BlackFlame Online Vol 1

by A P Gore

  Sorry. Not enough build points. Do you want to direct a builder to build a hut for you? Yes/No?

  He again selected yes, and another error popped up.

  Sorry. No builder available. Build a town hall to produce builders.

  What the heck is all this?

  He wanted to explore more, but Thia was on his shoulder, and the night was coming fast. He could always come back and find out what else the expansion site provided to him.

  32. Curse of Sumara

  T hat night, Noah slept like a dead man. He had no energy left even for eating dinner, and the same was true for Thia. She was subdued, far from her usual boisterous self. Noah assumed she was exhausted too.

  The sun came up with bright and shiny light, enhancing his mood. Many things waited for him today. He was planning to return to the expansion site and explore it more thoroughly. There was something at the center, he just knew it, and he needed to know what that was. He wouldn’t take Thia with him today. He couldn't risk her life. The whole ordeal with the goblins made one thing clear to him: he couldn't lose Thia. He cared for her a lot.

  Wondering why his little demon girl hadn't awoken yet and licked his face, he looked over at her. She was sleeping, but her features were pinched with pain. He shook her shoulder gently to try and wake her, but she didn’t stir. He touched Thia's forehead. It was hot. She was burning up with fever. Her health, too, was reducing slowly. But how was that even possible? How could someone get sick and have a fever? Sickness like this made little sense in a game world. Noah hurried downstairs to check with Mathial. Mathial was his go-to guy.

  The sound of hammer kissing metal told him where he would find Mathial. In hopes of putting him in a good mood, Noah presented him with the goblin spear. Mathial's face brightened as if he’d found his long lost love.

  “Thank you, human. You are proving to be of good use to me. Fock the goblins!” he yelled in happiness.

  Noah saw a couple of notifications but ignored them. He knew what they were for: reputation and experience. Then there was a third one of congratulations as well. The game had decided that he’d earned a point in some random stat for some random thing. He ignored everything. The girl's fever was most important.

  “Can you come upstairs with me? Thia is burning with fever. Is that something common here?” he asked.

  The blacksmith's face darkened, darker than the night. “Did you say a fever?”

  “Yes, and her health is slowly dropping.”

  “So, it's time. I thought she might be an exception.” Mathial shook his and hit his hammer on a nearby piece of metal breaking, it in twain. “Go to the high mage and ask for temporary relief. I'll help her here. Don't worry, a good dose of food will bring her life back and help her for few hours. But you must ask the high mage for relief as soon as possible. Otherwise I won't be able to save her.”

  Noah grabbed blacksmith's collar and pulled him forward. “What do you mean by all of this? What would happen to her?”

  Mathial pushed him away like he was made of air. “Ask the high mage.”

  “I'm going there straight away. Take care of her please,” Noah asked with watery eyes and got going to meet the high mage.

  High Mage Roderich lived in a half-broken house near the ceremonial grounds. Noah avoided even looking at the grounds.

  “The human. How may I help you?” Roderich asked.

  “The girl with me, she has a fever. Mathial said I should check with you.”

  Roderich’s face darkened.

  “Can you please tell me what is happening with her?” Noah said.

  “Come in, human, and we shall discuss this over tea.”

  “Tea.”

  “Yes, a rare substance in the demon side of the realm, but not impossible to find.”

  “She is sick, and you are talking about having tea?” Noah was about to grab Roderich's collar too, but he suppressed the urge.

  “There is nothing I can do here. We can only pray to the Goddess Sumara.” He looked up and chanted something. “But don't worry. Mathial will make sure to stabilize her life until we finish our discussion.”

  “Why do you keep talking like she is in trouble? What danger is she facing?” Noah growled. He wanted to yell, but he again suppressed his anger. There was no need to piss off the one person who could help him.

  “Let's talk inside.”

  Noah followed Roderich, and the door closed behind them automatically.

  Roderich prepared two cups of tea for them. The tea tasted like ginger and herbs.

  Congratulations! You have stepped on the path of becoming a herbalist. You have gained +1 to Herbalism. Now you can smell herbs and gain common knowledge about them.

  Noah was surprised by the notification but pushed it away and focused on the high mage, who was seeping his tea.

  “It all started a hundred years back when our town was called Drakonia. It also went by the name Merchant City of Sumara. You must have seen the signs of wealth everywhere, on the gates and the broken houses. Now the only remaining buildings are Blacksmith's Inn—which is still standing because he was the most devoted pupil of Goddess Sumara—and the grand hall, though it's buried under heavy stones.”

  “What was the reason behind this? Is the curse of Sumara related to this?” Noah asked.

  “Let me come to that, human.” He paused to sip his tea.

  Noah suppressed the urge to yank that cup out of his hand and throw it away. A teatime story wasn't something he wanted here. Hard facts. He wanted hard facts.

  “Have you seen any female demons in town, other than the girl you brought with you?”

  “No.” He had seen no girl or woman in the whole town. But why?

  “The curse lets no woman live if she visits the town. All our wives, daughters, and mothers died in the event that destroyed the town.”

  “Damn!” Noah felt sick to his stomach. Putting his cup down, he grabbed his knees and took a deep breath. “What was the reason for the curse?” Noah asked after a long pause.

  “I can't go into detail, but know this: the girl you brought into town is suffering the same symptoms every other woman suffered back then. I have something that will prolong her life, but you will have to part with her soon.”

  Noah jumped to his feet in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” The high mage was literally telling him that Thia was going to die soon.

  33. Aftermath

  Sumara

  S umara walked along the red and blue marble pathway. The two colors had been mixed by the most qualified mason that ever existed in BlackFlame Online when the pathway to the greater god’s hall was created. She hated this pathway, its eternal silence, its dust free environment. She hated everything about it.

  Sun and moon light, mixing with each other and forming a pattern of warm and cold light, illuminated the gold and silver statues placed across the pathway. Those were the greater gods, banished from the game realm thousands of years ago. In game time, of course.

  The coldness in the air grew sharp, then lethal, as she walked deep inside the hallway. The statues accompanying her on either side had turned into diamonds and rubies by then. These were the most dangerous higher gods that ruled over BlackFlame ages ago. Their existence was erased from the hearts of any living being. Even the immortal dragons didn’t know about these gods.

  But Sumara could never forget one god’s name.

  She stopped in front of a statue, a man with a firm chin and ruby eyes that were so real, anyone looking at them would fear they would move at any time.

  She wept silently, kneeling in front of her love. Lucifer.

  “Why are you crying, my love?” A deep voice echoed in her mind.

  “Every time I walk here, the statues… They remind me of the pain, suffering, embarrassment you went through, my lord. But I promise you, I’ll free you from this eternal prison soon.”

  The voice in her mind chuckled. “A few more millennia, my dear. Then I’ll be free from everything.” />
  “I can’t wait in this rotten prison for few more millennia. Isn’t the hundred years we’ve spent here enough?” she asked furiously.

  “That’s nothing when we count real-world years, is it? Remind me again what’s your term of events? My memories are slowly fading in this state.”

  Sumara eyed the statue sadly. This was all because of her. One mistake in the real world, and they were both put into this prison for 500 real-life years. She was a demon, and Lucifer was her lord. They were a power to be recognized in the 21st century, but two thousand years after the Earth perished, their power dimmed to nonexistence, and they had to live as messengers of the new gods. One single mistake, one single fucking mistake had put both of them in this virtual prison. She could at least live as a god in this game, but what about her love? He was living the life of a greater god, never to be reached by any creature.

  But everything was about to change. Everything would change, and she would have her freedom. Her lips twitched in a cunning smile.

  “I can sense your cunning smile from here. What’s the reason, Sumara?” Lucifer asked in a serious tone.

  “Everything gonna change, my lord. For the first time, I’ve got a follower. A real follower, in Drakonia.”

  “Didn’t you destroy that whole empire?” Surprise was clearly audible in Lucifer’s voice.

  “I did.” Sumara paused to laugh. “It was of no use back then. Prayers from the virtual demons were fucking useless for me, or you. But now everything is changing. One human has set foot in Drakonia and has already pledged his faith to me.”

  “That’s interesting. But how did you get him to come to this side of the continent? I remember you telling me this side was inaccessible to the humans.”

  “Well, frankly speaking, I got some help from an old friend and made his first spawn look like a bug…” She laughed like a maniac. “Just a few more years, my lord. I’ll make him grow strong, suitable as your vessel to roam in the real world once again. Our return to the real world is not far away.”

  Tia

  Real World — Thema — Mage Academy, planet of Spectra 33.

  The cafeteria’s warm air was no good for Tia. Her five-foot-five slender body shivered with anger as the man in the black suit turned his back on her and walked away. He had chosen wisely. One more minute of his intense perfume or his stupid proposal, and Tia would have blasted his face with a fire orb.

  “What was he doing here?” Visaka asked her.

  Tia pulled her stare away from the tasty vegetarian burger in front of her and looked at her friend, wiping her tears with the cuffs of her gray robe, a common uniform of the mage academy. It was her final year in the academy, and she hadn’t expected news about the man she hated most. “He was talking about my dad.”

  “Isn’t he in a magical coma?” Visaka crooked a brow. She wore a pristine white robe, contrasting with her deep black eyes. She looked like—and was—a princess of Spectra 33. Beautiful, elegant, but down to earth and, hence, Tia’s best friend.

  “The man said Noah is out of the coma and playing in some fantasy game. He also asked if I want to meet him in a month’s time—in the game.” The words evoked another wave of anger inside her core. How could he ask her to meet him?

  “What did you say?” Visaka rubbed her shoulder. She knew about Tia’s past and her hatred for her father.

  “What should I have said?”

  “You should meet him once.” Visaka’s voice was empathetic.

  “I can’t. I hate that man, and I’d never meet him in my whole life.” Tia stood and walked away, sobbing. Noah had been out of her life for the last twenty years, and she hadn’t missed him a single day in those years. But hearing his name again opened many wounds buried deep inside her heart, and they would hurt a lot for the next few days. Until she managed to forget that Noah even existed anymore.

  Book 2 She Demon

  Table of Contents

  1. Forty Years

  2. The Room

  3. Class System

  4. Respawn

  5. Goddess Sumara

  6. New Class

  7. Cursemancer

  8. Demon Tongue

  9. Blacksmith

  10. Spells

  11. Spirit Cycling

  12. Critical Strike

  13. Skill Book

  14. Level up

  15. Demon Girl

  16. Close Call

  17. The Fun

  18. Temple of Sumara

  19. Chance

  20. Companion

  21. Demon Crystal

  22. Dream

  23. Goblin

  24. Fock the goblins

  25. Goblin Town

  26. The God's Realm

  27. The Offer

  28. The Answer

  29. Curse of the Boiling Blood

  30. Showdown

  31. Expansion Site

  32. Curse of Sumara

  33. Aftermath

  Book 2 She Demon

  1. Bounty

  2. Reluctance

  3. The Antidote

  4. Merchant

  5. Armor

  6. Herbalism

  7. Rihala

  8. Ice Shot

  9. Final Nail in the coffin

  10. Zombies

  11. Collar

  12. Killing ground

  13. Dark Crystal orb

  14. New Quest

  15. Skeleton House

  16. Sacrifice

  17. Curse Acceleration

  18. Seducing Demon

  19. Past

  20. Goblin Commander

  21. The Promise

  22. Cave of Xamphala

  23. Raining Fireballs

  24. Well of Healing

  25. The Boss

  26. The Kiss

  27. The Quest

  28. Curse of Raise Zombie

  29. Sacrifice

  30. Revenge

  31. Head Man

  32. First Pillar

  33. Town Management

  34. gamisha

  1.Weaponry

  2.Druid

  3.Decision

  4.Jethro

  5.Red Scroll

  6.The Human

  7. The fight

  8. Good Bye

  9. Collar of Slaves

  1. Bounty

  Shui

  The air inside the pitch-dark warehouse was still and warm. Shui held his breath, fearing the sound of his breath might wake the boss. But he couldn’t stop his stomach from lurching in hunger. It emitted a loud crack that practically echoed in the empty warehouse. He grabbed his stomach in a futile attempt to stop that noise. Just a few hours back, he had eaten a double ham sandwich. Why was he so hungry now? Was it because of exertion? The dark sewers he’d passed through to get here were quite dangerous.

  Shui stiffened as he heard the rustle of footsteps from the south corner of the hundred-foot-long warehouse. A single ray of light blinked from that corner, illuminating the black dust floating in the air. Shui couldn’t determine the source of the light, but it was enough to let him know that the boss was awake and aware of his presence.

  Shui conjured a heavy light spell, illuminating the warehouse in a bright golden light. The warehouse had been weathered by time. The walls were rough, the floor covered with dust and bones scattered between a few wooden crates. The boss stood at the south corner, chewing on a short wooden stick.

  A quick perception check told Shui that the boss was a level 44 rogue wearing medium light armor and gray pants.

  Shui tapped his ruby-headed unique staff on the ground, sending ripples across the floor. The wave of force traveled from the base of his staff and spread outward in a circle. The wooden crates shifted as the earth below them shook violently. The spell hit the boss, but he was prepared. He stepped into a shadow and vanished.

  Shui had expected this, and he was ready with his next attack: the shadow finder spell. The spell worked on everything, even rogues with expert level stealth skill—which
was otherwise impossible to break. The spell emerged from the purple ruby on his staff and spread across the room, banishing the shadows and revealing the dark things lurking within them.

  The boss was a few feet away—too close for Shu’s comfort—when the spell yanked him out of the shadows. But the boss jumped away as soon as he realized his stealth had dropped.

  Smart move. If the rogue had gone through with his dagger attack, Shui’s pinning spell would have captured him and annihilated him. But the rogue anticipated Shui’s move and saved himself from the expert level skill attack.

  Shui rubbed his stomach as he remembered the cheese over his ham sandwich.

  He was about to cast another spell when a purple beam of light illuminated him from above, transporting him to a room with white painted walls and ceiling. He knew this room. This was where he had made a deal with the devil himself.

  “Welcome back, mate. That was disappointing.” The man who called himself Balthazar gazed at him from behind a pair of old-fashioned glasses. Disappointment shone in his eyes as he adjusted his long white robe and sat on the chair across the table from Shui.

  Shui pulled off his unique pink bone helmet and set it on the table. He knew what Balthazar was talking about: his assignment. “This one doesn’t consider it the same.” Shui observed the man’s every movement. He couldn’t let anything slip past; Balthazar was cunning and dangerous. Shui hadn’t met anyone else who could teleport him at will. And the task Balthazar had given him was weird too. If he could teleport Shui so easily, why didn’t he just teleport the target where he wanted them? “You didn’t tell this one about the god’s curse the target had.”

  “It’s called a blessing, mate. And I assumed you would use your sentient ability on the target.”

  “It doesn’t work that way. His protection is something else, and this one couldn’t activate teleportation on him.” Shui shifted his weight on his right leg. The room was pure white, but it still seemed tainted to him. There was something unsettling about all of this. It smelled like a conspiracy. First, he was yanked out of his daily quest into this room a few days back, and the man wearing glasses who smelled like an expensive perfume shop offered him a job and a location. The job was easy, to carry a player using his unique teleportation skill to a desired location. But when he met Noah, the target, he discovered the unexpected complexity of the task. First, Noah seemed too good to be true. The dumb man was fighting for a stupid demon girl. Second, Noah had a curse active on his title, a curse of no teleportation. It was a high-level curse, and Shui had never seen it before. The curse prohibited the target from teleporting anywhere. Shui found out about it when he tried to forcefully teleport Noah, which failed miserably. The resulting debuff had haunted Shui for two days.