by A P Gore
“Yikes. What are you doing, girl?” He pushed her away and sat up. Why was she licking his face?
Two brown eyes filled with hope gazed back at him. “Daddy. Thia. Daddy.” The girl growled and flung herself at him again, resuming licking his face.
Noah shook his head in disapproval. He must be dreaming. He slapped himself and tried to push the girl away, but she clung to his face, wrapped her tail around his neck, and started slapping him and laughing. “Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.” Her happiness was contradictory, given her recent loss. Maybe it was because she was a piece of code, or because she was too young to experience the grief.
He gave up and sat still, doing nothing. After a few seconds, her excitement lowered, and she jumped away from him. But her big, beautiful brown eyes remained focused on his face.
The sunrays had entered through the tiny window above the ground level. It was weird having a window in the cellar, as most of the times dust entered the room when the strong wind blew across.
How did I get here? And why is it morning? Was I out for the whole night?
It was indeed a morning, and he was lying on the floor of his cellar. Mathial must have dropped him here. But why was I out for the whole night?
“Listen, girl. Calm down. I'm not your daddy. I brought you here to save you.” He gestured with one hand while speaking, and her eyes followed along, tracking the movement—a classic example of her being just a child. Easily distractible.
She pointed at him. “Daddy.” She put her hand over her heart. “Thia.” Then she inched toward, him putting her hand on his heart. “Daddy.”
Noah stared at her in frustration. She had brown eyes, an oval face, a small nose, and she reminded him of his daughter, Tia. The main differences, of course, were Thia’s tail and two small horns protruding from her head, and the eyes. She also had couple of bandages tied around her arm. That must have been Mathial's work.
“No, I'm not your daddy, little one. Look at me. I don't have horns or a tail.” He pointed to his head.
“No. Daddy. Saved. Thia.”
Realization struck Noah so hard that he forgot about the game for a moment. “Did you say ‘Thia’?” Her name was so similar to his daughter’s too.
She nodded and repeated her Daddy-Thia hand movements.
Oh, girl. You remind me of my daughter, but I'm not your daddy. How can I explain this to you?
“Let's go and meet Mathial.” Only the blacksmith could help him now.
Noah caught up to Mathial in his smithy. The blacksmith was doing his usual work, but today Noah found a couple of interesting things in the smithy: a metal helmet and a shield. If only he was a paladin, he could have used both! But being a cursemancer restricted what he could use and wear. Damn stupid game! Who randomized a starting location just for forgetting to enter a name?
“Good Morning, Mathial.”
Mathial turned, putting his hammer down. “Now what?” The smith glared at Noah. “Why do you keep disturbing me again and again? I might have to add five copper to your rent for the extra free advice you keep asking for.” A cunning smile appeared on his face.
Has anyone ever told you how greedy you are?
“I...” Noah cast a quick glance at Thia, who was playing with the metal helmet. “The girl is calling me daddy. Can you tell her I'm not her father?”
Mathial glanced at the girl, and his cunning smile turned into a genuine one. He stepped forward, plucked the helmet from her hand, and donned it. The girl clapped her hands and tried to pull it off his head. He laughed at her and gave it back.
“I tried it yesterday, but she won't listen. She’s an adorable kid, but you shouldn’t have brought her here.” His face hardened. “You know little about our town, so here is some free advice: no woman ever dares to step within the town's boundaries. Anyway, I hope she will be safe, as she is just a child.”
“You aren't making any sense, friend.”
“Leave it. She forced her way to your cellar after I dragged you there. You were pretty exhausted and unconscious.”
“Yes, I was. I didn't even wake up once in the night. It was strange.” Had he injured his head when the girl knocked him down? He traced his hand over the back of his head, but there was no hint of injury.
“It pains me seeing one of our kind connecting with a human. But what can I do? She is a free child, and she wants to be with you.”
“I can't do this, Mathial. I'll be leaving the town in few days, and I can't take her with me. And why would I? She is an adorable kid, but she is also a demon.” He glanced at her; she was still playing with the helmet. She reminded him of his daughter, but that couldn't be a reason to cart an unknown child around forever. “I kind of like her, but I can't do it.” He wasn’t ready for any extra emotional baggage right now. He had his own problems to sort out first.
He looked at the girl again. She was now sitting on the helmet, looking at the two of them with wary eyes. When Noah's eyes met hers, she smiled—a sunshine bright smile that could make your whole day's worries go away. She put a hand on her heart, said her name, then pointed to him and said, “Daddy.”
“I'm sorry, Thia, but I'm not your daddy.” Noah hated to say those words, but he had no place for another daughter in his life. He had one already, and he had already wronged her by taking away twenty years of daddy-daughter time from her.
The girl unexpectedly hopped onto his shoulder. She wrapped her tail around his head and relaxed with her legs hanging over his chest, and then she licked his ears.
“I must inform the head demon about this. Then we can make a decision. Unfortunately for you, he is away for few days. Until then, the girl stays here,” Mathial said in a firm voice.
“Really?” Noah sighed with a heavy heart. He would have to take care of the girl in the meantime, but it wasn't that bad. If it was only for a few days, he could do it. She reminded him of his little girl, and he might get his lost memories back by looking after her. “Okay, lil’ one. It seems that we'll be staying together for few more days.”
Noah went back to his cellar with Thia sitting on his shoulder. Later that day, she followed him everywhere he went, even to the bathroom door. There, he forced her to wait outside. At dinner, she ate from his plate. By the time they finished their food, he received a glowing pink notification.
Congratulations! Your actions toward Thia have made a little progress toward understanding each other. +5000 reputation with Thia. Current Status: Considerate. Current Reputation: 5000.
Before going to sleep for the day, Noah pulled up his character sheet to assign his stat points. He had six skill points left and six stat points. It was time to take his stats to the next level.
By default, he received 2 points in constitution and 1 in wisdom for being a spirit school mage. He’d been expecting that, so it wasn't a shocker. For mana schools, a player got 1 point in intelligence by default, and for melee schools they went with either strength or dexterity. The school was determined on the primary class of the player. So if anyone chose a spirit school class as his primary and a mana pool class as his secondary, he would be screwing himself up. But that's how the game was. It had all the combinations, ideal and less than ideal alike. It was like real life, allowing anyone to make a wrong choice. He had chosen the wrong path in his real life by putting himself in a coma, but here he had a chance to redeem himself.
He dropped two points in wisdom, two in strength, and one in dexterity for speed and accuracy. He was doubtful about the last point, but he chose charisma since it had an interesting property associated with it: reputation gain with NPCs. He didn't know how that worked, but he would try it out or ask Mathial about it tomorrow. Mathial might charge for it, but it would be worth it.
For skill point selection, he put one point into poison orb, bringing the raw damage to 10 and effective damage to 12.
He grinned when he was done, looking at his character sheet in delta mode. He was happy with the effects.
Name: Noah (Level 2)
Class: Cursemancer
Second Class: Zombiemancer
Stats
Strength 9
Dexterity 6
Constitution 9
Intelligence 5
Wisdom 20
Chance 0
Charisma 3
Health 290
Stamina 165
Mana 50
Spirit 200
Skills
Poison Orb (Level 2): Damage: 12. Spirit Cost: 10. Progression: 40%.
16. Close Call
N oah had a dream that night, that his two-year-old daughter was sitting on his chest, pulling his mustache. She’d loved to do that, and Noah loved when she did it. He was happy and smiling until a wet tongue woke him in the middle of the night. Thia was sitting on his chest, licking his cheek. She was trying to take his daughter’s place in this life.
“No, Thia. Go away.” He shushed her, anger boiling in his chest.
She made a puppy face and moved away. He regretted scolding her like that and had an urge to pull her closer, but that would have defeated his purpose. That was his daughter’s place, and Thia wasn’t his daughter. She was a demon who would soon leave him. Until then, he would have to bear with her. But looking at her sad brown eyes melted his heart. It was impossible to resist the love the little girl was showing.
No, Noah. You can't melt now. That would bring her closer to you.
But how can I resist a four years old's love? The daddy in him spoke.
You have to push through this. Remember this is for the best—for of both of you.
His mind was right. He should keep a distance from her. “I’m sleeping. Don’t come near me, and don’t lick my face.” He wiped the wetness away from his cheeks. He couldn’t understand what kind of affection drove a person to lick someone’s face.
“Thia. Daddy.” She inched closer to him, wrapping her tail around his arm. She frowned at him and then turned away, but her tail remained wrapped around his arm. Classic child behavior. He glanced at her small figure once more before closing his eyes. Her clothes were tattered; she wore a plain white dress and black pants which were torn in many places, thanks to the fight with the orc. His heart ached, seeing her like that. He pulled up the thick brown sheet and put it over her.
It was tough to sleep with a prehensile tail around his arm, but it was better than getting his face licked. Noah closed his eyes, calling on the goddess of dreams, but she refused to come. The cold darkness of the night swirled inside his room, showing him different images. All false. But those images triggered various other thoughts in his mind, thoughts about his past and the reason he’d come to this game. He wondered what his life would have been if he hadn’t tried to delve the mysteries of the Crystals of Quantum. He could have been in his home, chatting with Tia—maybe even Serena. He stole a quick glance at Thia, who had turned to face him by then. Her mouth hung open, saliva drooling from it onto the wooden floor, a typical four year old. He wiped her face with a cloth and closed her mouth. It was remarkable, seeing the game’s AI mimicking perfect human behavior.
He closed his eyes again to think about his own daughter. She was forty-four now, but for star mages, age didn't matter. Everyone lived for almost two hundred years these days. In real-life terms, he was one hundred and two himself, but he appeared to be in his thirties. Maybe twenty-five in the game.
His thoughts wandered. He thought about his life, his work, his colleagues, and then circled back to the game. He now understood why the game was addictive for millions of people. It was a reality for them. Even in just a few days, he had forged bonds with demons, even while knowing it was all digital magic. Nothing was real. Still, when Thia made a puppy face he felt like pulling her in his arms and cuddling her like he used to with his daughter.
No, Noah. This is all game. And you are feeling love for her because she reminds you of Tia.
Whatever it was, magic, digital code, or something else… For him, this was reality going forward. One real month equated to one year in the game, and that meant if Laxania took a year to develop the cure, he would be here for twelve years. He could see himself spending at least six to seven decades in the game. The last cure Laxania made for him took twenty years. Why would it be any faster this time around?
I have to live my life now. Design it like the real world, make friends, make enemies, and live the hell out of it. BlackFlame Online is my life now.
Yes, now he could design his life as he wanted. People had been doing it for decades. They took absurd professions and mastered them. In one of the forum guides, one woman mentioned how she became a Master of Music by choosing a bard class. He could do something like that, or maybe something else. The game opened thousands of different doors for him. He just had to get out of this town, get respect from the human king, then do whatever he wanted. There was only one problem: a demon girl calling him daddy.
He sighed and untangled Thia’s tail when he noticed she was in deep sleep. He made a note to visit the tailor the next day and buy a pair of dresses for her.
♦ ♦ ♦
Sunbeams were sneaking into Noah’s room when he woke up. The effect of the town’s curse was present on his character sheet, but it didn’t affect his moral any longer.
He glanced at Thia, who snored shrilly beside him. With a smile, he started his morning exercise—which he had never done in real life, but that was the point. In the game, everything was different. He was going to write his own destiny.
Here, he was going to try many new things. Exercise was one of them. By the time he was finished with his new routine, the sun was up in the sky, and the sound of Mathial's hammer had started to ring from the smithy. Thia was still asleep, so Noah went out alone for his day's adventure.
It was a bright, sunny day, and there was no point in wasting a day doing nothing. The quicker he leveled up, the quicker he would finish Roderich's quest and get the map. He glanced at his experience bar, which was at 1140 experience points. He needed almost three thousand for his next level. If only he had killed the orc instead of Thia, he would have been sitting at 2100 experience. He’d just have to would work harder today to get closer to the target.
As he walked out of the town’s gate, he spotted two demons sneaking out with their mouths covered. Each of them held a staff in one hand. He tried using his new perception spell, but it failed with a snaky message..
Perception failed. What? Do you think you can kill a dragon? Perception failed due to enormous difference between target and observer’s levels.
Damn you!
Noah cursed the game and set off in the opposite direction from the mysterious demons. He walked for an hour deep inside the forest without getting too exhausted thanks to his improved stamina. He encountered a few snakes, but after killing 5 and gaining only ten experience, he ignored the rest. He needed something bigger, something like a three foot tall rat.
His heart went ninety when he spotted the three foot tall rat monster seconds later. The monster had two red eyes and a middle tooth as large as Noah’s wrist. He had seen rats in real life, but they were few inches long, not three foot rats with scales all over their bodies.
Noah’s heart slammed against his spine when the monster’s red eyes turned toward him. Danger loomed in those eyes. Noah didn’t dare move a muscle. He even stopped breathing when the rat approached. The only thing he did was cast perception on the rat. It was a level 3 monster with 200 life and 20% defense modifier. It had thick scales all over its back, signaling it was a hard skin to penetrate. So, his spells would be twenty percent less effective against it. It was out of his league. But he lost his chance to avoid a fight when the rat monster charged him.
Noah jumped to his right, avoiding a direct hit. He also hit the passing rat with a poison orb, but it only reduced the rat’s 200 life pool by 10.
One hit down, nineteen to go.
But the rat wasn’t going to give him that much time. It spun on its back feet and dashed toward him with its mo
uth wide open.
It happened so fast that Noah couldn’t avoid the attack, and the rat hit his chest hard.
He hit the ground with notifications filling his vision. Ignoring the pain as well as the annoying notifications, he rolled onto his back, avoiding a direct slice from rat's teeth in the process.
Noah rolled farther away and got back to his feet. A quick glance at his life bar showed him it was over half full.
The rat was turning again, ready for another round.
Noah roared and charged the rat with his dagger held tightly in both hands. He slammed the dagger down on the rat's scaled back, but the rat's skin was thick and impenetrable for his dagger.
The impact sent a shock back through his hand, and he lost control and dropped the dagger.
The rat's head spun. Two beady eyes glared at him. It growled, and its body vibrated like it was undergoing some transformation.
With a throbbing pain in his hand, Noah jumped back. Whatever the rat was going through, he didn’t want to be near it at any cost. But the sudden jump resulted in him falling hard on his ass. The last dagger attack had drained a huge chunk of stamina from his body, and fatigue was crawling inside his skin.
Damn you, rat!
He needed to rest to recover his stamina, but now wasn’t the time. The rat looked vulnerable, and it was Noah’s chance to do some damage.
Noah growled and shot a poison orb at the rat. The rat squealed in pain but continued its transformation. Noah shot back-to-back poison orbs until his spirit fell below 10, but the rat remained standing. Impossible! With 200 spirit, Noah must have shot at least 20 poison orbs by now, and at ten damage per hit, the rat should have been dead. But it was now standing on its legs in the final phase of transformation.
A quick perception check clarified that the rat had lost no life for any of his attacks. It still had 185 life left. All he’d done was waste his spirit.
Damn!
He glanced around and found a small tree which he could climb. The rat had started moving its head by the time Noah jumped on the tree and climbed a few branches, searching for a safe location.