by Matt Ryan
“Don’t think about running,” the guard warned, as he ran toward me, halberd in hand. “Stop, in the name of the Queen’s law.”
Screw that, I couldn’t end up in jail, I had to get to the island. As I moved back into the shadow, one of the guards started glowing, like he was in some power-up mode. I looked at the one-story building next to me and used my leap skill. I flew high into the sky, scared about how far I was going to go, but before I knew it, I was coming back down. Thankfully, I’d cleared the edge of the flat roof wall and crash-landed on top. Some of the gravel dug into my arm as I pushed myself to my feet.
+ 10 Evil
Running from the law.
Shit, that was it. 55 Evil. I had crossed the threshold, and was officially a man on the run.
A grappling hook hit the roof and dragged back to the edge until it latched onto the lip of the wall. I heard feet scraping against the stucco as the man climbed up. A horn sounded as well, then another across the city, and another.
I couldn’t breathe. Of all the streets to wander onto . . . how stupid of me to come back.
The guard’s hand hit the edge of the roof and I ran. Not just a run, but a dash, and right before I hit the end of my dash, I used leap. With the combination of speed and jumping, I flew across a whole section of buildings, then landed on top of another flat roof, covered in similar small rocks.
I hit hard and rolled until I smacked into the other end of the roof wall.
- 50 HP
A couple of more horns blared nearby. Maybe they’d seen me in the air. The hard landing had come at a cost as well—half my HP was gone.
I carefully looked over the wall and spotted a guard running down the street. Good, they hadn’t seen me. Tommy’s Inn sat off in the distance. If I could get there, I could get in my room and figure out a plan of some sort.
I shouldn’t do another leap-dash, as it would probably kill me. But there were so many people in the street below, I didn’t have a choice. I took a few steps back from the edge and got ready. Then I ran hard and stepped up on the roof’s edge, praying the leap wouldn’t kill me. I sailed across two buildings, landing hard on the slanted roof. The roof tiles gave out and I slid down them, falling onto a balcony. Several of the tiles came crashing down with me, but luckily none hit me.
Another 100 HP had been lost. The loss was affecting me physically now, I felt slower and weaker.
130/400 HP
With no one around in the back alley, I dropped into it and quickly moved to the shadows. Darting between two buildings, I peeked out at the busy street. A guard ran by, and I saw Tommy’s wooden sign swaying in the breeze, across the street, about ten paces ahead.
I waited for a break in people walking along the sidewalk, and used my dash. I shot straight into the open doorway, ran right past the patrons, and into my room—closing and locking the door.
+ 1 Stealth
Before I could take one relaxing breath, someone pounded on my door. I moved to the window, considering if I had enough health to make the jump. The lock on the door clicked, then Tommy pushed in.
He closed the door behind him and rushed to me. “What the hell did you do?”
“I had to complete this quest . . .” I shook my head, not wanting to explain. But what did it matter at this point? He could see my evil stats, like the rest of the world. They might not know what I did, but it didn’t matter, they knew I did something terrible. “I killed a man.”
Tommy rubbed his chin. “Denton sent you on this quest, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Listen, it won’t be long before they trace you back here, so we need to figure out a way to get you back into this town’s good graces.”
“I can reverse my evil?”
“Of course, as long as you don’t hit one hundred, you can redeem yourself. An extreme act of goodwill should bring you back into an acceptable level. If that’s what you want.”
“I do. I need to get across the bay and to Spider Island. At this rate, I won’t be allowed on board.”
“Okay then, let’s figure it out.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“I don’t really have a short answer for that, but let’s just say you remind me of my son.”
The door busted open, causing me to jump. Pulling my spear, I got into my fighting stance.
KILLian and Gor ran into the room. “What the hell happened?” KILLian asked, wildly out of breath. “They’re asking for you on the streets, by name.”
“I accidently walked by the butcher shop and she saw me.”
“She who?”
“The butcher’s wife. The second her eyes locked on mine, she saw the truth. She knew I killed him, so I ran, even when the guards told me to stop. Fleeing the scene caused me to gain another 10 points of evil.”
“What kind of crap is this?” KILLian threw her hands out in exasperation.
“You’re an outlaw,” Gor said. “Kind of cool if you ask me. I bet there’s a whole underground line in this game to follow for outlaws.”
“That’s great and all, but now he can’t get on the ferry, Gorgonthetard,” KILLian explained.
Gor spun around to face her. “I told you to never call me that.”
“Then don’t act like one,” KILLian said, then looked to me. “What the hell are we going to do now?” She rubbed her forehead in frustration.
“Tommy’s got a plan. He says a good deed for the city can earn us favor,” I said.
“Yes, and I’m glad your friends showed up. This will be easier with the three of you.”
“Okay.” KILLian clapped and rubbed her hands together. “What do we need to do?”
“You need to kill a man named Jeffrey Jones,” Tommy said.
QUEST: Kill Jeffrey Jones.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thankfully, Tommy’s Inn wasn’t far from the gate we needed, and with some distraction from KILLian and Gor on the guards, I was able to dash right past them and out of the city.
Tommy had gone on to tell us this guy was some kind of dark mage and had been snatching NPCs and travelers alike; especially children. The quest gave us a general direction of where he’d be, but that was about it.
Thankfully, the city had put a bounty on his head and had a sketch. The second we saw the outline of his face, we knew who he was. The same man we saw lurking around Seerer’s Hill. The creepy, bald guy stalking us in the dark.
At least this time around the sun would be high in the sky.
Along the way, we had to kill a few wolves and a very mean squirrel. Then it struck me. Moonchild. “Oh crap, I forgot to tell you guys about my companion,” I said as I brought her cage up from my inventory.
“You have a companion?” KILLian said.
“Yeah, got it from Lukin. Some kind of random egg drop.” I fidgeted with the cage.
The Dire Eagle stepped out of the cage for a few steps, then screeched at me. And while I didn’t speak eagle, she sounded angry.
“Is that an eagle?” Gor asked.
KILLian knelt, but stayed a few feet back. The eagle jumped around a bit, flapping her wings. “She’s not just an eagle, she’s a Dire Eagle. A born warrior,” KILLian said. “You named her Moonchild?”
“How did you know?”
“I can inspect her, it’s on her nametag,” KILLian said. “Why didn’t you tell us about her?”
“I was just caught up in everything, and I didn’t want her out in the city. Then, we were on the run.”
“Well, I can tell she’s pissed off. You need to treat her right, okay?”
I tossed the dead squirrel over to her and she pecked at it, ripping it apart with her claws.
“If I had that bird, I’d never put her in a cage. She’d be on my shoulder, making me look like an even bigger badass, if that’s possible,” Gor said, puffing up his chest.
I knelt and held out my arm. Moonchild hopped over and jumped onto my hand. She had grown a bit while in the cage. Her feathers were darker,
and she now had a couple of red streaks near her beak. As I stood up, she flapped her wings. The span must have stretched three feet and the wind blew back my hair.
She lifted off my hand briefly, only to land on my shoulder.
“She’s amazing. You’re so lucky,” Gor said while staring at her.
Everyone seemed to be saying that, but I wasn’t so sure. I’d never had a pet or a companion before. I didn’t know if I wanted the responsibility to care for an animal, especially when I seemed to be having enough trouble taking care of myself.
She rubbed her head against mine and made a soft squawk. I looked down at the cage in my hand.
“Don’t you dare think of putting her back in that cage. She’s a warrior. She can help us with this battle I bet.”
“Okay,” I said and put the cage into my inventory.
I walked down into the forest with my two friends and Moonchild, looking for some dark mage serial killer so I could get my evil down and exist in a city that currently wanted to kill me. Just another normal day in Avarice Online, I supposed.
The quest map said we were getting closer to Jeffrey, so we slowed down, paying attention to everything around us. A clearing appeared ahead and a small shack stood on a knoll. It had a thatch roof and wood walls. Small, but not too small. I could imagine a single, large room in the place with maybe a latrine tucked away in a corner. Its size wasn’t the thing I was taking note of though. Out in front and all the way around the shack, the very ground had turned black, as if someone had spilled oil over the surrounding area. A tendril of smoke rose from the stone chimney.
“Got to be him in there. And Gor, if you go running headlong at this guy, screaming with your ax drawn, I’m going to kill you myself,” KILLian said.
“Okay, Miss KILLian. You just tell me when.”
“What’s that smell?” I whispered. It smelled like death, mixed with wet grass clippings.
The shack door opened and the man we saw from before stepped out, eating from a metal bowl. His bald head was filthy, as long, thin strands of hair from the back and sides of his head dangled to his shoulders. On his hip, he had two daggers that glowed red and dripped a liquid.
“I remember you kids over near the undead’s house. Have you come to kill me?” He spoke with a casual tone, as if talking to a neighbor strolling by. He took another heaping spoonful from the bowl and shoved it in his mouth. As he chewed, bits fell out and broth spilled over his chin.
I inspected him.
Jeffrey Jones:
Level 21
Spec: Dark Mage
HP: 700/700
100 Dark Mana
100 Evil
An evil dude with some horrible teeth. Cover your soul.
It actually said that in the description.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” I said, motioning for Gor and KILLian to spread out away from me. Moonchild screeched from her perch on my shoulder. “You can kill yourself, you know.”
Jeffrey laughed. “I’m going to have fun with you. I’ll make it real slow, until you know what it is like to die. I have ways of keeping you from escaping this land as well. You can be my pets . . . until I bore of you.”
What did that mean?
“Now!” I called out.
KILLian sent her frost shot out, just behind Gor’s rush at Jeffrey.
Jeffrey threw his bowl on the ground and spit the food from his mouth. In an instant, those two red daggers were in his hands. “Looks like I’m making bitch soup tonight!”
“I’m no bitch!” Gor bellowed as he swung his ax and struck the ground near Jeffrey.
The ground shook and stunned the man. He stood, shaking as if being hit by a taser gun. Another frost shot hit Jeffrey and I saw his HP dropping quickly.
Moonchild flapped her wings hard, and she went up into the sky. I glanced at her for a second before returning my attention to Gor. He swung at Jeffrey, but the dark mage moved at the last moment and disappeared.
Gor rotated, looking in all directions. “Where is he?”
Moonchild screeched from above.
“He could have teleported,” KILLian said. “Or used an invisibility spell.”
“Keep using an AoE frost wave attack,” I said. If he was hiding, a successful hit would pop him out of his invisibility.
The trees outside the clearing could be perfect hiding spots, or maybe even back in his cabin. I moved closer to the shack and realized I had stepped onto the black ground. It felt sticky, like tar.
Moonchild screeched and dove on the same spot over and over again, in quick sweeping motions, but never getting closer than ten feet from the ground.
“There,” I said.
I didn’t know how, but I knew Moonchild was telling us where he was. I ran in that direction and did my AoE whirlwind attack. My dagger struck something.
Jeffrey Jones hit!
79 Damage
+ 1 Specialization in Daggers
Jeffrey popped into existence with a stupid smile on his face, but he only had 440 HP left. Gor engaged, but Jeffrey was too fast, dodging the ax as he bent over. He then grabbed the blackness on the ground and lifted it like a blanket. To my horror, the black wave hit us and knocked us off our feet. Then the black wave grew high into the sky and crashed over us like a tsunami of blackness. In an instant, everything disappeared. I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face.
The next thing I knew, a blade entered my abdomen. Not a strike, but an almost gentle thrust through my soft flesh and into my internal organs. I imagined my health points were falling fast, but even those were hidden in the blackness. I swung wildly, but hit nothing. Jeffrey’s laughter echoed around the blackness, making it impossible to find his location. I couldn’t even see my menu . . . and then, it hit me hard. I couldn’t log out. The menu had gone black as well.
From memory, I used my eyes and hands to move around my imaginary menu to pull out a single item. Blood ran down my waist and onto my pants. I didn’t need to look at my HP, I could feel how weak I was.
“You are so stupid,” Jeffrey said. “You could have fought me out in the woods while I hunted for little pukes like you, but you decided to come to my turf. My evil playground. I control this area, and with each kill, the blackness covers more ground. Soon, I’ll be a plague over the whole city.”
“Screw you,” KILLian said, and I heard her frost shots and AoE frost wave attack.
Gor, further away, groaned and screamed. I heard his ax striking the ground and felt the rumble.
“Good, now I just need you all to bleed. Bleed it all out onto my soil.”
I selected something and I hoped it appeared in my hand. I felt the plastic cylinder and sighed in relief. I clicked the switch and the beam of light lit the world in front of me in a narrow beam of light.
I spun around and found KILLian. She limped over to me and we stood shoulder to shoulder. Blood covered the lower half of her body.
“Gor!” I screamed and moved my flashlight around. Then I spotted him, laying in a heap on the ground. His body was covered in stabs and bled from many holes.
We ran to his side. He was still alive, but his HP clicked away at a steady pace.
“If we end this quick, I can use a potion on him,” KILLian said. “We just need to get out of combat so I can.”
“Can you send us a heal spell?”
“I’m out of Mana and my regen is slow. Maybe in ten seconds.”
I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but I projected a thought to Moonchild. Find him.
Moonchild screeched from high above and I glanced up, shining my light into the black sky. There, hovering above us, was Jeffrey. He recoiled from the light, blocking it from hitting his face as he made a hissing sound.
Not wasting a second, I leapt with a dagger in one hand and my flashlight in the other, aiming for Jeffrey. I sliced through his gut.
Critical Hit!
180 Damage
+ 1 Specialization in Daggers
Jeffrey
squealed and fell with me. We both came crashing down hard on the ground. I groaned and grabbed at my gut.
The blackness around us disappeared in an instant, the bright light of the sun making me squint. Then I saw Jeffrey absorb into the blackness in the ground as he laughed.
“Crap.” I stabbed the ground where he’d been. Standing, I looked to KILLian. “Did I get him? Is he dead?”
“No, we’re still in combat, and Gor is fading fast. I sent him a small heal spell, it should hold him over for a minute or so.”
I ran to his shack and flung open the wooden door. Inside stood a large cauldron with a stack of body parts next to it, and a low bed of red coals underneath. The walls were covered in shelves, stacked full of jars. Each one held labels in a language I couldn’t read. Then I spotted a single jar that stood out from the rest. This one had a cloth wrapped around the whole thing, except for one sliver near the top. In that sliver, a light shined out from it. I grabbed the jar, intent on finding out what was beneath the cloth.
That’s when I heard a gurgling sound and saw an arm reaching out of the large pot. Jeffrey emerged from the vat, pulling his face up from the thick liquid. Whatever he was cooking was smeared over his face in a black film. He wiped the slime with the back of his hand, revealing patches of his pale skin.
“Don’t touch that,” he said and extended his hand. A line of black liquid shot out and wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. The jar fell, but another stream of the black liquid caught it, and wrapped the cloth back around it. Jeffrey climbed out of the pot that seemed way too small to fit his body.
I tried to move, but he’d wrapped up most of my body. I could move a hand though; maybe I could do something with that. The liquid set the brilliant jar back on the shelf and covered the last bit of light showing from it.
KILLian sent a whole array of ice shards at Jeffrey, but the liquid created a wall and stopped the attacks. It then wrapped her up in the same black strings of goo.