Digitized Online

by Richard J Thorn

  Trexxa continued nipping at his butt and before he could turn around to attack, we snuffed the life out of him.

  That left just the one orc who was trying his hardest to swipe at Esmerelda, but she kept dodging out of his way. I iced him and together we unleashed everything we had on him. Once the ice block wore off, he simply fell forward flat on his face.

  12/10 Tusks gathered

  435 x2 (x2) xp gained

  Hidden quest complete: Orc Tusks

  Experience gained: 5000 (x2)

  New quest objective: Bring Orc Tusks to Alchemist Banzar in Jakarth City

  Esmerelda and I high-fived, looted their bodies, found a chest in the room and moved on. In a way I wished we could stay longer, this was a fun dungeon. At least when I had someone to share it with.

  We got ourselves into a awesome rhythm. Often, we'd clear out a room before the others even caught up.

  Midway through the second level, we stopped and had a bite to eat. Killing mobs made me hungry.

  "You guys are fucking awesome..." Candy said, sitting down next to me. "You handle that bow like a fucking pro."

  "She's right." Jacob, the centaur hunter, agreed. He sat next to us. "Maybe when this is all over, you can teach me some of your skills. I've never seen anything like it."

  I nodded and blushed. "Seriously guys. I couldn't do it without Trexxa and my pet, Esmerelda." Esmerelda hissed, but I ignored her with a smile. "Without Esmerelda, I would've never made it past the first floor. She saved my fucking hide when I got myself trapped by one of those damn spiders."

  We all filled our bellies and continued deeper into the heart of the dungeon. Apparently, the rooms didn't always spawn the same mobs. One of them that was empty the last time we went through it spawned a minotaur.

  He was a lot tougher than the orcs. Since his hide was thicker, my arrows had a much greater chance of bouncing off. I estimated that nearly half my arrows never made it past that thick hide of his.

  He bellowed with rage, shoved Trexxa aside like she was a rag doll and charged right for us. Smoke snorted from his nose and his eyes were lit with hatred as he attacked with the largest fucking axe I'd ever seen.

  I made the mistake of staying in his path for a split second too long and took a sharp slice to the abdomen. I cried out in pain and dropped my bow.

  The second I did, he was on top of me and was about to bring down his axe onto my back with all his might when Trexxa leaped into the air, her feet extended with just enough force to knock him off balance and away from me.

  His axe still sliced me, but it was a glancing blow rather than a direct hit. Again, she'd saved my life.

  Without waiting another second, I rolled over, hopped to my feet and pulled out my dagger. Esmerelda fired fireball after fireball into the minotaur's tough hide, but still he wouldn't die.

  How many fucking hp did the god damned cow-man have, anyway?

  When he turned his attention to Esmerelda, I glanced at his hp bar and nearly fell over when I saw the skull by his name.

  "Holy fuck, he's a boss!" I yelled to Esmerelda.

  "That explains why he's so fucking tough!" She yelled back, sidestepping his onslaught.

  I saw that she'd taken a bit of damage herself. Dusting myself off, I grabbed my bow and iced the fucker. With great satisfaction, I double-arrowed him twice and peppered him with arrows until he looked like a fucking pin-cushion.

  I have no idea how many arrows I must've pumped into him, but it had to have been at least 20 or so. I suddenly wondered how many the spider queen was going to take.

  For the first time, Trexxa got in the final, killing blow. She jumped on top of his dead body and stood over him like a trophy hunter with her trophy animal.

  He might've been a tough fucker, but I'll tell you what, he had some really nice loot on him. He was the richest cow I'd ever met. We carefully searched his room as I was sure that he was hiding some nice treasure.

  And I was right. Trexxa sniffed out a secret door that led to a loaded treasure room. It literally took us 10 minutes to go through it and divvy it all up.

  Even Orge was amazed. "Wow, I've never seen so much gold before." He crowed in amazement.

  Trexxa filled her pouch to overflowing and had to borrow another one. There was so much gold on the ground that she was rolling in it. I don't think I'd ever seen her so happy.

  But we didn’t have time to count it all up. We’d have to do that later.

  Esmerelda laughed. "Maybe she's picturing how many steaks she can buy with it."

  Once all the loot had been split, we continued on our way. I knew the others were getting antsy to get in some licks. Since I figure we could use the rest, I offered for the rest of the group to take on the next room. I could've used the xp, but honestly, I just wanted to sit back and drink down some of Patch's ale.

  Without ever having worked together before, the scene was a comical, chaotic mix. The mobs went down easy, but no one really knew who was fighting what. It seemed that each person was fighting their own mob.

  We let them split the loot for that room as they earned it. Then we got back to what we were doing.

  The next room we came to housed nothing but spiders. If I had to hazard a guess, there were at least 10 spiders of all sizes in there. Must've been some kind of breeding or egg room. Creeped me the fuck out. I absolutely hated spiders. They were the one thing that really got under my skin.

  Fortunately, we were able to pull them one by one and tear them down pretty easily. Trexxa had fun destroying the large egg-sacs as we fought our way through the room.

  The sickening sound they made when she destroyed them, however, was something that would likely plague me in my nightmares for a long time to come.

  I saved every spider leg I came across, thinking of Patch and his spider leg stew. I really didn't know what he saw in it, but if that was what he wanted, he could have it. It was a repeatable quest, anyway, so no reason not to.

  The last pull we ended up accidentally pulling two spiders. One of them must've been the matriarch as she had a heck of a lot more hp than the others. We tried burning her down fast, but like the minotaur, she just wouldn't die.

  However, she was nowhere near as tough as the minotaur and eventually fell to our relentless onslaught. The good news was that I was gaining xp extremely quick. I still had a long way to go, but I was chipping into it. But unless there were a dozen more bosses I didn't think I was going to reach 10th level before the big boss fight.

  We wandered down a few dead-end hallways until we finally came to an open room.

  "Stop." Orge walked ahead of us. "I smell a trap." For the next few minutes, he carefully searched the room, looking for it.

  "There!" He triggered a switch that opened a hole in the floor as arrows flew through the air directly where the hapless victim would've been standing.

  "I wonder what's down there..." Trevor mused as he peered into the inky blackness.

  "Trust me," Orge grinned, "you don't want to know."

  A couple more easy rooms and we were finally at the stairs leading down to the next level.

  "How many levels did you say there were?" Esmerelda asked Orge.

  He shrugged. "Not really sure. I do know that she's on the next level down. But there could possibly be more after that." He turned to face all of us. "I suggest being extremely cautious now. From here on out, things are going to get much more difficult. It may not be possible for Esmerelda and Ivan to take on the mobs alone.

  Trexxa hissed.

  "Even with Trexxa's help."

  We nodded. Knowing the mobs were tougher only served to strengthen my resolve even further. I felt that I could take on anything thrown my way.

  Sure enough, the first mob we faced was another one of those Liches with their fucking endless army of skeletons. Not only did we have to try and focus all our energy onto the Lich himself, but we had to take care of wave after wave of one-shot skellies. We must've killed a hundred of those fuckers before
we were finally able to bring the Lich down.

  "If you see them struggling, don't hesitate to jump in and help out. It looks like they're getting a bit tired anyway." Orge suggested to the group.

  Not only were the mobs getting harder, but the loot was getting better.

  We rested for a few minutes and talked about our battle plans. I explained to them about my new Mark of the Hunter and how when I use it on a mob that they're to attack it exclusively until it falls.

  The further down into the dungeon we went, the creepier it became. It was dark and spooky, with light being an after thought. It also started getting cold. To the point that we were using the torches not just for light, but heat.

  I wondered suddenly what else was down here.

  "Are you getting a strange foreboding?" Esmerelda asked, shivering, trying to warm up her arms.

  I nodded. "Very much so. Something's wrong down here."

  The tunnel also seemed to be getting smaller and there was an oppressive sense of claustrophobia that slowly pressed down upon the party. Everyone felt it. Even Trexxa, who was normally cheery and upbeat, seemed a bit down.

  We tried a few doors until we found one that was open. When we peeked in, Orge's face paled.

  "That's a ghost. I knew they were in the game, but I didn't think we'd come across one." He turned to the group, his voice low and shaky. "These mobs are very difficult." He explained, his face strained. "They don't respond to normal weapons. Only magic. And if it's not their level or higher, they only take half damage." He pointed to Esmerelda, Edgar and Trevor. "You three will have to coordinate to take it down."

  The three magic-users whispered amongst themselves, discussing their strategy. Ultimately it came down to the priest keeping everyone else alive.

  Right before they went it, Edgar, the paladin, blessed his sword, then they all buffed each other. Fire thorns, Blessing of Protection, Regen, etc. Then, with a savage battle cry, Edgar rushed into the room, sword raised high.

  He caught the ghost off-guard and by the time it turned to face them, they were pummeling it with every offensive spell they could muster. Esmerelda's imp stood by her side, shooting his little fire spells at the ethereal until he was out of mana, then he waited for a moment before continuing.

  The ghost didn't have an impressive amount of hp, but because it was 12th level, every damage was cut in half, effectively giving it double hp. Edgar's sword did very little damage, but it served to keep the attention of the wicked beast.

  Between him and Trevor, he was kept at full health.

  It was a struggle and for awhile there it looked like the fight could've gone either way. But bit by bit they chipped away at the ghost's hp and before anyone knew it, he had been destroyed.

  We let the 3 of them take any loot that they could find as they were the ones who had won the battle.

  After a short breather, where they healed themselves up and rested for a few minutes, we continued on. By the time we made it down to the 3rd level, the entire place was pitch black. Even the flickering torchlight seem to struggle with chasing away the darkness. It was almost as if the darkness was somehow alive and didn't want to be chased away.

  I could hear the chattering teeth of the group as it was getting extremely cold. Even with our armor and several torches, it felt as if it was below freezing. The sense of foreboding grew ever stronger and our shivering wasn't just from the cold. I have to hand it to our little group, it would have been so easy to back out and run away, but no one did.

  Maybe I underestimated how much everyone realized the predicament we were in. This was do or die time. If we failed here, humanity was toast. Beating this boss would – hopefully – buy us extra time to bring more players from the ether.

  I assumed that what would happen is that we would move on to another area where we could continue leveling. Essentially, this was the baby zone. Every MMO has one. I don't think that the AI was completely aware of us just yet. Like Orge said, she's too busy devouring souls and growing stronger to really give a shit about us.

  When we finally came to the end of the passage and saw the trap door that led down to the 4th and final level, no one wanted to be the first to open it. Just being near it caused a feeling of despair to permeate our bodies.

  We all knew what was down there and even if we didn't say it, we were all deathly afraid. And we had every right to be. This very well could be the end of us – and humanity.

  Was this how humanity went out? With a whimper?

  Chapter 16

  We stood staring at the iron grate for several minutes before Clint finally spoke.

  "Well, who's going to be the first?"

  We all looked at each other and shrugged. No one wanted to touch it. It was almost as if it was cursed or something. But finally, sensing that we had to get past our fears, I stepped forward.

  With Trexxa and Esmeralda by my side, I took a deep breath, wrapped my hands around the stone, closed my eyes and slowly, carefully opened the hatch.

  The first thing we noticed was the god awful smell. It was like a combination of putrid, rancid flesh mixed with old, rotten eggs and burning gasoline thrown in for good measure.

  In spite of our resolve, we all backed up and covered our noses.

  Orge led us back a few paces. "Does anyone have any rags that we can use to cover our mouths and noses?"

  Esmeralda fished around in her pack and brought out a bunch of rags. "Here. I was going to use these for bandages, but I can always get more later."

  Orge took them and passed them around and helped us tie them around our heads as makeshift bandannas. It wasn't perfect, but under the circumstances, it was the best solution.

  The smell was diminished, but not entirely gone and we slowly descended into the inky blackness. At the bottom of the ladder, my feet stepped in something squishy and mushy.

  I shined the light down to see that the ground was covered by mushrooms and other types of dank plants, with some kind of greenish-blue ichor slowly trickling downstream. Ugh!

  "Don't eat anything down here," I warned Trexxa.

  She nodded and wrinkled her nose. Once the rest of the group caught up to us, we took a torch-sweep around the area. We were no longer in a claustrophobic small, narrow passageway. Rather we seemed to be in a wide-open underground cavern that I had to wonder if any NPC had ever stepped foot in.

  Who knew what was down here. Could literally be anything. I wouldn't have been surprised to see a zombie. But the smell. God damn. I tried to push it out of my mind, but it was so putrid that it was all I could do to barely hold back my lunch.

  Once we got our bearings, we had to decide which direction to go.

  "Do you know where this 'spider queen' is?" Esmerelda asked Orge as she swept her torch around, looking for pathways or anything that would lead us to the boss.

  Surely she knew about us by now, right?

  Orge shook his head. "She has several potential spawn points and could literally be anywhere." He sighed. "We're just going to have to explore the entire area.

  Being down in this squishy, pitch-black overgrown mushroom cave more than a minute was not my idea of fun. We didn't dare split up as we didn't want to get caught flat-footed. A couple of large, fat rats squeaked at us from the corner, but as they had likely never seen a human before, they stayed far away.

  The sounds of our boots squishing dead plants and who knows what else under our feet were disconcerting at best and terrifying at worst. Half the time we didn't have a clue what we were stepping on. And it wasn't like we had a choice, so we just put our heads down and carried on.

  It took us another half hour before we finally came upon the lair of the spider queen. We shivered in fear as we laid eyes upon the monstrous beast. My mind flashed back to my warning dream. This was the beast who warned me to turn back.

  Had she been trying to help me? I didn't know, but one thing was for certain, she was going to die.

  We stood just outside her aggro range and just s
tared at her. She was a massive spider with a red hourglass under her belly. She wasn't alone, either.

  "Look..." Esmerelda pointed out.

  I followed her finger, my eyes popping open wide. "Adds."

  "I'll bet they're her babies."

  Orge gathered us all around. "I want everyone to make sure they're fully healed and buffed. If you're hungry, grab a bite to eat. Same if you're thirsty." He glanced over at the monstrous beast sitting 50 feet away. "Make sure your potions are within easy reach."

  He walked around and glanced at each of our HUDs.

  "I don't have to remind you, but I'm going to do it anyway." He inhaled deeply and slowly let it out. "This is likely going to be the biggest fight of your life - up until now."

  I fished out a couple sausages and threw one to Trexxa, who scarfed it down gratefully.

  "Leave absolutely nothing on the table. Go all out. Empty your quivers, drain your mana pools, do everything you possibly can to come out victorious. The entire human population - what's left of it, anyway - is counting on you." He paced back and forth, interlacing his fingers in deep thought. "But make no mistake...this is not the end. This is just the beginning."

  Candy stepped forward and furrowed her brow. "Can you expound on that a bit?"

  Orge sighed. "Even as we speak..." He pulled out his data pad to show us. "The AI - the one who detonated all the nukes on the planet - is currently devouring the souls of those who are trapped. She cannot devour our souls as we are part of the game world." He pointed to a flashing white dot in a sea of dots. "This is her current target." We all watched with utter fascination as the white dot turned yellow, then red, then suddenly disappeared altogether.

  We collectively gasped.

  "Did...did that person just..." Candy gulped. "Die?"

  Orge nodded. "But it's worse than that."

  "Worse?" Esmerelda shook her head. "What do you mean? How can anything be worse than death?"

  "Because...that person had a life energy. Which now belongs to the AI. She just grew stronger."