by Rick Scott
“Hey, I wonder what kind of stuff he’s got,” Fredric says, milling toward my tombstone.
“Probably a lot of platinum beast coins,” Vanessa says. “He was killing those manticores for hours out here.”
She’s right. I must have nearly 300k worth of coins on me!
***Reece: Hey don’t touch that stuff. I need it!
They can’t do this! I feel on the edge of tears.
***Reece: This isn’t a game to me, you jerks! My mother’s life is depending on those coins!
“Oh well…” Ralph shrugs at me. “Guess she’s going to die then, bro.”
I snap with rage. He’s going to die for saying that!
I respawn and try to cast Shadow Copy before he can fireball me again, but I’m too late.
Ralph casts Fireball.
You take 556 damage.
You are defeated.
Dang it!
“I can do this all day,” Ralph says.
This isn’t working. I need help. I’m just about to send a PM to Val Helena for backup when I get one sent to me instead.
Gilly: Reece! Don’t get up again! Just stay there!
What?
Me: Gilly?
A massive cluster of ice shards engulfs Ralph and the rest of his party and then shatters with the sound of a falling chandelier.
Thanus casts Ice Prison!
Fredric is paralyzed
Vanessa is paralyzed
Jixer is paralyzed
Orin is paralyzed
Ralph is paralyzed
My heart soars as I hear a warcry and see Val Helena leading the charge across the dunes with half the guild running with her. She’s in warrior mode with Zeke and Jax by her side. She sinks her massive axe into Vanessa first and the paladin’s hitpoints drop to a sliver before Zeke finishes her off with a thrust from his halberd.
Fredric’s health bar flatlines as Jax suddenly appears behind him, twisting his spine with a dagger through his back. Val Helena performs a wild spin with her axe, lopping Jixer’s head off before performing an overhead strike to Ralph’s tattoo covered face that cuts him straight in half. Their bodies hit the desert floor and left standing is Orin, who Thanus takes out with a quick lightning strike. As their corpses hit the ground they all disappear leaving tombstones, but I notice not a single one of them reappears where I set my homepoint.
The jerks.
I feel like such an idiot for getting tricked by them. It’s a reminder of just how much of the world I haven’t experienced by being a gimp most of my life. Social interaction being one of them. Although this kind of stuff I can surely do without.
“Reece!”
I look to see Gilly running toward me and I can’t believe she’s actually here.
“Hang on! I’ll get you up!”
Gilly casts raise on me and I’m still dumbfounded as I return to the land of the living. She gives me a quick hug. “Sorry we took so long.”
“So long?” I’m still bewildered. “What are you guys even doing here? How did you find me?”
“You can thank her for that.” Val Helena nods toward Gilly as she fastens her axe to her back. She then steps toward me with the rest of the guild. “She damn near blew up my rig with PMs.”
“What?”
“I was watching your stream through my portable net browser,” Gilly says. “Since I didn’t have much else to do with the main house line being disconnected and all. Then I saw them attack you, so I sent a message to Val Helena while I booked it to the hub to use a public terminal to log in.”
“You went to the hub? To a public terminal?”
“Yeah,” she says. “It’s kinda gross in here.”
Zeke laughs. “Now that’s what I call devotion.”
“Sorry you took so many deaths,” Val Helena says. “We could have spawned here, but I wanted to use the main desert spawn point so we could flank them and take them by surprise.”
“Well it seemed to work pretty good,” I say relieved that the nightmare of respawning and instant death is now over. I make a mental note to reset my homepoint to somewhere safe as soon as possible. “Thanks you guys. I thought they were going to keep killing me forever out here.”
“They probably were,” Thanus says.
“Speaking of which,” Zeke says and stands amidst the tombstones. “Time for a little pay back.”
“I’m down for that.” Jax sheathes his dagger.
“No,” Val Helena says. “That’s not what this guild stands for. Let them collect their corpses. They can live with their own shame when we do nothing to stop them.”
A slow clap fills the air and we all turn to see Aiko standing atop the outcropping. “Oh Helena…forever the shining pinnacle of virtue.”
I leap back still naked and wonder if she’s going to attack me. But Aiko merely looks at me and grins. “Nice undies, pretty boy.”
Val Helena grimaces at her and brandishes her axe. “This one was low even for you, Aiko. Getting him lured out here to pkill him? Really? Why don’t you come take me on, since I’m the one you really want to hurt. Let’s go!”
Aiko lets out her skin crawling laugh. “Please. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of your team.”
“Or maybe you’re just a coward like you’ve always been.”
Aiko’s face grows rigid. “Maybe I just take risks that make sense. Perhaps you should start doing the same. Before you lose anyone else.”
What the heck did that mean?
Their eyes lock and the tension builds.
“Anyway,” Aiko says, cutting her eyes away. “Your anger is misplaced, as usual. I had nothing to do with what happened to your little protégé.”
“Like heck you didn’t!” Gilly shouts. “Those guys were all your stupid fan boys. They were killing him because of you!”
“Sorry, but I can’t control what my fans decide to do.” She shrugs. “But honestly I was hoping for a much better fight than what I saw. If he’s the horse you’re betting on, Helena, then I’m going to have fun claiming Vulnar after you all wipe. See you in a few weeks.”
She then fast travels away leaving my guts burning with anger.
“Geez, what a tool…” Jax mutters and I can’t help but feel the same.
“Forget about her,” Van Helena says replacing her axe. “She’s not worth the effort. Not even to hate.”
Gilly looks upward at the big half giant. “Thanks for coming by the way, Val Helena. I didn’t really know who else to call.”
“I’m just glad you did.” Val Helena then looks down at me. “Sorry you had to go through all that, Reece. This is really my battle with her, not yours.”
“No…” I sigh as I collect my gear. “This was my fault. I should never have started streaming. I drew way too much attention to myself. Those subs of hers all hated me. They were probably just itching for an opportunity like this.”
“Hey, it was your streaming that saved your butt today too, remember?” Gilly says poking me in the ribs. “I’ve always got my eye on you.”
“Good thing too,” Val Helena says. “Because I’m sure you were the only one watching, Gilly. I turned that snore fest off right after the fifth manticore.”
We all share a laugh at that.
“But you’re leveling pretty fast, Reece.” Val Helena gives me an appreciative smile. “Think you can hit level 75 by tomorrow?”
“I don’t see why not,” Gilly says before I can say anything. “The day is young, right, Reece?” She then looks up at Val Helena. “Oh, I’m his manager now, by the way. I’m the one who picked out those manticores. I keep him on a schedule, tell him what to do. That kind of thing.”
“Gilly!”
“Oh…So I see.” Val Helena chuckles with a bemused smile. “Well if that’s the case, make sure you’re both at the docks in Swifttide by 9am tomorrow and make sure he’s level 75. Buy a scroll of Shadow Tendrils and a couple of seashell necklaces too.”
“Why?” I ask. “What’s up?”
>
“We’re heading to the Sunken City,” she says. “Tomorrow you’re going to tank a Beast King.”
Chapter 31 Underwater Raid
I read the scroll of Shadow Tendrils and the parchment disappears from my hands.
You use a scroll of Shadow Tendrils
You have learned the spell Shadow Tendrils.
Increase enmity of all attacks by 150%
Cast time: 5 second
Duration: 3 minutes
Recast: 10 seconds.
Cost: 10 TP
Gilly claps for me as she looks on from the side of the pier. “That should help you hold hate nicely.”
“You think?”
The midmorning sun is high and warm in the sky and the squawk of gulls fills the salty air.
Gilly shrugs goofily at me in response. “That’s what it says, anyway. Go on. Try it out!”
“Okay.”
I use Shadow Tendrils and the cast bar slowly fills to 100% as kanji like runes swirl about my body. When it completes, both my katana blades ignite with eerie purplish blue flames. Nice! I perform a series of quick strikes and a glowing blue afterimage gives form to my attack pattern as I slice through the air.
“Cool!” Gilly says.
I smile and can’t help but agree.
It’s almost nine and I got butterflies in my stomach waiting for Val Helena to show up. I’m also dead tired. After my ganking ordeal last night, Gilly joined me till past midnight killing more manticores. I got my level back and when I hit 70, I unlocked a new passive that I couldn’t wait to try out: triple attack.
We stuck to the fire manticores and while I had to kill more and more for each level, having triple and double attack activate every now and then, made farming them much easier. We ended the night with me at level 75 and my inventory filled with five stacks of platinum coins, which I gave to Gilly to auction.
“Hey, anything sell yet?” I ask.
“Oh yeah,” Gilly says, hopping off the bollard she was sitting on. “A ton. The gem sold for 975k net and the coins went like hotcakes at 450. Here’s your gains thus far.”
Gilly wishes to trade with you.
Gilly offers you 1,425,000 credits.
“Wow!”
Before I complete the trade I remember something and add the digital version of the Sheeba doll to my side of trade window. Gilly’s big green eyes light up when she sees it.
“Aw! I get Sheeba twice? I’m definitely getting the better deal here.”
We both approve the transaction and the credits from Gilly dump into my account with what’s left over from my Sheeba money. After buying the scroll, the seashell necklaces and a couple of new level 75 katanas this morning, I now have a grand total of 1,507,230 Credits to my name.
It’s the most money I’ve ever had in my life but still not quite there yet. “Two million to go.”
“You’ll get there,” Gilly says. “We’ve still got a couple of days, right?”
“I hope so,” I say, but honestly I’m not really sure. Mike had said less than a week. Which I hope means closer to a week. That’d mean I still have a two or three days left. “Anymore of those jump quests we can do?”
Gilly laughs. “None that reward like that one, but don’t worry. I’ve got a whole new plan of action mapped out for you after we do this.”
Gilly activates the Sheeba doll and, in a puff of sparkles, a black kitten appears at her feet and begins meowing and rubbing against her legs. She giggles and stoops down to pet it. “Aww, little Sheeba!” She then grins up at me. “Yup, I definitely got the better deal.”
I can only laugh.
The clambering of boots across the pier draws my attention and I see Val Helena in her Paladin gear arrive with the rest of the guild. “You guys all set?”
I nod. “Got the scroll and the necklaces, just like you said.”
“Good,” she says.
Silvi then comes forward to stand next to Val Helena. “I’ve got something for you too, Reece.”
“Huh?”
Silvi wishes to trade with you.
Silvi offers you:
Koga Mask : +5 Shadow magic +5 TP
Koga Scarf: +5 Dodge +5 Evasion
Koga Gi: +75 HP +10 STR +10 VIT
Koga Tekko: +25 HP +5 STR +5 DEX
Koga Hakama: +75 HP +5 STR +10 VIT
Koga kyahan: +25 HP +5 STR +5 AGL
My eyes nearly pop out of my head. “What’s all this?”
“After yesterday, we all figured you could use a little pick me up,” Silvi says. “But you can thank Gilly really. She got me all the material I needed to craft this for you. It’s the level 75 class specific set, so it should be pretty useful.”
“Gilly?” I look to her. “When did you even do this?”
“This morning before you logged on.” Gilly grins back. “Thought you could do with looking like a real ninja for your first true boss fight. And don’t worry. I took the expenses out of your pay.”
Everyone laughs at that.
“Guys…this is…amazing…thank you!”
“Well?” Val Helena says nudging me with her hip. “Try it on!”
I complete the trade and put on the gear piece by piece. It’s an all-black set with purple trim that has bits of steel mesh under layer and metal plates on the shins and forearms. The scarf is a contrasting white that billows on its own, just like Aiko’s did. Finally comes the mask, which is more of a half mask that cover my nose and mouth and is made from a hard black material, decorated with silver trim.
“Now that looks bad ass!” Zeke says.
Team SVR all give me a thumbs up as well.
I check out my character in a full 360 view through my status screen and have to agree. I’m a true ninja now and I have the stat boosts to prove it!
Class: Ninja
Level: 75
Strength: 6+25
Dexterity: 80+5
Agility: 80+5
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 6
Vitality: 16 +20
HP: 902/902
Stamina: 247/247
TP: 149/149
I’d gotten nine attribute points from leveling last night and had decided to put them all into vitality to get some more HP. And now with the armor on, I feel like I can actually mess up a couple of times and not let the entire guild down by getting one shotted. Plus the added strength from the set should really help me out damage wise.
“Thanks, Gilly.” I give her a quick hug. “This is the best gift ever. And thank you too, Silvi. This is just fantastic!”
“You’re welcome.” Silvi beams at me, looking well pleased with her creation.
“Okay one last thing before we head out,” Val Helena says.
There’s a pregnant pause before we all get the same message.
Gilly has been added to the Guild
(RNG)Val Helena: Please welcome our newest honorary member to team Ragnorok. Gilly!
(RNG)Val Helena: FYI she’s Reece’s girlfriend in real life. So to the three stooges: don’t get any ideas ; )
That gets a bunch of laughs both in the chat and on the pier.
(RNG)Gilly: Wow! O.O! Thanks so much for the invite guys! ^_^/
Gilly then looks up at Val Helena the two share a warm smile. The sight warms my own heart to see the two of them finally getting along so well.
“Okay let’s roll!” Val Helena says. “Time to slay us a beast king.”
We board one of the ships, which is a ferry and each pay a few credits for it to depart. We sail from Swifttide and head south, propelled by the ferry’s massive paddlewheel. On deck, the sea air is strong and refreshing and Gilly and I lose ourselves in idle chat as we stare out over the rolling turquoise waves.
After a few minutes the ferry starts to slow. We’re still in the middle of the ocean so I wonder what’s happening, but then I see some rocks sticking up out of the water in roughly the shape of a ring. As the ferry pulls into the middle of the ring the words Tukaiti Atoll appear my HUD.
“We’re here,” Val Helena says. “Gear up and hop in!”
I check the seashell necklace I bought for 2k earlier.
A seashell necklace
Grants water breathing and free movement while underwater.
I unfortunately have to remove my new scarf to equip it, but as I do I see a buff appear on my HUD. I follow the rest of the guild’s lead by jumping over the side while holding Gilly’s hand. We plunge into the deep water together and although it feels like water for a second, we enter some kind of loading screen and are instantly transported to a new area.
We materialize into a world that steals my breath away.
Rays of twinkling sunlight cascade down from a mirrored “sky” that’s the underside of the waves. Deep blue green water stretches in all directions around us serving as backdrop to a coral reef that feels more like a pastel colored jungle. Vivid pinks and purples combine to make underwater trees that grow atop the rockier stone like coral. And even those seem to glow with a bright aqua marine bioluminescence. Once again I feel privileged to experience this. I can definitely see how people can want to spend their entire lives in the game.
We form into parties and leave the sandy bottom where we entered and head into rocky coral.
“Gilly, you can just hang back and watch the show when we get into combat,” Val Helena says in the party chat. “But Silvi is keeping an eye on you just in case.”
“No problem,” Gills says.
“The boss is at the end of the zone, but there are a lot of trash mobs to fight through to get there. We can just have fun with those. Reece, I’ll aggro the group first and then you can pull any of the bigger mobs off me to get some practice in.”
I nod as excitement and anticipation build within me. Just the fact that I’m in a big group and about to tackle a true raid boss has me thrilled. We cross a few stray mobs that Zeke and the melee party take out with ease. The creatures kind of remind me of the Kappa I fought in Bangōr, but where those ones were frogs these ones are fish. And instead of shells on their backs they have a large dorsal fin topped with sharp spines. They are as colorful as the coral about us, some bright red and others purple, blue or green, but they all share the same scaly skin.