by Charles Dean
“Is . . . is this real, Darwin?” Kass asked, a little dumbfounded. “Did we just interrupt the Boss playing a game of cards with the minions?”
“I think we did . . . was he winning?” Darwin didn’t wait for her answer, charging the Turtle-Wolves and killing them while the Bear was still standing up. Kass wanted to join, but for some reason she was too stunned to realize what was going on until after Darwin had dispatched the four Turtle-Wolves.
Here goes nothing! Kass thought, slamming her staff into the ground, her favorite caster pose, and casting ‘Winter is Coming’ on the Bear. The snaring effect didn’t work, and the Bear began to charge Kass at a blinding speed.
Just before the Bear hit Kass, Darwin slammed into it with barely enough force to push it off its course and into the silver wall on her right. Kass kept casting, scared of what was going to happen next. She did her best to channel her most powerful spell, ‘Ice Dragon Dance.’ The cast time might be long, but she closed her eyes and did her best to channel it as fast as she could while Darwin fought. She couldn’t run; the Bear was too fast. She couldn’t cast snowballs, they wouldn’t do anything if ‘Winter is Coming’ didn’t have an effect. She only had this and the Frost Edge that was already on Darwin’s blade.
Almost done . . . Almost done . . . Almost done . . . Th . . . Just before the channeling finished, she felt something kill the entire spell. Her eyes popped open, and she felt fear grip her heart with a chilling hand like none of her ice spells could.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t have you finish that spell. You’d ruin the show,” a voice said from behind her. “You have no idea how much effort I put into making it here on time. You wouldn’t want to take away my fun now, would you?”
She had been silenced. There was nothing she could do to help Darwin, so she turned around to see who was talking. The voice’s owner was a tall woman with skin pale as the moon, and her eyes the same crimson red that Darwin’s were. She was wearing a black Cocktail Dress that flowed into the floor and wasn’t even carrying a Staff.
“It’s okay, little thing. Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you yet. He’d be mad at me for that,” the woman said, patting Kass’s head. “Just watch the show.”
And so she did. The show was brutal too. With every second that passed, Darwin seemed to somehow get faster. He grew stronger as the battle wore on. His Axes came cleaving from side to side, and the Bear did its best to turn, maw and swipe at the oncoming attack. It was beautiful. Darwin wasn’t fighting like he was trying to kill a Boss--he was fighting like a seasoned warrior clinging to life. She had been petrified by the giant Bear, and he had dived to save her life. She thought it was over, and here he was fighting on like death wasn’t an option.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” the woman asked. It was, but Kass’s voice was as silenced as her casting ability.
As the Bear made its final death cry, bleeding from the hundreds of small cuts and rips of Darwin’s Axe, Darwin gave it mercy and buried his Axe right between its eyes. The battle was won, and the only sound left was the gentle golfer’s clap that the woman was making next to Kass.
You have reached Level 31!
“I’m sorry, dear, I know you’re looking forward to seeing what it dropped, but I can’t have you interrupting a family reunion. This is my first time meeting brother after all,” she said, patting Kass on the back and causing a spell to ring through her body.
It was a sleep spell, and Kass did everything she could to hold onto consciousness as she hit the floor. She could only make out a few words clearly as the woman called out to Darwin, waving at Darwin like a mother trying to get her kid’s attention after a soccer game. But she could make the words out. “Why would you . . . bring a player . . . our home . . .” That was all she could make out before the blackness of the sleep spell overtook her.
You have been knocked unconscious. You have two hours before you will regain consciousness.
Crap. Two hours? What kind of sleep spell is that? The death timer isn’t even that long. Well, I might as well log and get some food and sleep. We’ve been at this all night.
Valerie
Valerie felt like an angel as she took slow short steps into the Temple of the Sun God. She always had the appearance of an angel, a perfectly normal human body with giant wings sticking out of her back, but now more than ever she felt the celestial touch. She felt like the Sun God was real and filling her mind with awe for this fleeting moment.
It was the Temple’s impact on those who entered. The structure was a massive glass building that, unlike all the other glass buildings in the city, had color-tinted glass. In fact, it had more colors and shades of purple, red, orange and all the other colors of the rainbow than Valerie had ever seen before in the real world. They littered the thousand interlocking prisms of glass making up the surface of the giant dome. As Valerie took each step into the massive dome, she felt ever more in awe of the spectacle. The inside of the dome was like walking through a giant kaleidoscope as the sun’s and the cloud’s movement twirled the colors through the room leaving no two inches of the floor the same color and no color staying in the same space for more than a minute at most. Even the air seemed to share in the everlasting rainbow that themed the sanctuary.
She had to steady herself though and not get lost in the swirl of beauty dancing around her. To be here was an honor unlike any other. She was the first player to have entered the building. The first player to have been selected for promotion. Herald of the Dawn. The title that many players had been aiming for, she managed to earn first.
“Valerie, it’s okay. It’s okay to take in the wonder of the Sun God and all his beauty,” her commander said, noticing her eyes struggle to stay fixed on the objective waiting in front of her, the First Light of the Sun God.
“It’s magnificent.”
“Yes, it is, and you’ve earned the right to be here,” he said, putting his arm comfortingly on her shoulder. He was a NPC, but sometimes Valerie forgot that with how apt he was at being there for her. “Go on, take your time. He will wait for those who have been chosen by the Sun God.”
It’s so pretty, she thought, doing exactly as her commander suggested and taking her time as she walked down her path to the First Light of the Sun God. By the time she reached the end and was standing before the him she had completely lost herself in the colors.
“Valerie, Scout of the Sun God Empire, do you know what has brought you before me?” the tall, white-winged man in front of her asked. He was wearing white Robes with a yellow sun drawn on the middle and orange rays drawn in an odd zigzag out from the sun. He lifted his hands in some odd ceremonial gesture that brought Valerie back to reality and made her want to laugh.
What is he doing? Oh yeah, I was told what to do here, she thought, taking a knee before the man as if she were a soldier before a King, waiting to be knighted.
“You have been chosen by your betters to join them as a peer. You are here not just for your abilities in combat, but for your proven and tireless dedication to the Sun God. For this, you have been awarded the rank Herald of the Dawn,” he said, making a blessing motion with his hand. “Rise child, and may the light of the Sun God protect you henceforth.”
When she stood up, he didn’t have any more words or gifts or gestures. He just turned around like they had already left the building. Well this is awkward. He must be fun at parties, she thought, not able to wipe the smile off her face though. She had done it! She was Herald of the Dawn!
“So you know this means I’m not your commander anymore,” her former superior said.
“Yeah, I know.”
“And you know that means you’re going to have to call me something else right? ‘Commander’ would sound strange given we’re the same rank.”
“Well, how about ‘Raven’?” she said, suggesting his wing type.
“What? No, that’s ridiculous. It’s Tim. I’m Tim. Now do you want to go get a bite at the tavern?” he asked, giving her a sly smile at
the same time.
Valerie wasn’t an NPC, so she didn’t need the food, but she still took him up on the offer. Even though he was a figment of the game’s imagination, he was still the first guy who had ever asked her to anything. In real life, the accident had taken away more than her legs. It took away her friends, her suitors and even the ability to talk to her parents without being crushed by their pity. At 25 years old, Valerie had never left the house except to go to school or the doctors, so even though he was just an NPC, she happily accepted. “Yeah, sure! Sounds great! But you’re buying.” She had made a friend, and at this point she didn’t care that he wasn’t real.
“Sure, can’t have a girl like you pay for her own drinks,” he said, winking.
“Thanks. I mean, whatever, anyways, what do I do now that I’m a Herald?” she asked, her face changing colors like the Temple’s floor.
“Oh, that’s easy. You recruit. You need to find 10 people to join your command and sign them up with the office. You can technically exceed 10 but only with players that aren’t born of service. There is no cap on how many of those you can get. Then your company has to complete the missions and jobs it is assigned everyday. You can take as many bonus missions from HQ as you like for extra cash, but the cash goes to your command, not you personally. If you don’t complete the base mission assignments by the end of each week, then you’ll lose your command,” he explained. She was basically a Guild master now for a 10 person NPC Guild that could add on as many PCs as it liked.
“I see, so I don’t actually have to work as long as I have enough minions to do it for me . . .” she thought aloud.
“I suppose you could say that. After all, I had you do all my work for me. Screw the heavy lifting when you can make a tiny, naive girl do it for you.”
“Isn’t it supposed to be me who takes advantages of big, handsome men?”
“Handsome? You must really want that free food. Anyway, first drink’s on me; you’re on your own for the second one. Let’s go,” he said, walking towards the tavern.
When Valerie finally made it into the tavern, she looked around at everyone. She used to see people, but her promotion was making her nervous. Which one of these guys will be a good soldier, will raise my rank higher? she thought as her eyes darted the room.
“You’re doing that thinking thing again, aren’t you?” Tim said, noticing her eyes darting from NPC to NPC. “You know it’s not good for you. It’s why you keep getting stuck with more and more responsibility.”
“Maybe so,” Valerie laughed, still not sure which one of the NPCs she should recruit or how she was even supposed to do it--things she probably would have kept thinking about if Tim hadn’t bumped her wing with his and raised a glass.
Chapter 4: The Red-Eye Flight to ZombOgre Town
Darwin:
Darwin walked to town in shock. The entire three-hour trip felt like it passed by in minutes as he wrestled with his thoughts for control of his mind. The conversation with the woman who claimed to be his sister had left much for him to think about. He had carried Kass’s body out of the dungeon before it vanished like it had the last time she logged out. Likely, it didn’t vanish earlier because with enemies still around, the game wanted to see if her character would die while she was unconscious. He was kind of happy to not have her around though with all the the things he had to think about. The fight with the polar bear Burriza and the amazing weapon it dropped were overshadowed by the Job Class his ‘sister’ had given him. Tiqpa Character Screen. Tiqpa Skill Screen.
- Name: Darwin
- Job Class: Soul Knight
- Level: 31
- Race: Unknown
- EXP until next Level: 92110
- Rank: Captain of Valcrest
- Total EXP: 1184665
- Soul Charges: 13
Passive Skills:
Soul Sever (Level 1)--Killing enemies grants one charge. Killing enemy players grants ten charges. If an enemy player is killed the enemy player will lose one level.
Soul Collector (Level 1)--Allows the user to hold up to 50 soul charges.
Active Skills:
Soul Eater (Level 1)--Temporarily consume all soul charges (a minimum of 30 soul charges is required) to fully restore hit points. Grants user +25% all stats for 180 seconds. May only be used once per hour.
Soul Forge (Level 1)--May use soul charges to level NPCs (requires new level in soul charges, example: To level an NPC from 29 to 30 it will require 30 soul charges). Requires physical contact or alter contact to use.
Racial Skill:
Demonic Command - May recruit fatally wounded monster NPCs (may only recruit monsters of or below the user’s level. The number that can be recruited is dependent on the Rank of the user).
If Darwin hadn’t been so absorbed in his own thoughts, he would have noticed that something was wrong sooner. He would have caught the obvious signs; the pillars of smoke rising from the village, the empty fields devoid of farmers, the barren roads with no NPC traders and, worst of all, the silence. There were no Guards to interrupt his meandering into town. There were no people to break his train of thought as his feet carried him to the place he was, after just a day or two, already starting to call home. There was nothing to prepare or warn him for the sight of Captain Elmont lying bloodied where the door to the tavern used to be.
“Darwin, it’s you,” Elmont coughed, one of the other NPCs attending him where he had been cut down. “You made it back.”
Darwin shook himself out of one shock only to fall victim to another. “What happened? Old man, what happened to you?” he asked, staring blankly at the Captain lying before him, covered up almost all the way with a bedsheet like he was already dead.
“It was that black-Armored group. They came through the town. Darwin . . . don’t . . . don’t go in there. The bartender and his son are dead inside. I did my best to defend them, but they were after the Coin set aside for the King’s taxes.”
They don’t belong here. They are a pestilence on creation. His sister’s thoughts echoed in his head. They, who have no understanding of death in our world, will rip apart the fabric of our society.
Darwin cleared his thoughts. She didn’t know what she was talking about. This type of thing wasn’t a common occurrence for gamers. It was only a PK Guild that would do this. On Emerald Gardens, there were a few prominent PK Guilds, but they didn’t make up everyone. Two of the PK Guilds, Grumpy Cat Wants You Dead and DontCCmyDrink, had done a lot of stuff like this or things like joining a raid group without their Guild’s tag and yelling the infamous ‘LEEERROOOYYY JENKINS!’ right before a group would attempt the final Boss of a three hour dungeon. Other than Guilds like that though, most Guilds were full of people who honestly liked to make their NPC world better.
Darwin pulled himself out of his thoughts again and back to the Captain. “Elmont, before you die, I have something that I really need to say . . . I finished the quest.”
Elmont looked at Darwin and gave a chuckle, coughing up blood as he did it. “Is that really what you have to say boy? Out with it. I know that look. I don’t have much longer no matter what that healer says.”
“I’ll do what needs to be done, Elmont. I’ll save those that are left,” Darwin said, knowing he didn’t have to say it at all.
“No promises of revenge then? You’re better than I thought you were, boy. Here, the bastards who did this didn’t manage to find this on me. Take it, and it’s kind of short notice, but I need a favor of you. I need you to take my Rank. Between the 8th Legion’s death and this, there aren’t any Captains left in Valcrest. Take my Rank and rebuild.” Darwin saw him struggle with each breath to finish his thought. For some reason, even though they had only known each other for a day or two at most, Darwin felt like he had known Elmont his whole life. Like Elmont was a big brother.
“Elmont, it’s okay. You can rest. I got it from here,” Darwin said, kneeling beside him and taking the last gifts he had left behind. It looked like he wasn’t
going to get his quest completion.
You have received the Captain’s Emblem
You have been offered the position Captain of Valcrest. Do you wish to Accept or Reject?
Accept. You bastard, I just got a promotion and now I don’t have a drinking buddy to celebrate it with. “Thanks, Darwin, I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Elmont said, passing away as quietly as a man closing his eyes for a nap.
Darwin brought up the Captain’s Emblem from his inventory to inspect it. Captain’s Emblem: when carried, raises the level of all NPCs commanded by +5. All nearby allied players will receive +5% to all stats. Darwin blinked as he read out the properties. First the Class, then the Rank, then this item. The game really is putting the pressure on me to be a commander.
Tiqpa Character Screen.
- Name: Darwin
- Job Class: Soul Knight
- Level: 31
- Race: Unknown
- EXP until next Level: 92110
- Rank: Captain of Valcrest
- Total EXP: 1184665
- Soul Charges: 13
Rank: Captain of Valcrest. Darwin had heard in the tavern enough to know what the Rank Captain meant. It was a tier three Rank, meaning he could now recruit up to a hundred NPCs for whatever objective he had in mind, and promote two of them to the Rank First Lieutenant and ten of them to the Rank Second Lieutenant under him. The point of the promotions within the Ranks was to make sure he didn’t have to micromanage all one hundred NPCs, as each second and first lieutenant could command nine or forty-nine NPCs respectively. Not that any of this would do him any good considering the entire town had just been wiped out and there probably weren’t any good NPCs to recruit from.