Homeland: Ingame 2

by Kieron Uchee

  I nodded it seemed to make sense and I knew that these people were part of the Kings elite guards. I could do worse than being trained by the best, I thought. I nodded and smiled at Tasia who smiled back. I had a sudden feeling that this was going to hurt.

  The sun was shining down on us and a small group of interested onlookers was observing me getting my ass handed to me by an attractive woman. It had started out well enough with us trading blows and getting to know the skill level of each other.

  The mistake I made was (accidently) using my racial ability to double my speed. I managed to land three hits on Tasia much to her surprise. The fact that I had gained the knowledge of how to use maces from the Knights helped, however, I just did not have the muscle memory that hundreds of hours of practice could instill.

  Tasia, on the other hand, had hundreds probably thousands of hours of practice which coupled with reflexes honed for battle meant that she could read my attack or defense and respond before I could make my body obey my commands.

  In short, I had my ass kicked. So began the first day of our journey. The good news was that Tasia told Cuevad that she had never seen anyone with my potential and that with work I could become a weapons master. All I needed to do was practice, as much as I could handle. Cuevad seemed delighted with the idea and immediately assigned a training schedule for every day, morning and evening.

  Evidently, he thought I could handle a lot. He also told me I was to take my dinner in Reona’s cabin tonight, it would be a semi-formal affair. That gave me pause for thought until my ribs took a direct hit from Tasia.

  Chapter 25 Winds of Change

  I stood in front of the door to Reona’s cabin and glanced down, I was as presentable as I could be. Squaring my shoulders, I knocked. “Come in,” I heard. Opening the door, I entered the small cabin, it was larger than where I slept but not by much. There was a small table in the corner and a bunk against the far wall. Sitting at the table Reona was dressed in a conservative gown that did nothing to hide her curves.

  Reona pointed to the other chair and said, “Please have a seat, Torn.” I smiled and sat and then we examined each other. Reona finally spoke, “We will be working together and I thought we should get to know one another. Why don’t you go first and tell me of yourself?”

  I nodded and thought for a moment. There was not much I was willing to tell her but I had to give her something. “My name is Torn, and I was a visitor to the city, looking to find adventure and gold.” I chuckled and then said, “Clearly I have found something more than I thought I would.”

  Reona laughed and said, “Strange things happen to interesting people. I know you were chosen by Mecha and the King to be the Eyes and Ears. How do you feel about that and what led Mecha to choose you, no offense but your level is not that high?”

  I nodded, it was true I was not one of the higher-level players. “I am not sure why I was chosen, it really is a mystery to me, but when the King commands you to do something like this, you really can’t say no.”

  Reona nodded and then asked me about my training and abilities, she was surprised to learn I was a Paladin. We engaged in pleasant but meaningless talk as the meal was served. The food was plain and a little salty, but most of the food aboard the ship was salted to help preserve it.

  Once we had finished the meal Reona politely hinted at me that we were done, I was breathing a sigh of relief when she looked at me and said, “You remind me of someone I once knew.”

  Keeping my face calm I asked, “Who?”

  Not taking her eyes off me Reona replied, “He was a friend, unfortunately, he died in a family squabble.” I looked at her, she was looking away and her voice and face seemed sad.

  “What happened?” I asked. I was curious as to how she was going to explain what had happened when she betrayed me and I was killed.

  Taking a deep breath Reona smiled at me and said, “It does not matter anymore, the past is the past it was years ago.”

  I nodded and excused myself, I was about to reach for the door when there was an urgent knock. I glanced at Reona and seeing her nod I opened the door to discover the Capitan Draik standing there, the look in his eyes was hungry as he stared at Reona.

  “I think you both should come to the deck, there is something happening I think you should see. I glanced at Reona and then held the door for her as she followed the Capitan. It only took us a minute to reach the main deck and I could see that most of the crew and passengers were already standing in small groups observing the sky and the sea.

  I heard the Capitan curse and Reona gasp before I could get a clear view of what I was seeing. The ship was caught in a massive whirlpool that must have been 5 kilometers in size. We were trapped, the ship could not fight the current and the wind was now against us.

  As bad as that sounds what was opposite us in the whirlpool was worse, it was a huge portal. The sides were over two hundred feet of towering water and the sea that stretched in between them glowed with a green hue that reflected shimmering colors.

  At our current rate, we would be heading straight through that portal within twenty minutes at the most. Even more incredible was the sight of a giant man walking on the sea towards us. He would reach us in a couple of minutes. He was dressed in what looked like Greek attire from the classical age, sometime around the 5th and 4th century BC.

  He also looked pissed and when he spotted me he roared. It was in ancient Greek but I got the drift of what he was saying. It could be summed up like this. You pissant, I am going to kill you and then make everyone die also. I hate you and I will kill you. Et cetera.

  “Friendly guy, isn’t he?” Reona remarked. The Capitan was looking at me and then at the giant walking on the sea towards us.

  “He seems to be fixated on you Torn, any idea why?” the Capitan’s voice sound just a little nervous as he saw the giant was about to reach the ship. The giant's name was a visible bright red against the sky, Orion.

  I had my PIM opened and was looking up who this big bastard was. The answer was not good; Orion was a giant who was given the ability to walk on water by his father the God Poseidon. These damn Greek Gods, they were beginning to swarm this realm. The name of this game was Gods and Men. The problem was the game Gods were loosely based on mythical Gods. Yet here on the water about to board the ship and without a doubt attempt to kill me was a real Greek demigod.

  This was getting old fast, and I suddenly began to feel a little pissed. As all the others continued to look at the giant approaching the sea I quickly stripped down to the undergarments. Then with a dash of speed I ran to the port side of the ship and dived over the railing, as soon as I hit the sea the whirlpool became calm although the portal still loomed in the distance.

  As I went over the side of the ship I could hear muttered curses and yells of surprise, but they faded once I went into the water. I had no trouble breathing thanks to my Breathing without Air spell and my Dragon eyes made it easy to see clearly. I began to swim towards Orion as he also sank into the sea and began to swim towards me.

  I called forth my pet Krusty the Battle crab and told him to get behind Orion and hamstring him on both legs. It would not be as effective in the sea as it would on land but it would help. Within seconds Orion and I were facing each other, he was about twice my size but very fast. Having a father who is the God of the Sea did not hurt.

  He reached out and grabbed my shoulder and then began to pull me closer as his fingers squeezed in an attempt to crush my shoulder. I reached up and grabbed his wrist and began to push his arm up in an attempt to release his grip on me. He smiled at this and then spoke, strangely enough, I could now understand his classical Greek.

  “I will destroy you little man and take the three essences of demigod from your body, becoming even more powerful and beginning my Ascent to the throne of the Heavens, Mount Olympus.” At this point, he stopped talking as his eyes opened in surprise.

  I had bent his arm back and pulled his hand off my shoulder, my strength
had increased with each level I had gained and the effect had been modified by the Nanobots I had. I was sure that in a physical match I was stronger than Orion.

  The fact he was level fifteen made no difference, in his realm that was probably enough for what he did, which was hunting and of course raping women, if my PIM was correct. Once I had his hand off my shoulder I began to squeeze his wrist. He grunted in pain and then drew back his left hand to remove my head from my shoulders with a punch.

  I commanded Krusty to begin his attack and then watched as the giant screamed as both his tendons were slashed. Krusty did not stop there but turned his attention towards the left leg and began to work on it. Orion once again screamed in rage and pain, I was all but forgotten as he tried to spin around and grab Krusty.

  This allowed an opportunity to attack from behind him, but my Elf form was not large enough to do what I wanted, I then metamorphosed into what I was beginning to think of as my Demon Dragon form, I did not change fully, but I did give wings which were now covered in scales and also increased my size by about three feet. We were now at least forty feet under the water and I was sure that we were not visible to anyone on the ship so I felt safe in changing.

  Reaching out I grasped Orion by the neck and then pulled him into a Full Nelson, by swinging both my arms under his and then wrapping my hands up and over his shoulders and behind his head. I began to put pressure on his neck while effectively pinning his arms from being able to move. He began to strain against me once again, trying to power out of the hold.

  I was not having any of that, this SOB had come here to this world to kill me and probably take my body back to his realm. Suddenly the anger I felt burned cold and I could feel the power I had received from the three other demigods begin to coalesce and shift within me, it was now working at changing not just some lines of code, but my very being.

  I did not allow this to distract me and commanded Krusty to go for the stones. I had decided that a man's most vulnerable part of his anatomy is his balls. With Orion focusing all his effort on escaping me, he allowed my Crab to get close. With one click of his claws, he snipped off the demigod’s best friend and then with another snip Orion was suddenly bereft of his Family Jewels.

  This did not sit well with the Sea Giant who began to scream and thrash grabbing at his injured area and curling into a ball. He was now ignoring both Krusty and myself and crying and screaming. I felt a hint of pity until I remembered reading of how he had raped Merope the daughter of King Oinopion of Khios.

  Suddenly the pity I felt turned to cold rage and I reached out and grabbed Orion then placing my hand over his wound I cast Sonic Shard with as much power as I could directly into the body of the Sea Giant. It was doing tremendous soft tissue damage, but demigods are tough, and I was not going to leave this enemy in any position to recoup, recover and re-enact vengeance.

  I had learned in school how high-frequency waves could cause seawater and salt to burn. The problem was it took a lot of energy, but here I had the mana to power the spell. So, I cast Manaflow. Funny thing, a demigod is full of blood and that blood is full of what amounts to saltwater.

  I began to alter the frequency of my attack, after several seconds I could tell it was having an effect, Orion had stopped screaming and was now beginning to glow. Suddenly there was an explosion then an implosion that happened so fast I could barely register what had happened.

  Orion was gone and floating in the water was a mass of energy, reaching out my hand I felt the energy slowly at first then with greater speed flow into me. Once again the window popped open on the interface about now having four aspects of minor powers and how once I had gained the three aspects of Higher Powers I would ascend to the lofty realms of the Gods themselves as an equal. I closed the window down as I felt more subtle changes begin to occur within me.

  I could feel my body alter and become a little larger and heavier, with new pathways of energy developing within my body. I now knew that my powers as a demigod had increased but having a quick look at my stats showed no other changes.

  I began to swim towards the surface, hoping that the ship would still be nearby. I reached the surface and saw that I was indeed alone. I could make out the Golden Ass as she sailed far out in an arc to avoid the portal that still stood on the ocean.

  The damn Capitan had abandoned me to certain death, without waiting to see the outcome of my battle with Orion. I added Capitan Draik to my kill on sight list. Calling Krusty towards me I pointed at the portal and we began to swim towards it. I was not sure we were going to make it the last few yards showed the light was beginning to fade and as we swam across the threshold the whole thing collapsed in on itself.

  The collapsing portal missed us by seconds and then we were no longer in Topland in the game Gods and Men. We were about ten feet off the shore of a picturesque little island, it was warm and the afternoon sky smelled of summer. About a mile past the island the mainland was visible, but what immediately drew my attention was the mountain that stood inland.

  The top third of the mountain was wreathed in clouds with vicious lightening and thunder happening non-stop yet the very top of the mountain was clear and in the sunshine, with the white marble buildings and golden roofs glinting in the warm sun. Going down the mountain were terraces, with whole cities separated by parklands and the different levels they were located on. The bottom half of the mountain was used for agrarian purposes with the fields being fed by the many streams and brooks that descended from the peak.

  I knew what I was looking at, Mount Olympus, home of the Greek Pantheon and according to the Goddess Nyx, Odin and his crew of Gods and demigods along with Odin, Shiva and a bunch of demigods from India who were all ensconced on the mountain. What the Fuck.

  Glancing down at Krusty I told him to go play in the ocean and I would call him if I needed him. If I met any more demigods or Gods I did not want him to get hurt. Those Gods from India were pretty nasty I recalled from my high school religious studies class. Actually, every God I had met so far had been a piece of work, with the exception of Nyx and Gaiatoci.

  Time to get this show on the road I thought as I set out to explore the island I was on. It was small, only about ten kilometers across with some hills and one mountain near the center and only one good beach, the one I had stumbled onto.

  There was some evidence that at one time it had been occupied, the old fields still had grain growing wild and the olive and fruit trees were heavy with the yield. It reminded me that culinary olives are fruits but are considered a vegetable for cooking purposes. It was funny how your mind wanders as you explore.

  Having circled the island and only seen more groves of trees and more fields full of grain that would never be harvested I headed inland. There were a few paths that I followed, old roads that led up through the small range of hills until we reached the center. Here I stared in wonder at the plateau that made up the middle of the island.

  There was a lake being filled by a stream that descended down from the side of a steep little mountain. Some little ways away from the lake stood a tower, three stories high and clearly abandoned but still solid. The lake had a small beach and grass that grew out to surround the many flowers that seemed to be growing wild.

  The whole thing was so similar to my island that I stopped and shook myself. Making my way to the tower I decided to explore it before I decided what to do next. What a day I thought, what a day.

  Chapter 26 ᾸΩ

  The tower stood before me with wildflowers creeping up the sides, and long grass growing all around, it was a pretty view if somewhat sad. I walked over to the entrance and observed the door it was thick wood inlaid with rusty iron, it seemed sturdy. If it was locked I would not be entering. I grabbed the handle and pushed, it seemed to not want to move but then it slowly pushed open.

  I exerted myself and using both hands I opened the door. The sunlight flooded the entrance and allowed me to see that it was a large room with a staircase that led up. There w
ere several benched that curved around a large fire pit. Along the walls were racks for spears and swords, it had the look of a comfortable common room, where men would meet and relax after a hard days training. Aside from what I had observed, it was empty.

  I made my way over to the stairs and went up to the next floor, again it was empty and covered in dust. It was the kitchen and dining area with several smaller room on one-half and an open area on the other. Glancing in the rooms I saw that they had bunk beds, two in each room so with four rooms the tower could accommodate 16 men.

  It was all empty, no one had been in here for a long time. I took the stairwell to the final floor not sure what to expect. It was a long open room with a bed on a small raised platform. The side of the bed was against the wall and built in the wall was a half circular indentation about forty centimeters deep with candles on the shelf it made. Near the bed was another fireplace, and along the far wall chairs and benches were placed. There was a large table that served as a desk in the middle of the room.

  It was a comfortable room, the owner had gone above and beyond to make it that way, and I liked how it looked, in fact, the whole tower was built to be both comfortable and protective. The walls were at least 5 feet thick at the base and the structure looked like it could withstand a rocket attack. It felt both safe and comfortable in there.

  If this was, in fact, an abandoned island I would claim the whole damn place, I thought. I drifted downstairs and walked out through the door, stopping to admire the workmanship that had been involved in building the tower. Glancing around once more, and then checking my minimap that now showed the island, I could see no red dots that would indicate hidden enemies.