The Virtual Realm

by Daniel Perusko

  Suddenly, Omni stepped in front of the distraught Knight, saying not a single word. His expression portrayed everything he needed to say. His eyebrows slanted downward his eyes glaring with a crushing intensity on the intruders.

  “What do you want?” Quartz shouted in agitation. “This is none of your business, so stay out of it.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,”

  Reaper interjected in his usual smug manner.

  “You said Dusk won’t get away with what he did to a member of your guild? Dusk is a member of Phoenix; what makes you think we’ll let you get away with what you’re about to do?”

  “So that’s how it is,”

  Quartz muttered in disappointment.

  “Well, if you all insist on getting in the way, we’ll just have to kill you all as well. Maybe we can have some fun with the women before we’re done.”

  Tsuki contorted her face in absolute disdain, while Scarlet drew an arrogant chuckle.

  “Ha, you so much as fucking touch me, I guarantee that you’ll never touch anything again, you ugly bastard,” Scarlet threatened ominously.

  “Really?” Quartz remained unmoved by these words.

  “You’re a fiery one, you’ll go first. You know, there’s twenty of us and five of you. You guys don’t stand a chance in hell,” Quartz leered arrogantly.

  “Only twenty vs. five, huh? These odds aren’t fair at all,” Reaper snickered condescendingly. “After all, you guys would need at least five hundred more players on your side to make this a fair fight.”

  Quartz’s mouth slowly curled into a rugged grin, fizzling into a chuckle before exploding into rambunctious laughter.

  “Oh man, you guys are comedians, I’ll give you that—so fucking hilarious. Let’s find out if your little taunt is true then, since you’re so confident. Quartz stopped for a moment, abruptly waving his arm forward.

  “Attack!” he commanded boldly.

  The group charged forward, yelling at the top of their lungs in a bloody battle cry. Before they could touch a single Phoenix, they felt a crushing force bearing down upon them. Gravity had become their enemy.

  “What the fuck... is going on?” Quartz roared loudly, struggling with all of his strength to remain standing. Most of the enemy had already been pinned to the ground, unable to rise again. Birds with clipped wings. His fellow troops were now in a state of complete panic and disarray. Quartz himself was slowly but surely falling. His body quivered ferociously, attempting to fight back against this invisible might.

  First his knees buckled, sending him to the ground on his hands and knees, no longer able to stand upright. Then his arms gave out. He was now on the ground face first, the unstoppable force holding him in place.

  The horror and bewilderment threw his mind into pandemonium. If he had control of his body, it would be trembling like a trapped rat. Who were these people?

  “What... is this? Did you guys hack the game somehow? How are you doing this?!” Quartz yelled, completely lost. ”This is Omni’s power,” Reaper explained. “That is why I said you would need at least five hundred more troops to take us down. Actually, probably no amount of troops would be enough.”

  “What... who are you people?”

  “That’s just a stupid question isn’t it?” Scarlet ridiculed. “We are Phoenix. You hurt one of our own, you hurt all of us.”

  “Indeed,” Omni agreed wholeheartedly. “Now, I’ll have you tell us where your headquarters are.”

  Quartz laughed in defiance. Despite how terrified he was, he wasn’t about to give these fuckers the satisfaction of seeing him quake in fear before them.

  “Ha, like I’m gonna tell you bastards anything. Do whatever you want to me. We take care of our own too. That’s why I’m not gonna tell you a thing, no matter what you do.”

  “Oh really?” Scarlet cracked her knuckles ominously, looking down at him with an intimidating stare. “We can test that if you want.”

  “Scarlet,” Omni muttered. “You know that is not how we do things.”

  The green-eyed soldier guffawed boisterously. “Yeah, I know. I just wanted to have fun with him that’s all. Besides, if he had his way he would’ve killed us all. You know he deserves a little more than what he’s getting right now.”

  “True, sometimes people need to be punched in the nose to learn,” Tsuki chimed in, supporting Scarlet.

  “Worry not, he will be punished accordingly. But for now, we will find out the location of their base so that we can find the rest of them.”

  “And I told you that I’m not telling you guys a goddamned thing,” Quartz spat rebelliously.

  “You need not tell me with your lips, your consciousness will tell me all.”

  “Huh? What fucking bullshit are you spewing now?”

  Omni took a knee, extending his arm forward, opening his palm completely and setting it on top of Quartz’s head as if he were absolving him from the numerous sins he committed in this life. In truth, he was establishing a telepathic link to his consciousness. He saw it—located deep in the scorching hot deserts of Nystria, their headquarters stood tall, a symbol of fear amongst the innocent Bermian populace.

  “Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” Quartz’s voice shook in panic as his tough facade started to disintegrate.

  Omni kept his hand there for half a minute, ignoring Quartz’s insults and verbal thrashing. This method of obtaining information really was the best, after all. The victim couldn’t resist, and most pleasingly of all to the gentle Phoenix, there was no need to torture the man. Torturing a prisoner for information was a most disgusting act—seeing a man broken in body and mind—one which Omni had never been fond of. Even so, he knew the necessity of the act for those who could not simply extract information the way he could. Gentle though he may be, he realized that force was still an all too necessary measure in certain situations. Having accomplished his goal without need for such methods, he ascended to his feet once more.

  “Nystria. Their headquarters is in Nystria.”

  “What? How in God’s name?” Quartz's mind was drowning in confusion. “Are you some kinda monster or alien or something? What the fuck are you?”

  Omni chuckled heartily. “An alien, huh—well, something like that.” He turned towards Dusk, the catalyst of this whole incident.

  “Dusk, we will help you with this matter, as we take care of our own. However, you will explain everything about this matter to us right now. Who are they?” Omni inquired.

  The frightened Phantom was frozen in place. He felt guilty over this whole thing, but the prominent feeling in his head right now was the discomfort that loomed over him, threatening to drown him. Omni’s display of power triggered something within him. He didn’t seem human. The dual wielder was somewhat unnerved by this, perhaps even a little scared.

  “What... what was that just now?” Dusk gasped in apprehension.

  Omni ignored the question, the seriousness in his voice soaring to new heights.

  “Who are they, Dusk?”

  Dusk, having no desire to push his luck any further, decided to answer the question; attempting to quell the extreme discomfort bulging inside him like a fresh injury.

  “Their guild is called the Hand of Blood. They are a PvP guild. I had the impression that they had a great number of players on their side. I suppose this was proven by them sending an attack force of twenty players here just for me.”

  Omni’s eyes continued to bore a hole through him, indicating that he was not yet satisfied with this answer. Dusk, picking up on this, continued speaking after taking a deep breath before unlocking these next words from the treasure chest he had buried deep underground. They were words he never wanted to say to Phoenix—sickening words that even now caused his stomach to twist itself into knots.

  “The reason they were after me is because... as they said, I killed one of their guild members.” Dusk’s voice tightened into coils. “It was in the heat of battle. We were outnumbered. I did it in sel
f-defense, but there might’ve been another way. Anyway, their guild has been hunting me ever since, wanting to get revenge on me.”

  “Like hell it was self-defense, you piece of shit!” Quartz shouted defiantly.

  Dusk threw his arm to the side in frustration, creating a swoosh of air in his swift smack. “It was! Your guild attacked us back then.”

  “That’s not what I heard. What I heard is that we were having a dispute with a particular woman, and you all stuck your noses in where it didn’t belong, attacking us. We had no choice but to defend ourselves,” Quartz countered, supposedly believing the words he was uttering.

  “What a load of crap!” Dusk bellowed in protest.

  Omni folded his arms, currently reflecting upon this information while listening intently to the back and forth display.

  “So, where are your friends?” The dark sage asked calmly. “Why were you a solo player when we found you? What happened to those who stood beside you?”

  Dusk’s eyes wandered to a distant corner of the garden, attempting to conceal the sadness in his eyes. His coiled voice began to unravel and break.

  “I... left them. They were dragging me down, so I left them behind,” he lied. “I wanted to level up as quickly as possible, and they were slowing me down. I had to leave them behind!” Dusk screamed with all the passion he could muster, attempting to conceal his lie inside the deafening sound waves. The best way to lie to others was to lie to yourself first. If you could believe your own lie was the truth, you could convince others that the sky was made of cotton candy if you wanted.

  Quartz’s laugh spoke a thousand words. He didn’t seem to be surprised by this murderer’s explanation.

  “So, you abandoned them, huh. You really are a piece of shit. Well, in the end, they’re lucky that they no longer have to be around you.”

  Tsuki had been standing quietly, listening intently to this man badmouth her dear friend. No more. It was enough.

  “Shut the hell up!” she shouted forcefully, hoping each of her words would roar like thunder as they struck his body, shocking him. “You don’t know anything about, Dusk. He’s much kinder than you’ll ever be.”

  Quartz chuckled wildly in reply.

  Tsuki turned her head, staring at her pupil with deep concern engraved in her aquamarine eyes, feeling sympathy for the shaken Phantom. At the same time, frustration nipped at her.

  You’re lying again, Drake. Why do you do this? Why do you spurn the help that we so desperately want to give you?

  Omni stood there, staring at the Phantom who clad himself in the shroud of night, looking deep within his spirit, hoping to decipher his feelings. He could definitely tell this was a sore spot. Something told him he wasn’t being told the full story. Was Dusk really telling the truth here? Only time would tell.

  “Very well. I have heard enough. The time for talk has passed; now it is time for action. Scarlet, Reaper; we will tie all of these men up. Then you are to take them to the prison that resides in Bermia, where they will face up to their crimes. No acts of violence shall befall these men, understood?”

  “Aww, not even one punch to the face?” Scarlet responded playfully, faking disappointment.

  Omni smiled fondly at Scarlet, knowing her words were in jest. He trusted her implicitly.

  After approximately ten minutes, every Hand of Blood member including Quartz had their arms and legs tied up.

  “Now...Dusk, Tsuki, and I are going to Nystria in order to resolve this matter once and for all,” Omni stated.

  All three of them had already fulfilled the necessary prerequisites to teleport to Nystria, having each been to the area before and binding themselves to the glyph there.

  “Are you both ready?” he questioned, looking at Dusk and Tsuki. Both silently nodded.

  “Then, let us finish this.” He closed his eyes, reciting the spell within his head.

  !

  The three simultaneously vanished in a burst of blinding light.

  When they next opened their eyes, what they saw before them was a barren wasteland. This was the zone of Nystria, a searing desert that was sparsely populated with life. This insane level of heat... it was as if they were treading the unknown surface of Venus—a fiery ball of death—the furthest thing from the Goddess of love for which it was named. Giant vultures, rabid camels, venomous snakes, and large spiders—all of them prowled these sizzling sands.

  Besides the occasional cactus, there was not a hint of vegetation to be seen. Only sandy dunes stretching as far as the eye could see. Even the clouds wanted to hide from the intense heat, fleeing from the danger and creating an absolutely clear dawn. The scorching sun was just starting to rise from the horizon, shining brilliantly, already unleashing its waves of heat upon the travelers in full force. Beads of sweat formed on the adventurers. Dusk imagined any rogue drops of sweat that fell from his skin would instantly boil and evaporate on the unforgiving sands.

  The group mounted up, beginning their arduous track towards the enemy headquarters. Tsuki’s mount was a large white tiger branded with black stripes and wicked fangs. Omni rested atop a large black falcon that could’ve soared ever closer to that white-hot sun if he so chose. Dusk was sporting a brown bear mount that he had previously won in a PvP tournament.

  Why would they pick a zone like this to place their headquarters? He pondered to himself.

  Suddenly, another thought occurred to him that he felt the need to express.

  “Hey, you said there was a prison? I don’t remember there being a prison in this game.”

  “It was built about three weeks ago,” Tsuki explained. “In order to build it, a level 90 blacksmith and a level 75 carpenter needed to work together to create it. That is why it took this long to construct a prison. Anyways, because of this prison a new guild was created. This guild is the equivalent of a police force, devoting their time to finding criminals and capturing them. They call themselves the Azure Crusaders.”

  “Wow, I never would’ve thought of a police type guild being formed. This world seems to more closely reflect the real world all the time,” Dusk said, seemingly impressed. He wondered how long it would be before they came for his head.

  “Naturally, society will always adapt to their environment. Humans will always adapt, because the alternative would be to perish.”

  “That is true.”

  “So...” Dusk hesitated for a moment, unsure of how Tsuki and Omni would respond to his inquiry, “how did you do what you did back there, Omni? How did you force them all to the ground like that?”

  “Creational power,” Omni responded simply.

  “Remember what I taught you, Drake?” Tsuki questioned, referring back to her statement a month ago during their training.

  “I told you that if you master the art of meditation, if you become one with nature, you will become powerful. This is why I trained you in the art of meditation, among other things. This is what you can do with creational power.”

  “That was but a mere fragment of what one can do by tapping into the well of their creational power,” Omni interjected. “Now, do you see why she has been training you in this manner? You must become strong, Dusk.”

  “Hmm, what about you, Tsuki? I haven’t seen you use any telepathic abilities like that, although it does seem that you are able to read my thoughts in our duels. So, is that your telepathic ability? Battle instinct, or reading thoughts?” Dusk inquired, his curiosity running high.

  “I do indeed have both of those abilities. Battle instinct comes naturally, but making an active effort to read thoughts drains me if I do too much of it, at this stage in my development. I still have a lot to learn,” Tsuki clarified.

  “What about you, Omni? What is the extent of your power?” Dusk queried.

  “That’s not relevant, don’t worry about that right now, Drake,” Tsuki interrupted him. “Focus on the here and now.”

  “We’re here,” Omni declared, ending the conversation.

>   Before them was a structure similar to what Dusk originally expected Phoenix’s headquarters to look like. The Hand of Blood headquarters was a large mansion, reinforced with white stone walls, adorned with various windows that were able to be seen from the front. It was as though the manor were a living creature, each window an eye that watched their every move. The rooftop was dyed in blood red shingles. A large banner hung over the door—a symbol displayed prominently in the middle. The emblem contained within that banner—a hand clenched into a fist. The fist dripped with blood, completely soaked in it. This was the symbol of the Hand of Blood—the guild that had caused him to feel so much guilt and sadness—one of the representations of his dark past. The wooden door below the banner was the only thing separating the trio from the inevitable confrontation.

  He paused for a moment to consider the gravity of the current events that unfolded.

  So this is it. After this two month conflict with this guild, today is the day it will all finally be over. Today it’s decided.

  “Well then, it’s time,” Omni warned them.

  Dusk swallowed hard, his eyes lighting up with determination. He needed to do this. No, he had to do this.

  “Yeah, let’s go!” He unsheathed his swords in advance, preparing himself for a brutal battle.

  The large door opened with a whimper, an ear-splitting declaration that a fierce struggle was about to begin.

  The first room the trio could discern seemed to be an entertainment room. This spacious room could house over fifty people if the need arose. Burgundy rugs were sprawled along the wooden floor. The walls held several weapons’ racks and animal furs, trophies of the beasts they had slain. The stench of cigarette smoke was floating about the room, flooding into Dusk’s nostrils, nearly breaking him into a cough. Fifteen guild members idled about inside the room, all turning their heads to inspect the commotion coming from their front door.

  For a moment a tense silence hung in the air like a thick cloud, until one of the guild members dispersed the cloud with his obnoxious voice. “Hey, I recognize the dual wielder! That’s Dusk, the red star who killed Menos! The only idiot stupid enough to fuck with our guild.”