigger than what they had seemed from the distance and covered a large area.
Should I send Danav and Danavma away? I wondered. But I felt safer with them around and I didn’t tell them to go, although they had completed the task I had originally called them for. Danavma handed me back my sword and I held the hilt tightly. I didn’t know what dangers would be falling upon us in the next few moments. Just then a message popped up in my vision.
Second phase of quest one.
Defeat the shape shifter.
Rewards: The Helmet of Ravana
Additional rewards: You level up.
So the monster in the ruins was a shape shifter. Apparently Mastermind saw the popup too.
“So the artefact that we are after is the Helmet of Ravana, is it?” he commented “I recall hearing the name Ravana somewhere.”
“The inn where I live is named as Ravana’s inn,” I said, “Ravana was like the main villain in the ancient epic of Ramayana. He had ten heads Irecall.”
An old man stepped out from behind a wall. He was a frail man with a dark complexion. He had greying hair and a white beard. He seemed to have more bones than flesh and his skin was just attached to his skeleton. He wore old robes that looked quite dirty like they hadn’t been washed in months. I highly doubted that the old man had even taken them off in months. The most disturbing thing about the man was perhaps his belly. Despite his underweight body, his belly was abnormally large.
“Who are you?” Mastermind asked the old man.
I tried to focus on the man to get his details. But I failed. Was this a perma player? But something inside me told that the old man was probably not what he seemed and it was best to be on high alert. I had a queasy feeling in my gut that predicted that the old man was the shape-shifter of the ruins.
“I live in these ruins. This is my home,” the old man said, his voice coarse. He was looking at us with narrow eyes and he didn’t seem very pleased that we had come, “In fact, I should be the one asking you who you are.”
“We come seeking for the helmet of Ravana,” Mastermind replied.
The old man chuckled. His chuckle didn’t lighten the tension. Instead it made the tension thicker. I could hear Danavma’s heart beating fast, even she and her son seemed scared. I still wondered if it was better to send them home. But I was selfish and wanted to be protected from all threats.
“You should never seek immortality,” the old man said. “Go away. This is my last warning to you. If you do not return, what befalls you shall be something of your own doing.”
“We cannot return,” I found myself speaking, “doing so would mean that many perma players would be forever wiped out from this world.”
“That is none of my concern,” the man said.
“Please understand,” I said to the man. But he grimaced. The man suddenly grabbed his robes and pulled them hard. The clothes tore like they were made of paper. I had expected to see the ribs of the man.
But no.
The man’s central and lower body were like that of a millipede. He had dozens of little legs. And from the sides of his stomach grew two giant pinchers. He didn’t posses any human legs. The man—or whatever it was— was standing on the many legs of the lo
wer body
With a rattlingnoise the man came at us.
I wasso revolted at the sight thatmy instincts took over me and I fled. I saw the man attacking Mastermind, and had to take control of my fear. The man grabbed Mastermind with his large pinchers. He opened his mouth abnormally wide, revealing strange mouth parts on the inside which looked like they belonged to an insect. The man was about to bite a helpless Mastermind when I let electricity jump from the tip of my swordwhichhit theman.
The man let out a sound of pain and fell backwards, letting go of Mastermind.
Mastermind sprinted towards me.
“What is this creature?” he said.
“No idea,” I said, “but we must kill it.”
The man got back up. Mastermind made motions with his hand and muttered a spell. Immediately a blast of fire escaped his palms and hit the man. He flew backwards and slammed against a wall, creating a lot of dust.
Once the dust settled we saw that there was a giant hole in the wall. But there was no sign of the man. Mastermind and Iexchanged glances.Cautiouslywe went approached the hole in the wall. But when we neared it, we couldn’t see the man on the other side.
Ievendared to go through the hole. But the man seemed to have disappeared. Had we destroyed him? Where was the artefact then?
“Is he gone?” Danavma asked me.
“Seems so,” I said.
“I am sorry, I couldn’t help you much on this one. But the creature was beyond me. I was paralysed with fear,” Danavma said, her words drenched with guilt.
“It’s okay,” I said. I decided it was best for Danavma and her son to go for the moment. “You can return to you home for now. I will call you when I need you. Okay?”
Danav and Danavma bowed before disappearing.
“I have a feeling the monster isn’t gone,” Mastermind said. He frowned suddenly, perhaps spotting something. He put his hand into a small shrub and pulled out what seemed like one of the tiny legs that had belonged to the man.
Mastermind flinched, realising what it was and threw it away.
“Perhapswe did destroy him?” I said.
“Where is the rest of his body then?” Mastermind said, shaking his head. "Let's search for him. I know he isn't gone."
And we began to move about the ruins. I always had a feeling that somebody or something was watching us.
And then, just as I moved past a wall, I saw the old man sitting on a stone slab, his back turned atme. Except he was wearing black robes this time. And his robes looked cleaner. I became paralysed in fear. It was with much effort that I controlled my fears and signalled Mastermind, who gasped when he reached me seeing the person.
“Look, we don’t have to fight each other if you just give us the artefact,” Mastermind said to the man. The man slowly turned around at us.
It wasn’t the man.
It was a woman. An old lady. Her wrinkled face sporting a smile.
“Fight?” she said. “What do you mean?”
“Who are you?” Mastermind asked, glancing nervously at me.
“Me? I live here,” the woman replied calmly, maintaining her toothy smile. “Come and sit please,” she gestured towards some stone slabs near her.
“Come, come,” she said again because the two of us weren’t moving. It was Mastermind who took the first step towards the stone slabs. Very soon, I found myself sitting face to face with the woman.
“Would you like to have anything?” the woman asked. For a moment I felt like there really was nothing wrong with her the way she was speaking kindly. But I had to remind myself no normal old lady would ever call some ancient ruins her home.
“No, thanks,” I said.
“We… we met an old man,” Mastermind muttered.
“Ah, he is my husband,” the woman said. She pulled some grass growing at an arm’s length from her and began looking at the roots with interest. Then she put the grass into hermouth.
My heart began to beat faster. I suddenly stood up. I didn’t like the way this was going on. I pointed my sword at the woman.
“Look, I don’t know what you are,” I said, my voice shivering, “but don’t pretend that you are a nice old lady. If you are a monster, show it. We have destroyed the old man who you claim to be your husband. We don’t want to do the same to you. Just give us the fucking artefact.”
The old woman began to chuckle. Her chuckles became manly, until her voice resembled exactly that of the old man who had turned out to be a monster.
Mastermind too sprung to his feet.
“Look, you didn’t destroy me, all right?” the lady said in the man’s voice.
Letting out a roar, I swung my swordto hit the woman. But she easily craned her neck in way that was physically impossible for a normal person, such that I totally missed her.
“You cannot hit me,” she laughed in the man’s voice.
I was infuriated now. I threw a spell at her, and just for a moment she froze. This time I swung my sword and I was able to behead her. Her head flew some metres, and rested on the grass, the ghost of her last laugh still on her face.
I stepped back as the body fell backwards. Blood spurted from the neck by the gallons.
Mastermind placed a hand on my shoulder.
“You did it,” he told me.
I observed the beheaded corpse. Why wasn’t it disappearing? The corpses of the Raks and other NPCs usually disappeared in seconds.
But the next minute, I realised why the corpse hadn’t disappeared.
Mastermind and I watched appalled as the corpse stood up and made its way to the fallen head. It picked up the head and then ran away, and disappeared behind a wall. I squatted down and grabbed my hair, pulling it in frustration. I felt so defeated.
“Wow,” Mastermind said.
“This isn’t happening, is it?” I asked him.
“It is, my friend,” Mastermind said, “I have been on Prithvi since the beginning. I have never seen anything of this kind.”
I looked at the splatters of blood on the ground where the corpse had been previously lying. Some of the blood was on the blade of my sword too. I removed the blood with my finger and wiped it on a stone slab.
We followed the trail of blood that the corpse had left behind. We went behind the wall where the corpse had gone. But there was nobody there, the trail of blood suddenly ending.
“She is gone,” said Mastermind. I looked around the place. I was pretty sure that the shape shifter would show up in some other form in no time.
“Be alert,” I told mastermind. “The moment you see anyone, freeze them. And then use your fire spell.”
Just then a voice began to sing and hum. It was the sweet voice of a young woman. I felt attracted to the voice. Deep inside my mind someone told me that the voice might belong to a land-dwelling siren. With much determination, I covered my ears.
But Mastermind hadn’t covered his ears.
He now turned at me, his eyes quite blank.
“Are you okay?” I said to him, maintaining my hold over my ears.
He didn’t reply. He did some motions with his hands. A blast of fire hit me before I could do anything more than gasp. I was thrown several feet away. I groaned as I looked at my charred clothes and my exposed stomach. My health levels had fallen by a hundred.
I picked myself up with brute willpower, sword in hand. The voice had stopped singing for now. Mastermind was looking at me as though he had awoken from a dream.
“What happened to you?” he said.
“You attacked me, damn it,” I said, my stomach and chest screaming in pain.
“I did?”
Just then the voice began to sign again, preceded by some giggles. I covered my ears.
“Don’t listen to that blasted song!” I cried. But too late. Once again, Mastermind’s eyes went blank. He made some motions with his hands, throwing a jet of fire at me. I jumped away, just in time as the blast of fire went past me and hit a wall, creating a hole in it. The voice abruptly
stopped singing. And it began to groan instead. I saw through the hole created in the wall that a person was lying on the other side of it. I felt a wave of euphoria as I realised that the monster’s plan had backfired.
I approached the hole in the wall. The fallen monster was now struggling back to its feet. The monster had taken the form of a very attractive young lady. Dark hair, brown complexion and a shapely figure. Some of the rocks had grazed her shoulder, making it bleed. I felt attracted to her, and almost felt pity, lowering my sword absentmindedly. I saw that she had a health of 3800 remaining of 5000. I reckoned my attacks in her previous forms had lowered her health together with the injuries she had now sustained. Also, this was the first time I could see her health. Was it because this was the third form of the monster? Perhaps. But one thing I was sure of was that this was a unique quest without a doubt.
As I approached the monster, lustful thoughts began to fill my head.
“Close your eyes!” a voice in my mind screamed. “But why?” another part of my brain protested.
“Close your eyes if you don’t want to become her food,” the voice in my mind begged.
“I would gladly become food for her,” I thought instead.
“If you only close your eyes she would become yours forever,” the voice said. I couldn’t believe that I fell into the trick of my own mind. But I was glad that I did, for as soon as I closed my eyes, I seemed to come back to myself. I was here to kill a monster and nothing else.
I put my hands over my ears too for added protection. You never know when the monster would resume singing. But I couldn’t destroy it with all my senses closed, could I? I needed to find a way around the problem.
I turned towards Mastermind. I opened my eyes. He seemed to have awoken from his trance, now that the monster wasn’t singing.
“What’s happening?” he seemed to ask me from the way his mouth was moving.
And then, the monster began to castherspell again with her voice. It was tiny enough with my hands covering my ears that it didn’t affect me. But it seized Mastermind once more.A smile crept onto my lips as a plan formed in my mind.
Perma-Death Online: A LitRPG adventure: Book 2 Page 7