Awaken Online: Catharsis

by Travis Bagwell

  In a few moments, the guards had severed the feral zombie’s head and its corpse collapsed to the ground. The attack pattern of the feral zombie was downright scary. It was all rage and hunger, nothing like the orderly attacks of his Jason’s troops. He ordered his guard zombies to quickly dispose of it.

  Onyx gave Jason a look that seemed to say, “That was the stupidest idea you've had this evening.”

  “How was I supposed to know it would go completely batshit?” Jason asked Onyx.

  Am I really arguing with a cat now? Maybe I’m going crazy.

  Jason stood there and mulled over what had happened when he summoned the zombie. Its behavior had given him an idea. He couldn't take the city guards on directly, but he might be able to distract them and take them down individually.

  If he raised the bodies in the various houses one at a time in separate rooms, he could then have his thieves sneak into the manors and open all of the doors. As the thieves left the house, they could also rig the doors with something that would make a lot of noise when someone tried to get in. He would basically be creating a trap inside each the noble houses!

  As he considered this strategy, he smiled grimly. The icy chill cascaded in his skull, and he could have sworn for a moment he heard a rumbling laugh echo through the house. However, when he looked around, no one was there but him and his zombies.

  Well, except for the judgmental cat, he thought as he eyed Onyx.

  Jason got to work. He rigged seven manors within the span of two hours. His telepathy with his zombies allowed him to send them ahead to the other houses with instructions. He needed them to start positioning the bodies and rigging the doors. He raised all of the remaining corpses that were left in the manors, regardless of level. His goal was to create chaos, and he had seen the damage even a level 1 could do if it got lucky.

  His guard zombies piled wooden furniture loosely against the front door of each house. After the guards finished blocking the entrance and he had raised all the corpses, he sent in his thieves to arm the trap by opening all the doors and then slipping out the back of the house. He made certain to remind his thieves to exit out the servant's entrance and lock the door behind them.

  Jason had also considered the next part of his plan while he worked.

  Once he finished rigging the manors, he set up an ambush in the north-side for a nearby guard patrol. Instead of carefully cutting off the guards' escape like normal, Jason only attacked with seven of his guard zombies. After a short battle, one of the guards made it away from the zombies, gasping and screaming as he ran east towards the guard barracks.

  From a nearby alley, Jason watched the fleeing man with a smile on his face.

  Another forty-five minutes later, the north-side of lux was swarming with guards that had responded to the lone survivor’s cries that zombies were invading the city and had attacked north-side.

  By that point, Jason was already long gone.

  He had circled back to the east side of the city. His new target was the guardhouses. Jason expected that a contingent of guards would be left at the training grounds to defend the barracks and to continue offering training to the new players. Jason anticipated that the guards would send the bulk of their forces to the north-side to deal with the “zombie invasion,” meaning that the force left at the barracks would be manageable.

  When Jason arrived at the training grounds, it was still quite dark and he had nearly an hour until full daylight. He had broken up his army into five groups and had them rendezvous in the dilapidated building near the stable master's house. This was the same spot he had used to stake out the stable a few nights ago.

  That seems like such a long time ago now, he thought as he eyed the stable master’s house.

  From his familiar perch in the building, Jason could make out the training grounds and surrounding guardhouses in the distance. He was also relieved to see that Rex was not present. The game assigned a small skeleton crew to man the training ground at night so that the players could still train, but still preserve some realism. Jason expected that Rex was somewhere in his bed fast asleep.

  He could tell that he had stirred the hornet’s nest as he watched the remaining guards lining up in formation and handing real weapons to confused players. When he saw the players, Jason had an idea and re-enabled the player chat in his system menu.

  What he discovered in the local chat was quite interesting:

  MonkeyKing: Does anyone know what is going on? The guards are going nuts over at the training ground. They didn't let me finish training.

  Legolass: Lol. I saw you trying to hit that dummy. He was doing you a favor!

  Kryptic: Guys. There are a ton of guards headed to the north-side of Lux. I have no idea what is going on.

  MonkeyKing: This guard keeps trying to give me a weapon and saying that I need to help fight off the invasion. What invasion?

  Chango: A guard told me a similar story. Does anyone know what's going on?

  Kryptic: Oh shit! $*&*&^$ zombies are in Lux! I just saw a group of guards taken out after they entered a house. Zombies are in the street!

  Legolass: What is this!? Some kind of event?

  Kryptic has left the channel

  The player chat quickly devolved into chaos as Jason smiled darkly. He assumed Kryptic must have died from the feral zombies.

  Jason hadn't yet died in game, but he had read on the forums that players that died were subject to a mandatory lock out period of three hours real world time. This translated to approximately 9-12 hours in game, so it was a significant penalty. However, Jason expected that the goal of the penalty was to prevent fights between players from lasting forever, with waves of resurrected players continuously bashing into each other. Large-scale battles in AO would require quite a bit of tactical planning to be successful.

  He didn't have much time to dwell on Kryptic's untimely demise. He had to initiate phase two of his plan. His small army slipped out of the rubble of the dilapidated building and moved over to the training ground. It was still quite dark, and the buildings were casting long shadows that concealed his group’s movements. Once his troops were in position, Jason circled back to the front of the training ground and ran forward yelling.

  “Help! Oh my god help! There are zombies attacking the north side of Lux. Most of the guard patrols have been wiped out!”

  Players and guards gathered around Jason as he approached and peppered him with questions. He started describing what he had seen. He was intimately familiar with what had happened on the north side of Lux, so he was able to provide quite a bit of gory detail.

  Jason saw the lieutenant leave the administration office and head towards Jason. He was well over six feet tall, broad shouldered, and sported a thick beard. In contrast to the regular guards, he was robed in heavy steel armor and carried a claymore strapped to his back. He also carried an almost palpable air of authority. Jason quickly inspected the man as he approached. Level 146.

  Holy shit!

  The lieutenant quickly took charge of the players and guards. He approached Jason and eyed him up and down. Jason’s cloak obscured his eyes and part of his face, but it was clear that he was anxious.

  The lieutenant addressed him, “Traveler, did you see where the zombies were headed? We need more information if we are going to be able to fight them off.”

  Jason took a few heaving breaths before replying, “Some were headed this way. They looked like zombies. I saw one rip a guard to shreds! I outran them, but I think they’ll be here soon!” He trembled slightly and shook his head as though he was replaying the scene in his mind.

  I’m becoming a damn fine actor, Jason thought with a mental chuckle. They aren't even reacting to my infamy or alignment!

  “Thank you traveler.” The lieutenant patted him on the shoulder gruffly. “You should move back to the administration office and take a moment to collect yourself. Everyone else line up in front of the grounds. We need to get in position. The undead will be upon us
shortly.”

  The lieutenant drew the group of guards and players into a dense-packed “V” formation in front of the training ground facing the street. He stood inside the interior of the formation so that he could give orders easily to the group. Jason did a quick head count and made it to fifty before he gave up.

  Jason, momentarily forgotten by the group, eased away and activated Sneak. He quickly entered the office and closed the door firmly behind him, barricading it with a table. He moved over to a window to watch the show that was about to unfold. Onyx sat with him on the windowsill and peered out attentively.

  Now that he was in a safe location, Jason felt the familiar tingle of anticipation as he considered what was about to happen. Ice solidified behind his eyes, and he could feel the dark chill pulse in his veins. He couldn't remember the last time he had released his mana. After hours with his mana active, he almost didn't notice the numbing chill except in stressful situations.

  Onyx glanced over at Jason with an odd expression on his face, while his tail twitched spasmodically.

  Jason didn't notice Onyx's anxious gaze. His attention was still on the players and NPCs. He smiled excitedly. This next part was going to be fun. Without hesitation, he telepathically ordered his decoy group into action.

  A moment later, a group of zombies appeared around the bend in the street in front of the training ground. They hesitated for a moment and looked around. Then their milky white eyes caught sight of the formation of players and guards and they roared through hoarse throats, sprinting towards the formation at a frightening speed.

  The players and NPCs let out a shout and several of the weaker-willed players backed out of formation. Jason used this opportunity to cast Curse of Weakness on the tightly-grouped formation. A few players looked around confused as they saw the debuff appear as a status effect, but they seemed to chalk the debuff up to some skill of the zombies running toward them.

  Jason ordered his kamikaze group into position. While he had been sitting in the dilapidated building to the south, he had given each of the five guards a hooded cloak. The cloaks concealed their wounds and allowed them to more easily infiltrate the formation.

  His kamikaze group walked up behind the formation of players and guards as the decoy zombies approached. The attention of the lieutenant and those under his command was riveted on the small group of seemingly feral zombies that were racing towards them.

  They should have been looking behind them.

  Jason's kamikaze zombies filtered through the ranks of players and guards until they were evenly dispersed. Neither the players nor the guards seemed to give his kamikazes a second glance. Jason could visualize the overlapping blast radius of each zombie. Once they were in position, he began his chant. He was hoping to get the spell off before his decoys got in range of the players and guards.

  No point in wasting zombies!

  As he completed casting a series of Corpse Explosions, elongated shadows raced toward his kamikazes, unnoticed by the players. The resulting blast was the most spectacular thing Jason had ever seen. Even Onyx seemed mildly impressed.

  He had noted from his initial fight in the north-side that the gear the zombies were wearing seemed to increase the damage of Corpse Explosion. He theorized that the equipment acted like shrapnel – similar to a claymore mine.

  With this in mind, he had strapped as much equipment to each zombie as possible. They each wore multiple sets of mail, carried extra weapons, and had broken weapons and armor tied to their bodies. By the time Jason was done, they practically waddled when they walked.

  The explosion caused by his Corpse Explosion resulted in a torrential spray of jagged metal shards to hurtle outwards in an expanding ring from each of the five zombies. The metal ripped through the bodies of the players and guards like paper. As the debris settled, a bloody mist could be seen hanging over the field of fresh corpses.

  Standing within the radius of at least three zombies, the lieutenant absorbed the brunt of the blast. His arm had been blown off completely, and he struggled to regain his footing. By Jason’s estimate, the explosions had killed nearly 75% of the defense force outright, while injuring and stunning most of the remaining survivors.

  Jason didn’t give the few survivors a chance to recover and ordered his other zombies forward. His thieves darted towards them, as fireballs and shards of ice from his mages flew over their heads. The thieves’ targets were the remaining guards, as they represented the biggest threat. The players were typically low level beginners. His zombie guards arrived shortly behind the thieves and finished off the rest of the injured players.

  Numerous prompts appeared in Jason’s field of view. He estimated that he had killed nearly twenty-five guards, the lieutenant, and about thirty low level players. The experience from the players was negligible, but he received a substantial amount of experience from the guards and the lieutenant.

  x1 Skill Rank Up: Summoning Mastery

  Skill Level: Intermediate Level 2

  Effect: 17% increased stats for summoned undead and 17% increase to effective Willpower for purposes of determining Control Limit.

  Effect 2: You may now communicate with your minions telepathically. Distance limit unknown.

  x1 Skill Rank Up: Mana Mastery

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 5

  Effect: -3% to mana cost.

  x1 Skill Rank Up: Disguise

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 5

  Effect: 9% increased authenticity to your costumes and mannerisms while disguised.

  x3 Spell Rank Up: Corpse Explosion

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 8

  Effect: Increased damage (Currently 1.07 x Health).

  Jason was now level 58, and he quickly assigned the extra points to Willpower and ordered his zombies to start piling the bodies. While they were occupied, he looked around the administration office. Jason noticed a barrel that contained a number of communications scrolls. He also found a barrel holding a huge number of starter bags.

  Jackpot!

  He quickly stole most of the bags and distributed them among his troops. Jason had the zombies collect everything that wasn't nailed down. Most of the gear was worthless, but creating quality kamikaze zombies took a lot of scrap equipment.

  Jason continued to carefully inspect the rest of the administration office. He still hadn't found any evidence indicating that the guards were complicit in helping the nobles. However, he was certain that they were. After walking around the room for the third time, his Perception picked up a faint blue sheen from underneath the rug near the desk that sat in the center of the room. He also received a notification.

  x1 Skill Rank Up: Perception

  Skill Level: Beginner Level 4

  Effect: 8% increased chance to discover traps and unnoticed details.

  He waved the notification away and began pulling up the rug, revealing a hatch in the floor. Still being cautious of traps, he had one of his guard zombies wrench the hatch open. The blades that immediately shot up out of the newly revealed tunnel severed both of the zombie’s arms.

  I guess Zombies aren't immune to flying blades, he thought with a chuckle.

  Onyx gave him a long suffering look and padded over to the opening, peering in. Jason had to admit he was curious too, but curiosity didn’t make him any less wary of the potential danger. He had already witnessed one trap and there might be more. He was going to send a zombie guard first. He waited a few minutes after sending his “canary” zombie down the suspicious hole before climbing down.

  What he found was a small cellar below the administration office. A lantern hung on a hook next to a crude wooden desk. He didn't need the extra light though. His Night Vision and the light from the administration office was sufficient.

  Jason perused the papers on the desk and found letters from several nobles addressed to the lieutenant. Each letter was phrased differently, but the general message was the same. The nobles all appreciated the hard work that the lieutenant had been d
oing to cover up the fact that the regent of Lux was dead.

  Stupid quest.

  Jason was actually starting to miss the simpler fetch quests he had been given in other MMOs. At least there had been a clear goal, and he knew what was expected of him.

  “Whatever happened to a Rank F quest to run a scroll to the blacksmith or kill some rats?”

  Onyx made a motion that looked suspiciously like a shrug.

  Great. Now I'm talking to myself AND personifying the cat.

  After searching the cellar, Jason discovered that the nobles had been paying the guards exceptionally well. At least it seemed that way based on the extremely heavy chest next to the desk. Jason's jaw dropped as he lifted the lid and saw the amount of gold that was sitting in the chest.

  There's enough here to fund the guards for a year.

  Jason decided this couldn't all be kickbacks. The nobles must have been using the guards to hold the money that they had been skimming on tax collection. He wouldn't be surprised if the guards doubled as the tax collectors in this medieval city.

  That really didn't address what he was going to do with the chest. He couldn't even lift a corner of it.

  How the hell am I going to move this?

  Onyx seemed especially enamored with the chest and had laid down on the gold with a contented purr. Every time Jason got close to the gold, Onyx would hiss and claw at him.

  Jason ultimately decided to leave the gold in the cellar for now and regroup. Maybe an idea would come to him while he was re-summoning his zombies.

  Above ground, Jason went to work raising more troops. He made certain to stay out of sight in case someone was watching closely. Jason ordered a group to scout the guardhouses and kill any stragglers. His minions were reminded to bring back any corpses.

  Waste not, want not!

  His Willpower and Summoning Mastery now allowed him to summon 36 zombies. The max level cap was now level 131. This meant he couldn't quite summon the lieutenant at its original level 146. Yet he was still Jason's most powerful zombie. This had to be taken with a grain of salt, however, since the lieutenant was also missing an arm.