Anomaly (Somnia Online Book 2)

by K. T. Hanna

  Jirald chuckled. Most people were the same in this place. They wanted him to be sketchy, but they didn’t really want him to act like it. Thing was, the more he sunk himself into this world, into the play style his character required—the less he ever wanted to log off.

  The less he wanted to go back to the human realm.

  Pushing into his trainer’s room without knocking—you didn’t have to be that polite when you were a thief and assassin—he stopped short as he realized there was a second man he’d not seen before standing in there speaking to the trainer in hushed tones. The new man was tall for a human, his dark hair cropped close as was his beard and mustache. He looked almost like a swashbuckling pirate, except his clothes were all black and practically blended in and out with the walls.

  “There you are.” Talyn motioned for Jirald to come over. “I was just telling my boss all about you and your newest path.”

  Jirald raised an eyebrow and walked a few steps closer, although he didn’t bow. Instead he waited, arms crossed with impatience. They’d better not waste his time. He had an enchanter to torment, a guild to destroy, and a game to win.

  If Talyn was taken aback by his pupil’s response, he didn’t show it, but a brief wave of irritation passed over the other’s face.

  “This is Sidius. He’s visiting. Heard you’d followed the darkest path you could and was curious.” Talyn glanced at the massive clock behind him. “Oh, would you look at the time. I’ll leave you two to it.”

  Before he passed Jirald, Talyn leaned in close. “He’s better than you. Trust me. Don’t test him too much. He’s not as easy going as I am. I’d say good luck, but I need it more than you do.”

  Talyn laughed as he closed the door behind him.

  Sidius moved languidly, almost like a snake, his dark hair and eyes blending in with the rest of him. “So, you’re Jirald then.”

  Jirald raised an eyebrow. “And?”

  Sidius didn’t seem impressed. He simply waited, inspecting his own perfectly manicured fingernails until Jirald began to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

  “I’m Jirald. What of it?” He managed to squeeze out the words.

  This time Sidius seemed to take it a little better. “You’ve delved down my path. I thought you might want to talk to someone who’s been there.” He walked around Jirald slowly, arms crossed, frowning. His eyes flickered in such a way that the thief thought the man might be able to see through him. Maybe even read his mind—but not even the headset could pluck actual thoughts from his head, could it?

  “You’ve already accessed your Light Shifting ability. Impressive. Being able to maneuver light in such a way that it fools your opponents.” There was approval running through Sidius’s voice, almost like a purr. “Excellent.”

  Then he paused, standing directly behind Jirald, so close that the scent of cinnamon on his breath reached the newfound thief. “Tell me...what is your motivation? Why are you here? Out of all the rogues we have in this world, you’re the only one other than myself so far to have sought out this particular path. So, why?”

  Jirald had to swallow his immediate response. Fuck you was becoming less witty repartee and more reflex for him, and for some reason he didn’t think Sidius would take well to being told to fuck off. NPC or not, there was an aura to this character that transcended what he’d met before, and made him think more deeply. Thoughts flitted through his head. He wanted strength, he wanted power, but at the pinnacle, he wanted respect—and he’d get that through revenge. He wanted people to acknowledge the skill level he possessed, and to make that group pay for all the humiliation and trauma they’d caused him.

  It never entered his mind that others might be just as good as him. He wanted people to see him and Exodus and have that flush of respect hit their system. Every one of his friends was worth a thousand of Murmur and hers, he was sure of that.

  He had to try hard not to growl, not to let it get the best of him. Sidius stepped around the side, his dark brown eyes taking in every single nuance of Jirald’s behavior. In a way it was like an X-ray, and the locus rogue was fully aware it was happening. He took in a deep breath. It was never a good thing to give away too much of yourself.

  “I have my reasons.”

  Sidius laugh was cruel. There was an edge of madness to it, a warning that made Jirald gasp slightly, bringing on a wariness he’d not yet felt in Somnia. “You can have your reasons, but I need to know them. I can’t read your mind; I’m not an enchanter.”

  At the mention of her class, Jirald’s temper boiled over. He would grasp at anything that might make him stronger, that might make him reach his goal sooner. “There’s this girl and her friends. They took something from me in a previous world. Something that shouldn’t have been theirs, something we deserved more than they did.”

  “Oh, I see.” And this time the hunger in Sidius’s eyes was frightening. “Revenge is one of the best motivators. Now. Let’s see how we can best get you what you seek, shall we?”

  “No!” Murmur yelled out as Sinister’s eyes opened wide. It wasn’t that she thought her friend couldn’t die and come back, but in her own mind death was possibly permanent, and any injury or death scared her. She instinctively distance stunned the scout’s ass, holding it in place an entire twelve seconds while the others began to wail on her. With Havoc’s multiple DoTs in place, there was no way for her to hide again. Making a note to herself, she realized they should probably have a damage over time spell break all of the Mezmerizes so there was no way for them to pull shit like that.

  She cradled Sinister and cast her mind shielding around her friend.

  “Whoa, pain receptors.” Sinister coughed the words out, blood spittle forming on her lips. “Shit.”

  She waved one hand out, and a small stream of blood began to flow from the scout to Sinister. It wasn’t as strong as usual, but Sin also wasn’t at her best. Slowly, Murmur watched while Sinister healed herself up. That had to have been a major critical hit or something. She clutched at her friend as the scout finally died, and watched her pale face fade back into the strong purple it had been before.

  “I’ll be okay Mur. I can die, remember?” Sin pushed herself up, still at three quarter health, and brushed her robe off. “Damn it, that hurt. Wasn’t only a critical hit but in a critical location. I think it’s not only getting more specific on where you need to aim, but I truly think Somnia’s NPCs are getting more intelligent and skillful. They don’t just wildly swing their weapons; they’re adept at using them.”

  “No kidding.” Devlish ran a hand over his neck. “The way they parry and block my attacks is one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever experienced. And yet somehow totally an adrenaline rush.”

  “Still not sure how they manage to parry you, block my cat’s jaws, and dodge Merlin’s arrows all at the same time.” Beastial grumbled, picking out the last of a shaft wedged in Shir-Khan’s hide. A low growl emanated from the cat as it was removed, and Beastial scratched its eyebrow ridge, as he funneled a pet-only heal toward it. “Brave kitty.”

  “They’re trained. We’re not the only ones with skills.” Havoc shrugged, obviously almost over whatever bee had been buzzing around in his bonnet recently. “Somnia isn’t your average game. We have a powerful ally in Telvar, which we managed to come across way before I think we were meant to. Mur is in a bloody coma, and yet able to log in here and feel like a real person, which is great for us all. You have to admit the headgear we’re using is something different to let us do all of this. It’s not your average oh, let’s give the players virtual immersion experience headgear.” He paused, trying to direct a smile in Mur’s direction, which she nodded at. His tension lifted visibly. “Add to that the mobs we fight learn, the sects we encounter have a memory that transcends their virtual deaths, and our actions and conduct can trigger a whole slew of hidden abilities and quests? Yeah, this doesn’t even feel like a game.
It seems real as hell until I log out. And even then I’m thinking about it all the time.”

  No one spoke. No one had anything to say. Mainly because he was right.

  “Does that mean the objective is different?” Merlin asked quietly.

  “What do you mean, the objective?” Murmur asked pointedly, crossing her arms.

  The ranger turned to face her. “I mean exactly that. What do we usually do when we play a game? We level, we form a guild, we kill all the shit as soon as we can and preferably first—before anyone else in the game can. By doing so we make a name for ourselves and get recruits, build our guild up stronger and then tackle the big guns: the amazing dungeons, the contested monsters. All of it. It’s what we do, what we’ve always done. But this game is different to everything we’ve ever played. We’re only just learning how different. So my question is, what if these keys we’re pursuing aren’t the be all and end all of this game. What if it’s something else?”

  “Any idea what?” Veranol pushed through some of the brush, his eyes only briefly resting on the decaying body of the scout lying at their feet. “We came to look for you and our missing scout, but I guess you found it for us. Those bloody scouts disrupted our golem camp. We’re going to have to break it in again. Now. What do you think this difference is?”

  Havoc shrugged, and his tone returned to that bored quality Murmur hated so much. “I don’t know. Just, things work differently here. Intuitive quests instead of these cookie cutter, tell-you-exactly-what-to-do things. Normal abilities and hidden abilities depending on how you interpret certain things NPCs have said, or how you notice things. I think I’ll be extremely disappointed if the end game of this game is just like all the worlds I’ve been in before.”

  “You make a good point.” Rashlyn, walked over and stood next to Sinister, concern furrowing her brow. “You don’t look good, Sin.”

  Sin smiled back. “S’all good, just literally got stabbed in what I think was my kidney. The pain receptors in this game are evil. But you know, it is what it is. This conversation however, is interesting, I want to know more.”

  “More?” Rash looked confused for a moment. “Oh, you mean like about how and what here...cool.”

  She looked like she was sulking, but Murmur dismissed it. Rash liked to be the center of attention. As sweet and caring as she was, sometimes all she wanted to do was fight, and talking out tactics or figuring out game strategy, well. It wasn’t really her thing. She was a punch first and ask questions later sort of person. Which is why the name Rash suited her. Murmur nudged her and smiled, which earned her a relieved grin and a head rested on her shoulder. Mur hugged her monk friend briefly, marveling at the tangible sensations that made everything feel so real.

  Merlin, Havoc, and Veranol were still talking, but it didn’t take long to bring the viking up to speed.

  Veranol shook his head and scowled. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

  Havoc rolled his eyes. “Of course it does. You’ve seen the bosses now, and they’re babies! Can you imagine the end game raid mobs? We’ll probably end up needing fifty people who have enough coordination to avoid all their special attacks, in order to outmaneuver and outsmart one of these bosses. If it’s even possible. Hell, Telvar is on our side. He could have cleaved us in two. He’s wicked smart. Use him as a template for what endgame will look like—we’re going to be in a world of hurt.”

  Silence fell over the small thicket, and Murmur couldn’t help but agree with the necromancer. Except for one thing of course. No one else realized that Telvar was actually one of the AIs running the game. Maybe that made him even more formidable.

  Sin stepped in the middle of the two arguers. “Guys. We’re level...almost nineteen. How about we rectify that before we start deciding what the end game is going to be like? It’s hard to be the top of the end game if we never get there.”

  Havoc interjected, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You think? At this rate we’re not even going to hit fifty with all these stupidly in-depth discussions. Just kill shit and ask questions later.”

  Murmur cringed. One did just not sarcasm at Sin.

  Sin spoke, her voice encased in a smooth, steely smile. It was the voice she used when she was irritated. “That’s what I just said. Except for the damned questions, Havoc. This world doesn’t work like that. Get your smug smile off your face and pull out some of that DPS necros are supposed to be able to throw around. Stop playing it safe.”

  Havoc glared at her, and his pet moved restlessly as if it fed off his emotions. “Fine. I’ll pull fucking aggro then and see if you can’t keep me alive.”

  Sinister shrugged. “Whatever. You’ll come back again no matter how often we kill you. Better you than Mur.”

  Murmur flinched. Silence settled over them for a moment.

  No one said a word, and the silence drew on longer until Sinister clapped her hands together.

  “Now, I’d like to suggest we all get to leveling. The best idea is probably to go back to the boring ass golems. They were ridiculous experience once they fell. I’m not far from nineteen, which I know you guys must—wait, Ver you’re already nineteen. You suck. Everyone else, we need to level.” She turned on her heel and began to head back to their camp, Havoc glowering in her wake. “It’s amazing how there aren’t even bears in this wood. Wouldn’t you think there’d be bears?”

  A sudden roar tore through the trees causing snow to dislodge from the branches and tumble to the ground with a heavy thud like a fallen corpse. Sinister turned back to the group.

  “Is it too late to take that back?”

  You have encountered Disestru, the giant bear. He doesn’t like to be roused from his sleep. Watch out, his claws and teeth don’t need to touch you to kill you. Probably shouldn’t have been making so much noise before checking for caves in the area.

  As usual, the quest help was distinctly vague and in this instance, sort of insulting. Murmur sighed, her fingers moving so fast she couldn’t even see them herself, she buffed the entire group while forming the raid, and managing to stay on her feet as yet another rumbling roar tore through the area. They’d been standing in the best place for a fight initially, and it didn’t take them long to pull back into the copse.

  Glancing the way the scouts had returned from, Murmur spoke quickly, gesturing toward the trees. “Merlin, Exbo, if you have traps, can you lay them through that way, make sure no scouts creep up on us?”

  “On it.” Merlin nodded, moving quickly and silently, and Murmur turned her attention elsewhere.

  The next roar shook the trees, and the ground rumbled. She really didn’t feel like fighting a huge ass whatever this was. All Murmur wanted to do was level safely. This didn’t seem like it was going to be safe. Three seconds later, it came into view.

  Bear wasn’t exactly how Murmur would have described it. Instead, she’d probably call it a cross between a wolf, bear, and mountain troll that somehow had the worst features of each creature. It sashayed in on all fours, huge globs of green drool dripping from its mouth. She was starting to see a theme with these monsters.

  “I’m guessing Dev and Rash need a disease resist, Ver.” She muttered, as the thing rose on its hind legs and bellowed once more. The stench of its roar eclipsed any and all of the rumbling and shaking it caused. It was massive. “They might need a ladder too.”

  Mellow and Jinna laughed, but Devlish and Rashlyn went a few shades paler than before.

  “Relax guys, it’s just a big rotting half deformed troll bear type thing.” Beastial tried to ease the tension and failed abysmally.

  His shield hefted in his left hand, his second axe forgotten, Devlish managed to block the monstrosity’s first hit. The moment he managed to hold his own, the debuffs flew in. Murmur cast her own DoT with its armor class reduction, Weakness, and Feeble Body, Nullify. Anything she could throw at it. There was nothing around them to ch
arm, so she just made sure to stun periodically, although it barely lasted a second. Something about the difficulty of the mob brought the effectiveness of her spells down. Without her debuffs, especially Nullify, she was quite certain she wouldn’t haven landed any other spells. She guessed there were some things that were going to be completely immune to some of her shit. Otherwise they’d have to balance the class because people would be crying that enchanters were way overpowered. She still thought they were a bit.

  Devlish glowed with a metallic aura every time he used his hidden ability, Hatred. A bronze miasma of strength leaked around him, sealing in his shadows, making them more compact, stronger. His form took on sinuous strength that reinforced every hit he landed, and some of the shadows leaked over to the monster, effectively diminishing some of its hit points every tick. The best part was that Hatred really made the damned mob look at Dev no matter what.

  Sinister was creating and utilizing Blood Bombs. It seemed they’d severely grown in potency since she first got them. Now, they healed the whole group with a pungent shower of blood transfusion.

  Mellow had pulled out their cauldron. Its cast iron frame with bubbling interior liquid was as stereotypical for a witch as it could get. Every time they reached in and pulled out another vial of magical something to throw at the mob, it glugged like it was gulping in air. The way it smoked over the top made it seem like dry ice had been dropped inside, but knowing there was no dry ice anywhere in the game made Murmur shiver.

  Merlin and Exbo released volleys of arrows, all of them sticking true and fast to the troll-like thickness of the monster’s skin. But after a couple of shakes the arrows fell harmlessly to the ground, barely doing any damage whatsoever. It seemed the best line of offense was going to be attacking with a series of damage over time solutions and simply whittling the massive thing down. This was going to be a battle of endurance. Whether their health and mana could outlast this giant...thing.