Wesley nods in respect. Yeah, with Richard it always comes down to what I could do for him next, he muses. And the one year consulting contract is almost up too, isn't it? How convenient for you, Richard. "What do you have in mind?" he asks, suspecting that the Templar has made plans already.
The bald man smiles smugly at the response, because it means that the Ambassador is clearly aware that Count Zeensoon has the King's ear in this matter, and the King will simply rubber stamp whatever the Templar decides in the end. "Tell me about the attempt to pass the gatekeeper's test," he orders.
"The We Tang Kingdom has its own culture and way of life," the Ambassador begins. "They value order and uniformity, almost like a military hierarchy. Gatekeeper Kang called us 'barbarians' because of the way we're dressed and the fact that each of us is dressed differently."
"I can imagine this Kang taking issue with your naked barbarian," the Count comments. If it was up to him, Zensoon would ban all barbarians and their barbaric way of life from the entire Kingdom. Alas, these outlanders have their uses in serving the needs of the Kingdom, providing protection as fighters and guards, and scouting too. Perhaps the King could be persuaded to order members of the Ambassador's party to dress more appropriately on any future endeavor sponsored by the Kingdom?
Wesley nods in confirmation. "You are correct, your Grace. The gatekeeper kept eying Conrad. Kang was polite but I could see the mockery in his eyes. Also, this Kingdom seems to have a preference for the strongest men to be standing in front of the others," he adds quickly.
The Count's piercing blue eyes light up in understanding. "Since Conrad is your rearguard and thus standing behind your puny looking spell casters, the We Tang people viewed him as weak and vulnerable," he shakes his head slowly at the mission's strategic but inadvertent blunder.
"We offered proof of our advanced culture via magic. Since there is always a chance of failure in wizardry, I decided to have Diana make her holy cross glow through divine magic," the knight continues.
The Templar's eyes narrow. The mission failed because of . . . a member of the Church of Eternia? "Go on," he hisses dangerously.
"The divine spell did not work. Our mage, Lucious, believes that the Gods of Eternia have no presence in the We Tang Kingdom, and therefore their divine influence are non-existent in this world," Wesley answers.
"Is that so," Count Zeensoon's eyes light up at the prospect of spreading the words of the Gods of Eternia to an ungodly land of heathens and heretics. "It seems that the Gods of Eternia have issued a new challenge to its faithful. I will pray through the night for divine guidance before I speak with the King. You are dismissed," he says curtly.
"Yes your Grace," Wesley bows deeply. With military precision, he turns sharply and marches out of the Divine Chapel. And so the oriental expansion begins.
Chapter 14 – Contact
Conrad hums to himself as he starts up his World of Eternia program on his computer. “I can’t wait for some online action!” he says aloud to no one in particular. The minor league baseball player’s current hamstring injury means that his baseball related activities are limited to swinging a bat; he can’t run around the outfield like a lion roaming his territory. As a center fielder Conrad loves the challenge of trying to grab cheap dunks into the shallowest parts of the outfield. He loves to slide and make the fans’ collective hearts stop as he tries to coral the baseball into the webbing of his glove, and then get applauded afterwards for making the game saving catch. Conrad is a showboat at heart, and moments are these are what make those hours-long rides in tight buses full of sweaty men more tolerable. Alas, he’s out of the spotlight for the moment, and using WoE to defray his worries about his spot on the team.
The first thing the WoE player notices is that his inbox has mail. Using his virtual reality gloves, Conrad accesses the inbox and sees mail from a “Laura Deathmaiden.” Just great, the man groans as he opens the mail and reads the message aloud: “Laura feeling lonely. Laura wants to play with stud. Tonight at 8 PM. Don’t be late.” Conrad immediately rips the virtual headset from his face and manages to exercise enough self-restraint at the last second to avoid slamming the fragile equipment on his desk. “Is she blackmailing me?” he fumes. “I was hoping she will forget about me; I guess I was too naïve. What does she want with me anyway?” he wonders.
Conrad looks up at the clock on the wall behind the computer monitor in his room. The short hand of the clock is pointing at 7 and the long hand is point at 11. It’s already 7.55 PM, he notes. I guess I should log in and see what she wants, he sighs. The player dons his virtual reality headset again, enters his username and password by typing with his virtual reality gloves, and clicks “Enter.”
The word “Loading” flashes in white on a black background within Conrad’s visor, while his computer connects to the game’s server. After a few seconds, the view of the Main Plaza in Starter Town appears before his eyes. Laura didn’t mention where to meet up, he realizes suddenly as he sees throngs of players milling around the area. It’s a busy night for gaming despite the fact that it’s the middle of the week. Abruptly someone grabs his arm, and Conrad turns his head to his face his assailant and offer the daring fool a world of hurt.
“What took you so long?” asks a young woman dressed entirely in black.
Conrad looks down and recognizes the person in front of him: Laura. He frowns as she looks at him up and down like a slab of meat, grinning the entire time. “What’s the matter? Never seen a barbarian in this game before?” he asks with annoyance.
“Sure, I have. Not many studs like you though,” she grins her toothy grin again.
“I’m not interested in you,” he rejects flatly.
Laura chuckles as she gingerly glides a fingertip down his massive chest. “I didn’t take you for a shy one. I guess looks can be deceiving,” she teases.
“Enough,” Conrad growls. He quickly puts his massive forearms across his chest, in order to shield himself from her roaming finger. “I’m here. What did you want?” he asks gruffly.
“Besides the company of a handsome stud?” Laura grins mischievously. The necromancer holds up an animal’s skeletal arm, a focus item to work her death magic, tapping him lightly on the chin to interrupt him. “Seriously, I need a warrior companion to hit a dungeon,” she replies honestly.
Conrad brushes the vile item away from his face. Even though it’s just virtual reality, he hates foul magic and prefers not to be in contact with it. Most players in WoE feel the same; hence necromancers are among the outcasts of the game that nobody wants to party with.
“What do I get in return?” he asks. Since he’s in-game and has some free time to play, Conrad might as well accompany Laura and get some gold and experience in the process. Besides, he sees himself as a gentleman and it offends his sensibilities as a man to ignore her request for assistance. Conrad would prefer to roll with a cleric or elementalist rather than a necromancer, of course, but it’s good to widen his circle of friends. You never know when a necromancer comes in handy, he tries to assure himself that Conrad is making the right choice in helping Laura.
“You get half the gold we find, along with first choice for any magical item we find aside from the quest item I need,” the necromancer offers.
“I can’t do half gold for this trip. Since this is a two member party, I’ll be taking a lot of damage and using healing potions during this adventure." Conrad pulls a tiny vial from a hidden pocket near the top of his left boot, and holds it in front of Laura's face. The vial is clear, and half the length of his finger. "They will cost me a bundle to replenish my stash. I want two thirds of the gold, and I’ll let you take the first pick of magical items,” he counteroffers.
Laura gives this offer some thought, and tilts her head for a moment. I need the magic items more than the gold, which is easy to get with a bit of grinding and looting, she thinks. Looking back at Conrad, she sighs heavily and says, “You have a deal.” She offers a handshake to seal the agre
ement.
The barbarian takes her petite right hand in his enormous right, and shakes once with a nod. “So . . . where are we going?” he asks.
“Blackheart Manor,” she replies.
Conrad shakes his head. “Never heard of it,” he says.
Instead of explaining, Laura makes a join party request to Conrad.
The barbarian sees the small pop up in his visor: “Request to join party?” He looks at the necromancer, who simply looks back at him expectedly. Seeing no answer forthcoming, he sighs and clicks, “Yes.” Once the party is formed, Conrad looks at Laura Deathmaiden’s player profile, and is pleasantly surprised to see that she is at level forty-five, with a bit more health than Lucious at level sixty. I guess she could take a few hits herself, he thinks.
“Let me know when you’re ready to leave Starter Town,” Laura says, interrupting his thought. “Make sure you have enough healing potions,” she adds.
“I’m good to go,” he grins. The fighter is carrying a half dozen Elixirs of Health, each of which fully heals the health of the user. That is why each Elixir is so expensive. Conrad plans to use an Elixir only when his substantial health bar is knocked down to twenty percent or so. Thus, he is in no danger of dying unless he's hit by dragon breath or death magic and its instant death effect.
“Good,” she says as the party leader chooses “Blackheart Manor” as the party’s destination. The manor is a special mission available to necromancers only. In WoE, there is a common core of available missions to all character classes that are segregated by character level, plus a special set of class specific missions. For these special missions, the party leader has to be from the specific character class. Some missions are solo player only, while others allow wide latitude in who may come along. The purpose of these missions is to advance the storyline for each character class, and to offer a different player experience.
After Laura clicks “Enter,” her player screen goes black for a moment, while the word “Loading” flashes in white. After a few seconds, she finds herself transported to a big mansion in the middle of the woods.
Conrad finds himself standing behind the necromancer, and the barbarian immediately moves to the front to the party. In a two person party comprising of one melee fighter and one spell caster, the melee player has to be up front to draw mob attacks while the spell caster works in a support role. It is a different mindset compared to playing rearguard with The Strangers, but Conrad is willing to adapt and immerse himself in a different role. The chance to do something different is why he's been playing without The Strangers in his party, because Conrad wants to experience different roles in the game.
The barbarian takes his time to scan the perimeter for any sign of an ambush. The manor is a two story building that has a Victorian style exterior, with about a dozen windows split evenly into sets of fours by two balconies on the second floor. The entrance is a large set of doors directly in the middle under the balconies. The manor is surrounded by a garden of white lilies. "The place looks quiet, maybe too quiet," he remarks as Conrad stares at the white lilies and try to read the significance of these flowers.
"I'm sure we'll have a blast inside, maybe literally," Laura quips as she starts heading towards the front door.
Alarmed by the spell caster's carefree attitude, Conrad puts a hand on the necromancer's shoulder to stop her. "I take the lead," he admonishes, remembering the time that Lucious nearly died in the WoE anniversary campaign last year because the spell caster went ahead of Wesley and got bitten by a venomous giant spider during an ambush.
"What? You don't believe in ladies first?" she teases him.
The barbarian scowls at her. "I'm not carrying a Raise Dead scroll. If you die, I'm abandoning the mission," he says.
"Fine," she pouts.
Conrad walks past the necromancer and stands in front of the door. He stares at the door knob for a moment and turns back to look at Laura. "You wouldn't happen to know the 'Detect Trap' spell, would you?" he asks.
"Nope," she says sweetly while batting her long eyelashes at him.
"Figures," he mutters under his breath. "Well, here goes nothing," the player says as he bravely turns the knob to open the door.
Chapter 15 – Death’s Door
When Conrad peers inside the mansion, he sees a luxurious living room that is richly furnished with scenic tapestry on the walls, a crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, red carpet covering the entire floor, and even a fireplace that is burning. Strangely, there is no servant to greet the intruder. "Hello? Anyone here?" he asks.
Laura slips past the cautious fighter, and steps inside the house. She is not surprised at the lack of attendants, at least not living ones.
"I thought I told you to stay behind me!" the barbarian shouts in annoyance.
"I got tired of waiting outside," the necromancer replies with a pout.
Conrad scowls at the cheeky attitude. "Okay, it's your funeral. You die, your mission will be over and I won’t repeat it with you. So what are we supposed to do in this mission?" he growls.
"I need to retrieve a special item called the 'Blackheart,'" Laura replies.
"Any idea what it's supposed to look like?" he presses on.
"Not really. I'll know it when I see it," she grins. "It gives off a black aura that only practitioners of the death sphere of magic can see," she adds.
Conrad is alarmed by this answer. "If I'm going to face a lich, I'm quitting right now!" He turns back to the door and is about open it when Laura stops him by blocking him at the door and pushing his outstretched hand aside.
"Dude, why would WoE give me a lich as an opponent for my mission?" she replies. "The final boss will probably be a priestess of death or even a necromancer. You'll probably be fighting measly skeletons. Don't chicken out now," she smirks.
"I'm not a chicken," the warrior scowls at her. "However, it would be foolish to fight a lich with just the two of us."
"How about this then: if we find ourselves facing a lich, we'll flee. Okay?" she offers a compromise.
"Fine," Conrad huffs. Knowing how deviant the game developers are, I just know we're facing a lich, even in this setting, he thinks. If only I still had my magic reflecting shield, he groans silently. With that shield, I could repel any death magic a lich flings at me. Too bad it got destroyed during that bar fight last year. Conrad decides to change the topic. "So which room do you want to explore first?" he asks. In addition to the entrance, there are three other doors, or one on each wall.
Laura looks at the doors, which are made of wood and indistinguishable from one another. "Let's take the right door," she says.
"You got it," the fighter says as he slowly walks across the room towards the right wall. Click! He feels a slight shift under his feet, and suddenly the entire floor drops! CRASH! The player's hands are buzzing with numbness as pain jolts through both hands. "Ouch," Conrad says as his screen flashes “Stunned,” meaning that his in-game avatar is currently unable to move. The player checks his health bar, and sees that the drop has wiped out half his avatar's health.
"I hope Laura survived the drop," Conrad says as his visor screen finally clears up. "You okay?" he calls out while studying his surroundings. The warrior sees something shift beneath the rubble to his left, and quickly runs over to the spot. Moving aside the large pieces of rubble, he sees a slender arm and quickly tries to dig out his partner with his bare hands. A few seconds later, the barbarian clears out enough rubble to uncover Laura’s face.
Is she dead, he asks silently while checking on the party's health at the upper left corner of his player’s screen. He sees a flashing red health bar, meaning that she's almost dead. Quickly the rescuer reaches into his left boot to pull out an Elixir of Health and pours its contents into Laura's mouth. "Swallow it and live," he urges.
The semi-conscious necromancer manages to drink the syrupy liquid, and a warm, soothing feeling soon encompasses the player's hands inside her virtual reality gloves as the avat
ar slowly recovers her health. Soon, Laura's fuzzy player screen clears and she could clearly see Conrad's face hovering closely above her own. She starts to free herself from her entombment within the rubble.
Clap-clap-clap! The duo quickly turns their heads to the source of the sound. They see a man with a badly decomposed face sitting on a throne made of bones. "That was most touching," he comments in a raspy voice. “It certainly warms my beating heart,” he chuckles at the joke.
Conrad quickly pulls another Elixir from his hidden boot pocket and gulps the content in one swallow. Might as well go in at full strength, he thinks as the player watches his health bar instantly becomes full again. He rises to his feet and pulls out his ivory club and double war axe. He hears stones shifting on the ground behind him, as Laura pulls herself back on her feet as well.
"Where are my manners? I'm Tristan Blackheart, owner of this humble abode," he says while remaining seated but waves his right, bony hand in the air.
Conrad could feel the hair on his arms stand as he listens to the NPC. What kind of character is he--a black priest, a black mage, or even a lich? Something definitely feels off about this guy. The last time he felt this way was the encounter with the Regent of Castle Eternia. He groans aloud, drawing a worried glance from the necromancer.
Conrad steadies his heart as he calmly considers his options. He looks around and sees a few suits of armor leaning against the wall. He sees four of them in all, with a lit torch on the wall to the right of each suit of armor. Those are probably Armor Guardians, he recognizes. According to Lucious, these minions are magical creatures under control of the creator but they are very expensive to create. Each guardian is a decent, mid-cap level fighter.
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