by D Wolfin
“Well you should just kill me now then. By the way, how did you get so many city guards to come with you? Aren’t they supposed to be holed up in the palace for the ‘Battle of Supremacy’?”
“This is where it gets interesting. You have quite the bounty in Grenton. The guards view you with such importance that they came out just to arrest you. Why kill you just so you can revive and rejoin the fight when you can be imprisoned for the next month?” Mason laughs heartily at my horrified expression.
“That’s cruel, Mason. That’s too cruel!”
“Also, Fen is already in the cell waiting for you.”
“What!?”
“I happened to come across her and all I had to do was tell her that you were there and she went willingly. I nearly got skewered a few times which was frightening though. So you better just go without resistance.”
“You’ve won this time, Mason. But there’s still one thing I have to do.”
“Hmm? What would-”
Before he can finish his sentence, I activate ‘Back Stab’ and appear behind him. Before he can react to my dissipating afterimage, my two shortswords have dug into his back and remove a large chunk of his health from the critical hit.
Mason tries to turn around and I hear the guards behind me start clamoring into motion as well. Before they can do anything though, I use both ‘Triple Thrust’ and ‘CrossX’ sacred arts one after another in rapid succession.
Mason finally has to time to counterattack, drawing the dagger he keeps for close-quarters combat. His usual guard and brother, Matrix, is still ten meters away and rushing toward us with his sword on fire in preparation to attack.
Mason curses and tells Matrix not to kill me as that will count as a failed plan, but Matrix seems to be adamant on protecting him. Mason’s dagger glows blue as he unleashes a sacred art similar to my ‘Triple Thrust’, creating multiple ghost images of the blade that stab me a total of nine times. It would have dealt decent damage too, if it didn’t simply pierce my afterimage.
“Dammit, this is why I didn’t want to fight him one on one,” Mason curses as he notices I have used ‘Mirage’ and created at least a dozen false images of myself. The guards are also confused by the sacred art and it effectively holds off my arrest as I attack Mason two more times. The archer quickly falls to critically low health, but not before he uses a strange skill to throw a large number of arrows to dispel all my false images.
I quickly escape from Matrix’s flaming blade and the fiery sword aura it shoots off and am about to deal the finishing blow to Mason when several pairs of iron-like hands grab me from behind. I turn my head to see the city guards and their stony expressions.
I look back and see Mason, lying on the ground with barely an inch of life remaining as Matrix withdraws a healing potion from his inventory.
In this last moment I manage to free one arm from the guards and grab three of the throwing knives attached to my thigh. With the flick of a wrist, I throw all of them at Mason still on the ground.
My aim is poor; the first one sticks in the dirt next to his shoulder. The other two, by chance, strike him in the chest, and even more miraculously tip him over the borderline to death. His body turns grey moments before Matrix attempts to give him a potion. I don’t get to see Matrix’s reaction as I resignedly allow the guards to drag me off toward prison.
The crowd stares in shock. To them, we are team mates from the same party but to us, this was a rivalry to see who would win. I’m going to get locked up for the rest of the war, but this small victory has me satisfied.
‘What could one man do in a war of this scale, anyway?’ I laugh to myself while in the clutches of the guards who have a personal vendetta against the arsonist who caused so much damage to their forest and city several months ago.
***************************************************
The cells in Grenton are actually well appointed. A large television display on the wall can be used to view news and various information shows about End Online that are streamed onto the internet. There is a large double bed and even a small kitchen. A single flame lantern hangs from the ceiling while the ground and walls are made from solid stone.
I had not expected such opulence from a prison cell, but then again, imprisoned players could just log off and wait for their character to be released.
“Lost... I was... waiting,” Fen says happily and jumps on me when I am thrown in the same cell as her.
I want to rebuke her for not logging off, but I am happy that she is healthy. I reason that we are in the same cell due to the fact that she is my companion according to the game system. It is also probably the same reason why she was locked up as well.
“Must be partners in crime, huh?” I say to the room at large as I lie on the ground with Fen sitting on top of me. Her risqué clothing and the fact that she is straddling me would cause anyone’s eyes to pop upon seeing it.
“Please, I’m innocent! Let me out!”
The mournful shout of a player echoes down the prison corridor, audible to every inmate. Several similar cries and the rattlings of doors sound out after that from other players.
‘So there are players of all types. Come to think of it, my character is going to be in here for a month according to the system notice I got. Perhaps I should play the victimized inmate for a while too,’ I heartily think to myself while a prison guard outside shouts at the troublemakers.
When I hear him threaten to extend their incarceration times, I suddenly decide not to do the role play.
I log out for the time being and speak with Verde and Sir Laurence over the phone. Verde is incredibly pleased that I managed to kill Mason and they both find my imprisonment to be greatly amusing.
I also speak with Mason while offline for a while. He is extremely frustrated that I managed to kill him with my final desperate attempt, but he considers himself to have won since I’ll be in prison for the rest of the war.
A couple of days later, I am sitting in the prison with Fen eating a very luxurious meat and vegetable stew I cooked up while watching a report on the TV of the current war situation. I turn my attention away to shout at all the inmates who are complaining about the intoxicating smell of my food and not having any themselves. Even the prison guard is standing outside the prison door, staring through the grates at my food while salivating. My potions may taste like Armageddon, but my cooking is excellent.
Forcing my attention away from the outside interference, I look at the current war report on the screen presented by a male and a female in a medieval looking newsroom. A bird’s eye view of Grenton is projected behind them where several trails of smoke can be seen coming from the city.
“ShiningGary, I thought you said Grenton, the capital of Forste, would not fall to the combined assault of Glace and Dalbe? Care to comment?”
“Yes, LyatLover, that was the original situation. Glace did not have the numbers or force necessary to break through while Dalbe’s playerbase has an average player-level far below the other kingdoms. Additionally, Grenton only has two choke points to defend from attack. The city is otherwise surrounded by a forest that players can’t navigate.”
“But the forces of the two kingdoms did get in, ShiningGary. Doesn’t that mean you were wrong?”
I can practically see the veins throbbing in their heads as the two presenters butt heads. I don’t know them at all, but I can tell there is probably some old grudge between them.
“The situation changed, LyatLover, just like I said. First, do you know of the famous party of players led by Lost?”
“Of course, who hasn’t seen the videos with them in it? They have travelled all over the continent, even to some strange new continent in the south sea. What about them?”
“A good friend of mine from Grenton told me the news that only a few days ago. Four of the party members from Glace broke into the city through unknown means. They started a brawl that lasted just under an hour and caused a massive uproar.”
&
nbsp; “I don’t see how that could change the situation. One person can’t affect an entire war and change the outcome.”
“Actually, the uproar caused many players to abandon their posts on the wall to rush over and have a look. The weakened defense allowed both the forces of Dalbe and Glace to break through the city gates and invade the city. That was the fall of Grenton and the Forste Kingdom. The kingdom that was in the best position to win suddenly fell due to the actions of a small group.”
“Incredible! I can’t believe that one group of people could do so much! I wish I could have seen it.”
“One of the people actually recorded and uploaded the entire thing. Just search Lost vs Grenton on the End Forums and you can find it.”
“I will look it up as soon as I get home. What happened in the end?”
“He got imprisoned in Grenton for the crime of arson dating back several months. There is currently a large procession of players from all three kingdoms swarming around the prison in hopes of being able to see him.”
That last sentence instantly gives me a headache. They show the image of a massive throng of people around the prison that I am most certainly within. They also predict that now that Grenton has fallen, it is only a matter of time before Iceridge falls as well.
Not worrying about it anymore, I log off to focus on researching the information necessary and getting my books and equipment ready for university next year.
***************************************************
The month that my character was imprisoned in Grenton eventually came to an end. Just as everyone had predicted, Icebreak was the second kingdom to fall. The players of Glace put up a good fight against those who weren’t used to fighting in the snow, but the sheer overwhelming numbers eventually won.
The most surprising part was the message that every player received after the war finished:
The ‘War of Supremacy’ has finally come to an end with the fall of Iceridge. The annals will tell of the valiant warriors from the Kingdoms of Forste and Glace, but the Kingdom of Dalbe has proven to be the greatest.
With the conclusion of the war, Dalbe has become the seventh realm and the update ‘The Seven Realms’ has been released. Six new realms have been added, each as large as the new Dalbe.
You may transport to these from the many teleporters throughout any of the capital and major cities: Swordbreak, Grenton, and Iceridge. The first teleport is free for all players.
With so many new lands revealed, End Online servers have begun to migrate. A new server will support all the players from five existing servers. We at Idea Imagine hope you make many more friends with the addition of so many new people.
All players have also been awarded a single ‘Compact Soul Gem’. This can be given to the representative of any race to change the race of your character and set a new spawn point.
Any existing guild spawn points will remain, but now have the ability to be relocated to any major town, minor town, or occupied land.
Enjoy the new realms!
- Idea Imagine Development Team
The message caused a massive uproar throughout the internet. The ability to become a new race was like a bombshell to the gaming community.
I, on the other hand, have my own problems to work out. The massive crowd of players around my prison know when I am going to be released and return vigilant after an entire week of waiting for me. I end up waiting an additional two weeks before bursting out of the prison with Fen after the crowd dies down. We catch them by surprise, but it still takes us several hours to completely lose them despite our advantage in speed.
After leaving Grenton, Fen and I head into Eldenweiss Forest. Our destination is the abandoned elf village where Verde, Sir Laurence, Mason, Matrix, and even CaptainGordon are waiting. As it turns out, CaptainGordon’s ship was left at the southern continent when he teleported back, so he is currently a pirate without a ship.
“Lost!” Sir Laurence calls out excitably as soon as I arrive. “You would never guess it, but Verde will be attending the same university as the both of us!”
Verde’s inability to keep a goofy smile off her face causes me to laugh. The others simply look at the three of us curiously, wondering what we have been keeping to ourselves.
“That is excellent!” I respond, tuning in with the cheerful atmosphere we’re creating.
“Mason! Matrix!” I shout in shock upon finally noticing that the two have more acute facial features, with longer hair and the pointy ears of the elves.
Mason responds while clapping me on the back, “Yeah, while you were wrinkling away in the dungeon, Matrix and I visited the elven village and exchanged our ‘Compact Soul Gems’ to become elves. The benefits are great. Level twice as fast but stats grow twice as slow. This doesn’t even matter because we levelled our stats up as humans up until now. The bonuses to the bow and swordplay are well worth it!”
“You didn’t consider wanting to become any of the six new races?”
“Nope, it’s an elf’s life for me.”
“So, does anyone know what the new races are yet?”
“Yeah, the posts have been up on the internet for quite a while. Each realm has three or four corresponding settlements players can teleport to. Each settlement usually has a different variant of that race, so it is up to the player to decide which to become. The six new realms are the Devil Realm, Diva Realm, Beast Realm, Aquillan Realm, Arctic Realm, and Pixie Realm. Each variant of each race has their ups and downs, so look them up before you decide.”
“Actually, I have something else in mind.”
“Really, what?”
“How about you all follow me and see first hand?”
Everyone agrees, but I maintain the mystery as we head east and south. Verde and Sir Laurence’s expressions darken the further we get. A few days later we arrive at a towering mountain range.
“Lost, this isn’t what I think it is, is it?” The prince asks gloomily, not wanting to be anywhere near this location.
Mason, Matrix and CaptainGordon are completely in the dark in regard to why we are here.
Climbing the mountain range, I lead the party to a familiar cave on the back of one particular mountain.
“Grael!” I shout out, my voice echoing down the cavern and causing everyone in the party to become alarmed.
I hear footsteps coming from further in and wait patiently. Sure enough, the figure of a man in tight leather clothing with long, black hair and royal purple pupils appears in front of us. His expression is extremely displeased, as if he has just awoken from my shout.
“How dare you disturb my rest. What do you want, servant?”
“I have brought a ‘Compact Soul Gem’ as you requested.”
Grael’s expression instantly turns into one of pleasure as he gestures for us to follow him into his lair. Inside the massive open cavern, the afternoon sun shines down through the missing cap of the mountain. Grael takes my ‘Compact Soul Gem’ and heads off into one of the side passages.
‘If I recall, that is the cavern to his treasury. Wait, what’s that?!’ I notice a complicated magic circle about three meters in diameter painted onto the stone floor at one side of the cavern.
I did a little research on the new realms on the internet while my character was in prison, and that is the magic circle to teleport to the other realms. Before I can think anything else, a message appears in front of me.
You have successfully changed race to ‘Eternal Draconian’ and a new spawn point has been set to Grael’s Lair.
Eternal Draconian:
~ Immune to all illusion magic.
~ Experience gained +20%
~ All stats +10%
~ Capable of ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’
~ Draconic scales increase defense +20%.
Along with the message, my appearance starts to change and my whole body feels hot. Draconic scales grow and armor the backs of my hands and arms, the sides of my neck, and a little on my jaw. My
legs also develop similar scale armor on my thighs and shins.
Perhaps it is due to my ‘White Warrior’ class skill, but all the scales on my body are pure white, glistening like silver unlike Grael’s obsidian scales.
Everyone stares at me in astonishment, and Verde withdraws a hand mirror from her inventory and shows me that my eyes have become royal purple with reptilian slits for pupils. I can’t deny that the they are exactly like Grael’s.
The dragon in human form returns shortly after, a satisfied expression on his face while nodding to himself. “Good, now I have my first official servant.”
“What!? Then why have you been claiming I was your servant before?” I gape at the dragon who is completely self conceited.
“What nonsense, you were already my servant. We have now completed all the formalities and it’s official.”
The others laugh at me which Grael ignores, but I really want to attack him right now. The only problem is my chance of victory is zero. Grael and I go over the plan to acquire the six other stone tablets, including everyone else from the party so they know everything as well. Apparently there will be some big reward for everyone if we acquire the tablets so they are more than happy to search for them across the realms. More than anything, it is an adventure for all of us to do.
Grael further gloats about the teleportation circle he prepared in advance to force me into the other realms if I had refused to go or tried to escape. After explaining everything, the arrogant dragon returns to one of his caverns to sleep, leaving us milling around the magic circle.
“So, where should we go first?” I ask the others while feeling lost for directions.
Verde is surprisingly knowledgeable on the subject and jubilantly declares, “I haven’t gotten to choose my race yet! Let’s go to the Beast Realm, Kano City. I want the agility, stealth abilities and ears of the Nekomata Beast Race.”