by Kieron Uchee
I edged away from the tower and slowly made my way back towards the avenue I had traveled on. Continuing up the avenue I eventually reached the Temple. I could see a Zombie shuffling down the street, it was an opportunity I could not resist.
I managed to get behind it and swung with both my maces, they both procced and one mace landed a crit. As the undead whirled towards me I attacked again, this time, using the Wraith of the Light DPS spell. In the imprint of my mace on the Zombies'shoulder, a golden glow appeared that traveled across the upper body of the creature before fading away. I could see his health falling on the red enemy health bar that had appeared when I attacked him.
A couple more hits from the maces and the Zombie turned to ash and crumbled, waving my hand over the remnants I looted eighty-seven silver. Suddenly a small window appeared with a countdown that showed the number nineteen. It was from the Paladin quest. With a few more kills I would be done the quest, and with that in mind I went out to find the next victim.
I probably had been at it for about three hours, learning how to fight while dual wielding maces and casting forth combat spells. All in all, it felt pretty natural, and I was getting more comfortable, that old saying practice makes perfect is so true. The only problem is in combat mistakes are costly. Thankfully I was able to correct any mistakes by using my double speed racial bonus and Dragon Fire.
Eventually, a new window opened that informed me that the Quest was completed and I should return to the administrator for my rewards. By killing the twenty creatures of Darkness I had received a large amount of XP as the enemies were three to five levels above me. Glancing down I saw that my XP bar was almost to the end, with another kill or two I should hit level eight.
I glanced down the street and saw a wandering slug, they were an easy kill with Dragon Fire and Wrath of the Light did a ton of damage to them. I walked up until the slug spotted me, the aggro range seemed to be about 10 meters. Once he knew I was there he charged, the big fat rotund bastard actually could move pretty fast when he wanted to.
Leaping backward I dodged the charge and dropped the hammers on him, they both procced the Fire enchant and that combined with my WoL attack began to burn his life points away. At this point, the slug curled up into a ball and just trembled until only ash remained. There was nothing to loot from the slug.
The sound that I had been waiting for arrived, ding.
You are now level eight
Check your stats and enjoy your new level
I did not bother checking my stats, I knew that they had changed, I was not concerned with the changes. What I needed to do was increase my levels, the stats and additional spells and abilities could be looked at later. What I wanted to do now was hit the old temple and do some exploration and maybe get a little more XP.
My last two years at spent at the orphanage had been busy but I had managed to get out and do some urban explorations in some of the old abandoned towers and building in the city. It was a thrill to sneak in and explore and I had to admit that I was feeling much the same as I approached the temple. This will be a combination of Parkour and urban exploration, I thought
Going through the front gate I felt a slight resistance and then I was on the walkway proper, with no ill effects. I looked around, the fence surrounding the building had dead grass between the walls of the temple and the fence with the occasional fountain or statue. It had to have been very pleasant back in the day but now it just seemed sad with the fog covering much of the ground.
I began to walk towards the temple entrance and climbed the stairs, the large double doors were open, so I slipped in. It was much like a church with pews that ran up each side going towards the altar. Sadly, the pews were full of the skeletal remains of men in plate and armor, some looked like they were praying others looked like they were merely resting.
It was clear, that whatever had happened to the city these men had been trapped here and eventually had died here. Whatever had trapped them had not been able to overcome the wards placed on the temple and grounds and it had evolved into a stalemate with the men losing in the end, they probably died of starvation and lack of water.
I am not a religious man, but I took a moment and bowed my head and said, “I do not know what these men believed, or who they were or even what happened, but I pray that they have peace now and move on to a brighter better world which will welcome them.” A few simple words, softly spoken in an old ruined temple. Suddenly there was a crack louder than thunder and a brilliant white beam of light began to spin around the interior of the temple.
I glanced upwards, and I am not sure what I saw, but it looked like a field with men and women running towards each other, hugging and laughing. I also saw a man on a horse, his eyes met mine and he saluted me. Suddenly the light was gone and looking around so were all the physical remains that had been in the temple.
Walking towards the altar I saw that a small chest was sitting there. Once I reached the altar another interface window opened up and I read,
Hidden Quest complete
Free the souls of the Temple's guardians
You have completed a class based hidden quest
The reward is on the table.
I noticed that my XP bar had gone from just starting level eight to being almost at the end. I had received a ton of XP. Nice. Reaching out I opened the bag and pulled out two blue rings and cooking recipe titled
Ambrosia, the drink of the Gods
This drink will triple health, attack power, and mana regeneration while
tripling all earned experience.
Requires master cook or having a divine nature
This was interesting; however, my cooking skills are pretty much non-existent ingame using game recipes. But if I leveled the cooking skill, then I might be able to brew up the ingame equivalent to Red Bull. I could remember something about those old ads, they always ended with the statement “It gives you wings” I recalled.
Looking at the recipe, the list of ingredients seemed common, the problem was in your cooking level. If you were not high enough, the results would not work. It was just how the game worked, I would have to level up my cooking skill.
It was time for me to depart the abandoned city, I would have to let Mecha know what I had found, he would inform the King and then he could deal with it. I don’t like Necromancers on principle and that is who I think has been operating here, they had killed a whole section of the city which had been sealed up and left to rot for years. Who knew what they were up to.
I had my own missions, I had dealt a blow to the House of Pain, and while I wanted to deal with Archon and the Old bastards, the presence of Federal Security agents in the game and the fact that the Eldest had been captured in a computer sandbox by the Federal agents told me that Archon was going to be having some explaining to do.
Finally, I wanted to deal with Reona, it had been a stroke of luck that she was being sent with me to the Dwarves. I would have time on the trip to develop a plan to deal with her. This mission of being the Kings Eyes and Ears, the royal spy for the King was something I could do without, but it had netted me some great gear and fantastic spells.
The last and most important thing was getting back to Ama, but that seemed out of my reach, no matter what had happened my portal spell would not work for me and without it, I could not get to Hell. I am not sure how a Pally would do in Hell but it might be interesting. I had not thought about becoming a Pally but it all seemed to be working out.
I stepped into Shadows as I left the temple and slowly made my way back to the tower. Once near it I decided to change to Dragon form. It was successful but I noticed that while still humanoid in shape I was much thinner than before and my head was more elongated. It seemed that my Dragon appearance was becoming more that of a traditional Dragon.
Gathering my gear, I went downstairs and entered the underground passageway, stopping to reflect for a minute before the doorway that led to the Knights chamber. I am still not sure what the hell
had happened in there but I still felt that it was the right thing to do. I continued on and eventually left the tunnels and entered the park.
Deciding a warm bed and warm food in an Inn was preferable to camping in the park I kept to the Shadows and made my way down to the first tier of the city. Finding an Inn, I place my items on the floor of my room and went down to get something to eat. Tomorrow was going to be busy.
Chapter 24 Departure
Mecha and I were on our way to see the King, it was midmorning and the fog had finally burnt off from the city. The sea air was fresh and while not warm it no longer held the dampness that the last few days had, but there was no doubt that winter was coming. As we walked towards the Temple Mount I explained to Mecha what I had seen in the abandoned city. He was very concerned with the information and had us hurry our pace to see the King. I, of course, had to go with Mecha.
We finally arrived at the Temple Mount and were escorted into the palace by a servant. Mecha whispered in his ear and the man left at a fast walk, I am not sure what Mecha had said but it worked. Sitting down we each were served a glass of fine wine as we waited.
It was reminiscent of the times we had spent drinking in a Pub but there was an undercurrent now that had not existed back then. I was now a spy for the King and Mecha was the head of the Thieves guild and one of the Kings counselors. I had to admit it, I liked it better the old way.
As we sat and drank the wine Mecha asked a question that I knew would be asked. How did I find the secret entrance to the abandoned city? I was not sure how to answer him, so I said, “I will explain it to the King, there is no sense in saying the same thing twice.”
I knew that he was not satisfied with my reply, but I did not think he would want the Truth with a capital T. If Mecha and the King knew I was Tor, I had no doubt that I would be going anywhere except to the dungeons. That was not part of my plan.
Finally, the King arrived and greeted us, then Mecha stood and began to speak. “Your Highness, we have new of urgency to relay to you that might impact your preparations for the future.” Torn has been doing some exploring and battling to level up and become accustomed to his new abilities as a Paladin. During this time, he witnessed something that I fear will have consequences for the future, Torn if you would relate to the King what you have seen.”
It was now my turn to be in the spotlight so standing up I said, “Your Highness, I was recently in the abandoned part of the city in tier three, and came across something that causes me concern.” As I related what I had seen it became apparent the King was both incredulous and concerned. Once I was finished we sat for a minute until the King glanced at Mecha.
“Do you have trust in what he is saying Mecha?” The King asked. I looked at Mecha who nodded. “Then we must engage this enemy and rout out this Darkness, that has been festering for years. This will speed up your leaving Torn, I want you out of the city on the afternoon tide. If we are going to war with the Darkness within the city I need you out of the city before you are somehow drawn into this conflict. You are a magnet for trouble I can see, and I do not need more trouble laid down at my feet.” The King finished talking and then nodding at Mecha and I, he left.
With that Mecha and I were dismissed, the King had not been too curious as to how I had found the park and the hidden entrance to the abandoned city. He was more concerned with Necromancers strolling around unchecked. I did not blame him; it was a situation that could be deadly. With the war was coming you did not want to have the enemy attacking your own city from within and without.
I left Mecha to gather my belongings and meet at the docks. It had turned into a lovely day with a steady breeze and only a small chop on the sea. I had never sailed and I looked forward to the experience, I just hoped I did not get seasick and hurl lunch over the side.
Mecha finally approached and led me to a nice-looking ship, it was about twenty-two meters in length and seven meters wide at the middle. It had one mast in the middle and a small mast near the front with an even smaller mast at the very front and another mast near the rear. The front and back of the ship stood higher than the main deck which itself was about ten feet above the water. The back of the ship stood almost twice the height of the front deck.
The whole thing reminded me of the ships Columbus had sailed to America with, the Santa Maria, Nina and Pinto. I activated my PIM and pulled up a picture of a replica Santa Anna from the old archived Library of Congress.
That ship and the one I was about to board looked very similar. We would not have much room but I felt that we would be safe, the ship seemed solid. The journey should take about a week and a half if we had good winds.
Mecha hustled me aboard and introduced me to Capitan Draik who showed me around his ship, called The Golden Ass. I asked about the unusual name, and the Capitan laughed and said he named it after his ex-wife, because apparently, she was pretty free about showing hers for some gold to sailors from all over the world while the good Capitan was at sea.
That was a little more information than I needed but Capitan Draik thought it was funny. Capitan Draik and the Golden Ass, it stirred something in my memory, I think it might be an easter egg or a joke planted within the game.
I stowed my gear in a very small room I would be sharing with three others and then waited for Reona to arrive. Mecha whispered that she would be traveling incognito and that she would have six of the Kings guards with her all in disguise. After waiting for another hour she finally made her appearance.
With her arrival, Mecha departed, his final words being, “Your damn training never happened, do your best boy. Trust none, and bring us back the information we need, along with some stolen goods.” As he left the ship Reona boarded, covered in veils and surrounded by five men and one woman. Capitan Draik immediately went to greet her. After a quick glance around she asked the Capitan to guide her to her cabin.
Her guards were left with the duty of loading half a dozen trunks in the center hold of the ship and then finding their own cramped quarters and putting away their own gear.
Soon Captain Draik was suddenly everywhere on deck, shouting out orders and whipping the crew into frenzied action. He passed me and laughed then said, “If that damn lady had been any later we would have missed the tide and would have had to wait till tomorrow.”
The man seemed to be in a fine humor, I guessed he was one of those who loves the ocean and sailing more than the land. Within half an hour we were out of the harbor and in the sea chop. The ship was bobbing on the waves but she soon was gliding over the water as the sails were let out. The ship keeled over a few degrees and then began to head south and west, out towards the coastal islands.
From there we would make a gentle arc out to Sea and then come in to land at Goodstown. Usually, the ship would stop at several islands and do some trade deals or transport some goods. This time, however, we were on a tight schedule and would not be stopping.
The evening light was fading and I was standing at the railing overlooking the green sea foaming against the ship as we traveled. I had just lit a smoke when the leader of Reona’s guard approached.
Nodding at me he grabbed a pack of smokes from his pocket and lit up. We smoked in silence for a few minutes until he flicked his cig into the sea and said, “The name is Cuevad and I and my troops have been assigned by the King to protect the Viceroy Reona the royal ambassador to the Dwarven realms.”
I nodded and then asked, “Why was she appointed Viceroy, isn’t that a deputy or a regent for the king.”
Cuevad smiled and nodded, then said, “She was made Viceroy of the three lower levels of the city, after the incident with the Dwarves. That BanHammer has created some impressive items of war and has put us all into this precarious situation.”
I nodded it was all true, perhaps I should have felt some guilt about giving BanHammer the means to advance the technology of this realm. But what the hell you win some you lose some, I thought. I had died and lost the people I cared for and in the gre
at scheme of things I could give a rats ass about BanHammer, the new technology, and the Kings problems.
Yet here I was, about to be thrust into both politics and war, so maybe there is such a thing as Karma.
It was apparent that Cuevad knew who I was and what I was going to be doing. Apparently, I would meet with him to arrange to meet with Reona. After exchanging further pleasantries he invited me to weapons train with his troops tomorrow. I could tell my level eight was not impressing him, heck it was not impressing me much.
I agreed and then headed to my cabin, the fresh sea air and darkened sky had reminded me that I needed to sleep. I quickly made myself ready for bed and then found myself asleep as soon as I crawled into the bunk.
The next day started with a clear sky and a light breeze. Half of the crew were busy, with the second officer standing watch and the other crew members and officers asleep. Due to the size of the ship tight quarters were maintained by the small crew but they seemed a satisfied lot. They were competent and disciplined and did their work with efficiency.
By the time I stumbled onto the deck Cuevad had his people performing stretches and doing static exercises to increase blood flow and warm their bodies. After half an hour he nodded and said, “Alright, it is time for some weapon practice, Torn here is only level eight and without a doubt could use the benefit of our help.”
“Tasia, I want you to put him through the paces, start slow and evaluate, then increase until he is at his max. Torn, we are going to work you hard but hopefully, we will lay down a good foundation of weapon skills. Most people choose a class and then set about to level and increase their class abilities and spells. Eventually, they become powerful and in some cases very deadly.”
“In the Kings guard, we have a different view on weapons craft, no matter what your class is, we train for weapons based combat without the use of spells or abilities. Only when you have progressed enough are you allowed to use your class abilities and any spells you have.”