BlackFlame Online Vol 1

by A P Gore

  Noah kept a safe distance between him and the archer. It might have been overkill for her tracking range, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Overcautious, perhaps, but he knew he would die if the trio spotted them. There were a couple of times when things got a little iffy as the archer’s patrol took her close to Noah and Thia, but fortunately it never escalated into a full-blown search. But every time she seemed iffy, and her eyes focused on the tree they were hiding behind, Noah held his breath.

  They continued traveling for another hour before stopping in front of a mountain. Noah hid behind a huge tree trunk, watching their every action warily.

  Brown and green vines surrounded the mountain wall—vines as thick as his hand. The vines moved as the fat goblin walked near them. Noah had a feeling the vines were some kind of magical plant. The masked demon proved him right. When the demon walked closer to the wall, one of the flowers on the vine opened up and a mouth full of sharp teeth popped out of it and tried to take a bite of the demon’s shoulder. It could have gotten worse for the demon, as a couple more vine flowers were blooming, but the fat goblin jumped in front of them, waving his staff, and the vines went back to normal.

  Noah's skin itched as he realized he was going to have to follow the trio inside the mountain if he really wanted to know what was going on. He cast perception on the vine, but it failed with another miserable notification from the game. But then a quest alert popped up in front of him.

  Hidden Quest Alert: There is something fishy going on in the hidden mountain. Find out more to receive a quest. Quest reward: Unknown. Do you accept? Yes/No?

  He selected yes. There was no point in declining any quest right then. He needed the experience. Maybe he wouldn't be able to get into the mountain yet, but he would surely come back once he was stronger.

  The huge goblin ducked below a vine and vanished inside the mountain. The demon followed him, but the goblin girl waited for ten more minutes, making sure no one was following them, before following them inside.

  Noah turned back to leave, but a pair of goblin scouts stopped his advance. Two spears were pressed against his chest in a fraction of second. Even Thia was caught by surprise. She wrapped her tail around his arm tighter than normal.

  Noah's quick perception check revealed them as level 5 scouts, but he couldn't understand how they’d sneaked up on him. And without Thia noticing them, too. Did they have some sort of skill for this?

  “Human demon together? How you find Goblin Town of Muramba. Tell us now.” One of the slender goblins pressed his spear tip against Noah's shoulder.

  “We know nothing about any town. We are travelers and stopped here to eat our food.” Noah pulled his lunch packet from his bag. Seeing the food made his stomach growl. He and Thia had no food since the morning.

  “Daddy. Food,” Thia growled, making Noah realize how bad a person he was. He was an adult and could live without food, but what about Thia? How could he keep a four-year-old on an empty stomach? Shame overcame him.

  “Daddy will feed you, sweetie.”

  “Daddy?” The other goblin spoke. “You are a human, and the kid is a demon.” He poked his spear into Noah's skin again. “How can she call you daddy?” he stabbed Thia with his spear, and a painful grunt-moan from Thia followed it.

  Noah stiffened. The goblin dared hurt his daughter? He chanted the curse name and applied the fire ball curse on both of them, one after another. Two fiery balls appeared in the air and struck the goblins in their faces, wiping their smug smiles right off.

  The goblins stumbled backward. The slender one tumbled over a stone, but the fat one quickly regained his balance and charged Noah with his spear. Noah dodged and fired a poison orb at him.

  The orb hit the fat goblin. He lost his balance and fell.

  “Thia. Have some food. I'll take care of these.” He triggered his poison shield and charged the slender goblin, hitting him with a poison orb from point blank range. The goblin was just about to get up when the poison orb hit him, and the impact knocked him back down. Both the goblins had their life reduced to half.

  Noah turned back to attack the fat one, but Thia was already on him, stabbing his collarbone with her tail. The latest thrust of her tail pierced a major artery, and blood spurt out of the wound like someone had loosened the tap of a large tank.

  The fat goblin was losing his life pretty fast, but before the last chunk of his life vanished, he hit Thia with some kind of charged spear attack, and she dropped like a stone. 10% of her life vanished from her health bar like it was nothing.

  Noah zipped forward and scooped the little girl up. She was injured, but she wasn't losing any life. A stun icon had popped up in front of her tiny name in his vision. He put her on the grass near the tree trunk and turned back. The fat goblin was dead, but the other goblin was going to pay for his friend's atrocity.

  But the slender goblin was already on his feet, and a strange white glow had encapsulated him in a bubble. His health was going up—not fast, but enough to worry Noah. Noah shot a poison orb at him, as he didn't have enough spirit to cast a fire ball. The first two fire balls had almost emptied him, and keeping the poison shield active was making his spirit replenish slowly.

  Noah was running dry after one more poison orb, and the goblin was done casting his spell too. His life was above 100 mark. The goblin held his spear to his right side and charged straight at Noah.

  The goblin was targeting Noah’s heart, but Noah knew a thing or two now. He parried the goblin with his poison shield, dealing 5 damage to the goblin. But it wasn’t enough. Noah was fool to think he knew how to parry. He successfully parried the spear but failed to avoid a knife attack from the fat goblin, whom he thought to be dead already.

  Noah’s life dropped by 30.

  Noah drew his dagger and stabbed the fat goblin, ending its life once and for all. He had paid the price for negligence already. Not again.

  Noah needed something big to shoot the goblin down, but his spirit had recharged to only 50 points by that time. Waiting until 100 would require ten more seconds. Noah had to buy that time while staying alive.

  The slender goblin was once again charging at him with his spear held as an extension of his body. Noah planned to parry him once more and continue doing so until his spirit was high enough to cast again. He had to change his plan when the goblin changed direction and dashed towards Thia, who was still laying on the ground, stunned.

  Noah only had a split second to take his decision. He was closer to Thia, so he could jump in the goblins path and parry him, but by doing that the enemy could use the same parry force to hit Thia. The other option was to get pierced by the spear, which would require him to deactivate his poison shield.

  Noah jumped in the goblin's path and threw his body on the spear. The spear went through his gut, making a big hole in it. Pain fogged Noah's vision, along with a splash of red. But his whole attention was focused on one thing. His spirit level. When it reached 100, he chanted the fire orb curse and a large fiery ball hit the goblin’s head and shredded it like it was made of cabbage.

  The goblin dropped dead, taking Noah down with him.

  Thia was awake by then, and she jumped over next to him. Her tail shot up and came down like a bullet to pierce his neck. But Noah didn't need healing from her today. He had already pulled a healing potion out of his bag. The healing potion was of a minor quality, but it brought his life back to one third. That was enough. They also had food, which would start a slow regeneration of his life.

  Within a few minutes, they were making their way back to the town with their tummies full and the goblins’ skin and spears in Noah's bag. Noah also found an interesting thing on one of the goblins: a ring. It had a property he couldn't see, so he tucked it away in his bag of holding. For the first time since entering the game, Noah was singing a song. The goblin duo had given him great experience. His new health was standing at 390 and stamina at 230—a good value for a level 4 character, he thought. He’d also bagged almost 1
000 experience, bringing his total to 9110.

  26. The God's Realm

  N oah got shot in the sky like an old school rocket. His insides gathered in a tight ball as his speed increased beyond imagination. Noah lost everything. First his consciousness, and then his life.

  But he wasn't dead.

  He opened his eyes to a familiar white room. It was the same room where he had met the glass-man at the beginning. A white table that looked like it was just out of a furniture mall stood in the middle, and couple of chairs accompanied it. He was sure the table would even smell fresh cut wood if he sniffed it. The game was so real to all of his senses.

  But how did I get here?

  He was with Thia, walking back to town after killing a couple of goblin scouts, singing a sing, enjoying the aftertaste of fried chicken on his tongue.

  “Hello, mate.”

  Noah's eyes jumped to the man in the white robe walking out of a vanishing door. He wore the same circular glasses Noah had seen him in before. “Hello, glass-man,” Noah growled. Seeing him brought back memories of the asshole demon responsible for every crappy, painful death he’d faced in the game.

  “Did I ever mention my name?” Glass-man pushed his glasses up his nose.

  Noah gave him a poisonous smirk. “You did, but it was so common that I forgot it.”

  “Fifteen days in the game and you are already talking shit?” The glass-man raised his brows and produced a chair out of thin air.

  “What do you expect? Me on my knees, praising how grand the game is?”

  “You seem angry. I've only met people who swear by the game's comfort and easiness. Did you face a tough challenge or what?” He made an innocent face.

  Noah laughed contemptuously. “You are asking me, seriously? After you sent a dick, calling himself a demon, who forgot to tell me I needed a name to enter the game or I'd be put into a shit-hole.”

  “Did he?” The glass-man closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, a display had appeared in front of him. “A Cursemancer, and spawn location Drakonia City. That's bad.”

  “Bad? That’s what you call it? No, it wasn't bad at all. It was worse than bad.” Noah lifted his chair and slammed it on the table. “I was killed three times after spawning, and I wasn't even aware what was wrong. If not for the goddess’s blessing, I would have gone crazy by now.”

  He leaned forward. “Interesting. A goddess talked to you?”

  “Yes...”

  A strange voice filled Noah's mind. “Noah, it's me, Sumara. Do not tell him about our little conversation. I'll say it again, do not fucking tell him about our little arrangement or I'll yank that title of yours right away, and you can go fuck yourself until eternity.”

  Noah's heart leapfrogged into his throat.

  “Tell me more about her.”

  “I don't remember much about her.” Noah put his finger on his chin, faking a ponderous expression. “I guess it was Mumbara, or Marumba. Sorry. It was so common that I forgot it already.” Noah flashed a smirk at the glass-man. “Anyway, she offered me a title that made me neutral with demons for few days until I make my way to a human town.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Glass-man didn’t seem to find that very interesting. “That makes sense. Sometimes the game AI can do stupid things like that.”

  Noah couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something wrong with all of this. The way the glass-man's face lit up after Noah spoke of a goddess was fishy, and then Sumara's warning… It just confirmed his suspicion. Something was wrong.

  “Anyway, why am I here? Did you already find the cure for my coma?”

  “No. It's only been two days since you are went into the game, mate. Why would I have a cure in so short a time?”

  “Only two days?” Noah's mouth hung open as realization kicked in.

  “Yes, didn't I tell you about the time dilution? So, 1 month in the real world is 1 year in the game. Your fifteen days in the game means about one and half days in the real world.”

  Overwhelmed, Noah couldn’t respond right away. He’d known about the time dilution it, but he’d never really thought about it. “It's odd when you realize it.” It meant he had to spend a year in the game before meeting Tia. What about Tia, my daughter?”

  “We haven't contacted her yet, but we will soon. I hope by that time you'll get to a human town. You realize that we can't send her to the demon town, don't you? Technically, the continent you are in is not yet explored by the humans.”

  “I know. It's a bad situation. But don't worry. I'll do anything to get back to a human town.” Noah vowed with determination. He would do anything to get a glimpse of his daughter. “Anyway, why did you bring me here if it's only been two real-world days? Do you miss me that much?” Noah winked, teasing the glass-man.

  The glass-man shifted in the chair, awkwardly. “Let's start with my name. I'm Balthazar.”

  “Okay,” Noah said.

  “I was hoping you would give me a progress report for your last fifteen days. Did you recover any memories about the experiment you were doing?”

  “No. Nothing about the experiment.” Noah gave him half-truth. He wasn't sure why, but after hearing Sumara's warning, he was skeptical about everything.

  “Fair enough. Coming to the point, I received an abnormal report on your case. Did you visit the God's Realm at any time in the game?”

  “What's the God's Realm?” Noah asked.

  “Fair question. It's a continent set aside for the gods of the game. It runs parallel to the continent you are living on. The respawn room is in another realm that connects the God's Realm to the Earth. My team noticed a lot of downtime from your character, that means you were inaccessible for lots of time in the last fifteen days.”

  Sumara's voice echoed in his mind once again. “Be careful here, Noah.”

  “I was in the respawn room. Thanks to your asshole employee who forgot to tell me the importance of the name setting. I guess I died too many times, and I went there twice by myself to access the game forums.”

  “You found the hidden door in the spawn point? Wow! That's something new. Only five people had found it in the history of the game, and none were below level 80 when they found the door. That makes sense now. Okay, good enough for me, but I must warn you not to spend too much time there, or the game's AI will flag you as a cheater and put you in the Prison of the Damned. And trust me, that's not the place you want to be.” An unknown threat lurked in his eyes.

  “Thanks for your suggestions. But can I go back? There’s someone waiting for me.” Thia had been left behind, and he knew she would be worried by his sudden disappearance.

  The last time he’d vanished, she scrapped all of his face with her nails. He didn’t want to repeat that.

  “Okay. Take this.” Balthazar threw him a black rectangle that looked like an access card to a lab door.

  “What's this?”

  “A communication device. It’ll give you direct connection with my team. Whenever you find something useful, just call my name while holding this in your hand. My team is always listening to the communication channels, and we'll pull you here. It's better this way, rather than pulling you in this room every other day. That's costly you know.”

  “I understand.” Noah threw the device in his bag. Surprisingly, it didn't occupy a space in it. Good to know.

  The glass-man waved his hand, and the room faded away. For a moment, he felt like he was falling from a two hundred story building, but then he settled on the ground. He looked around, but Thia wasn't anywhere. A wave of panic washed over him.

  Then the wave turned into a river—a fifty-foot-wide river. Before him, a human male kneeled on the ground, pushing something into the earth. Had Noah just dropped near a human town?

  27. The Offer

  T he man in steel armor and a pink bone helmet was putting something inside the ground. An ornate azure staff lay on the ground beside him. The staff held intricate carvings, and a soft glowing ruby was fixed atop it.
The weapon had its own frightening demeanor, but the man otherwise looked like a harmless fellow and reminded Noah of a colleague, who loved to call himself Asian from old earth, working in the IMT. The stranger wore multiple things that Noah didn't recognize, and he was so preoccupied with his work, he didn't even notice Noah standing right behind him.

  Noah cast perception on the man.

  Perception failed. Despite regular warnings, you keep casting perception on everyone. -1 intelligence for 10 minutes. A fool doesn’t need any intelligence at all. XxX.

  What the heck is wrong with this game?

  Noah coughed to call attention to himself.

  The man spun to face Noah and tapped his staff on the ground, sending a shockwave rippling outward in a ring around him. Before Noah could react, the shockwave hit him, draining most of his life. When his vision faded, he had only 10 life remaining in his health pool. He couldn’t even resist before falling into unconsciousness.

  Something entered his mouth before he died.

  Noah's vision cleared in an instant, and a wave of energy passed through his body. His health bar filled rapidly to its maximum, and a small heart icon appeared beside it. A bright red notification appeared.

  Greater Healing Potion Buff applied. 10% health recovery every 5 seconds for the next five hours.

  The man in the pink helmet stood next to him with a red vial the size and shape of a bottle of water. The healing potion vials Noah had seen until then were more like test tubes. Maybe the greater healing potion required bigger bottles.

  “This one is extremely sorry, my human friend. This one didn’t know you were only level 4 before casting that shockwave spell.”

  “What the heck was that spell? And who are you? Did I land in a human town?”

  “This one is called Shui, and my character name is KickTheAssX12.”