Sid commands Disease. Six Dragonbane Official Keepers of the Peace are diseased.
Their HPs start dropping rapidly. Oni has gotten in there with Days and rams his horns into random enemies. He’s gotten some of the hate, but they aren’t doing much damage to him. Nor is he to them with the jabs, but the DoT of Disease has them all at 40% HP or so in no time.
Sid casts Mantra.
“Silvia.”
She peeks over at me with a grin. God.
Simple gains +201 ATT.
She doesn’t miss a beat as the Dragonbane Official Keepers of the Peace win the race with the healers to destroy Days before the DoT gets them.
Simple casts Ball Lightning. Six Dragonbane Official Keepers of the Peace take damage. Runic Pendant of Storms stuns all enemies for 5 seconds with this attack.
When did she get that? I bet my clever fellow Nuudle made the damn thing with all her rune studies.
Now, even as Silvia saves Days’ life by healing him at literally 4% HP, the guards are all stunned, and within two seconds, between the damage Simple dealt out and Oni’s DoT, they fall over all at once, and their faces are black.
We don’t wait to see their bodies fade. They could be back if they have special gravesites close to here for some reason. You never know with NPCs, and we certainly don’t know what kinds of protection Bane has in places such as this.
I dismiss Oni and summon the Counts. Use Surround and blow the doors off and inward, leaving rubble and a way in through the heavy, locked door.
We dash in, not looking back.
Inside, there is an actual elevator, and no stairs. It opens and four guards, still Knights and Lancers, pour out, but Days is on it.
Days uses Invoke Inner Demon.
He got them all. They fall on him hard, but I still have the Counts out.
Sid commands Freeze. Four Dragonbane Official Keepers of the Peace are frozen for 20 seconds.
Simple crushes them with Death Lightning as Doolittle heals Days, and Silvia compounds more Protection on him.
Simple’s spell wipes them in seconds.
We’ve become so strong, and fight without thought. Hivemind, I tell you.
We pile in the elevator and push the close button. There is only one other button. “Throne Room,” it reads above.
Sorry pushes it. Up we sail.
As the doors open at the only other floor the elevator accesses, we are accosted by fourteen Dragonbane Official Keepers of the Peace, four of them Killers. That was Seeker’s class in Elora, and that worries me. I know their moves by heart.
Days dives in as Doolittle calls to me over the sounds of battle and magic, “Sid, the door to the Throne Room. Go. Go for it, we’ll hold them off. Get to Bane.”
I pause.
“No, idiot, we’re fine. Now, get the fuck in there,” Days says harshly between grunts as he takes damage from all fourteen enemies and is healed and hit with cumulative Protections nonstop. Sorry casts her Offense Down move on all of them, and I get an eyeful from Days before he invokes Inner Demon for the second time.
I run around the massive pile-up of clashing arms, the Counts trailing behind me, and use Surround to blow the door to the Throne Room open. I don’t even know if it’s barricaded in any way.
The dust and dirt settles, but I’m already through the door. I sense the Counts’ unease with the closed quarters, and dismiss them.
I enter Bane’s chambers defenseless, having no clue what to expect.
Bane uses Punch on Sid. Sid loses 5% HP and is stunned for five seconds.
Shit. I can’t move to summon Djinn.
The Throne Room is full of statues of Dragonbane, and Bane in particular, carved from the best volcanic glass. Red curtains and furniture fill the round, dark room, which has one window overlooking Bane’s kingdom.
Bane uses Scroll: Seal. Throne Room is sealed from entry or exit for 15 minutes.
Our eyes meet as the Stun wears off. He used his weakest attack on me, and I know Maniac moves. That punch stung like a bitch, right across the right cheek, yet he stands tall and thick before me, arms folded, spikes and horns glistening in the yellow glow of the Seal Scroll magic surrounding us. His dragon eyes assess me, taking in everything, especially my name. He smiles, holds his arms out.
“Sid, you finally accepted my invitation. Late, which I don’t like, and unscheduled, another loss of a brownie point, but rather an exciting introduction. You and a team raided my sanctuary. How intriguing. I can’t imagine why.” His long, thin mouth curls up with amusement, eyes twinkling with thrill.
The Stun is gone.
Sid summons Djinn.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. No reason for all that. You’re with a comrade, an equal.”
I didn’t think Bane considered anyone an equal. “Oh?”
Djinn hasn’t said a word. He hovers by me, examining Bane with a thoughtful frown. He knows about Seeker’s letter and our plan today.
“Yes, you are the One True Mystic. Blah, blah, blah. It is spectacular to meet you, however, and because you made such an excellent presentation to get to me, I’ll forgive your slight when you didn’t show for my invitation time.” He shakes his head. “Indeed. Is it true you claimed Ananta?”
Nobody has asked me that outright. Certainly not an NPC. How would he know that? “Why?” I’m on the defensive. The scroll magic has made it so I can’t even hear my party’s outside struggle, but I have faith. They’re alright. Besides, I’m the one always overthinking and acting last during battle. They’ve been handling this kind of thing long before I came to Dark World.
“Why what?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Because I heard about it.” He smiles. “Would you like to have a seat with me at my wine table? I always keep two seats. I enjoy drinking company.”
“How did you hear about it?”
He laughs. “I’m Bane. I hear about everything. Remember, NPCs are linked into information players never have. Now, sit. Sit.”
I look up at Djinn. He shrugs, unconcerned, but on guard at the same time.
“Alright,” I say. Bane certainly isn’t acting like he’s ready to take me down with an army in two days with Seeker. “But I’m here because of Seeker’s threat. Is it true?”
He sits and gestures at the dusty chair across from him. The table and chair set is made of carved quartz crystal, and the seats have red velvet cushions. “Sorry for the mess, but that’s really your fault. I have a Stylist at my command who will fix after you leave, but for now, you’ll have to sit in the filth you created out of my Throne Room.”
I sit and wait as he pours Dragon Red into two golden goblets. Dust floats on the surface of mine. I don’t touch it, but he drinks deeply from his glass. “Yes, it’s true. But don’t get the wrong idea. Seeker is a great Psychic, but he’s a loony. I have no doubt you have no intention of joining him in whatever delusional fantasy he’s built up for you.”
I wait. He seems to know and understand Seeker well. Too well. Too well for an NPC.
Yeah, an NPC doesn’t think like that. They don’t think, right?
Bane is thinking. I can practically see his thoughts whirling behind his red eyes.
I slump. “Why are you helping him, then?”
Bane laughs. “I’m bored. Always bored. Seeker is a flash in the pan. You’re the power. I don’t want you to make the change, and I’m betting you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I poker face up. Djinn clears his throat. “Master Mystic Sid, if you need any assistance…”
“Thanks, Djinn. I think I’d like to have a conversation. A short one.”
“Oh, Mystic Sid, do calm your tits,” he says with a wave of his gold wine glass, a little red spilling out onto the dirty surface of the crystal table. An NPC doesn’t talk like that. How would a programmer put that in? Wouldn’t it break some kind of game rating regulations?
I know it, know for sure that Bane is not just an NPC.
“Bane, answer a
question for me, and I’ll extend my stay.”
“Nice Nuudle words. Pretty.” He swigs the rest of the wine down his throat and drops the empty glass on the table with a chiming sound resonating the crystal’s frequencies. “What is your question?”
“You’re not an NPC, are you? You’re a player. Somehow, you’re a damn player.” I know it. That’s it. That’s the difference. I don’t know how it’s possible or why, but he is. And if he is, then what’s to say in Dark World they all aren’t players somehow shifted into the roles of NPCs? “How did you do it?”
He puts large, scaly elbows on the tabletop. “What’s it to you? You’re not going to become an NPC.”
“So you did become one. How? Why?”
He shrugs and sets his empty glass upright. “I’ve been here a long time. As I said, I’m always bored. You have entertained me highly today, so thank you for that.”
“I’m here to stop you from having anything to do with Seeker.”
“Thus the army of friends come to devastate my abode. And Djinn hovering, waiting for you to command him to do some summon move on me if I act out. I’m not planning on starting anything with you. I’d prefer to ally with you than that nut Seeker. You’re the One True Mystic. Who wouldn’t?” He smirks, pours more Dragon Red.
“Did you do a quest to become an NPC?”
He nods. “You could say that. It’s not important. You have Ananta. You can stop my progress, or you can speed it up. To me, you are a pawn, nothing more.”
Djinn mutters, “That’s all anyone but himself is to him, Master Sid.”
He examines Djinn. “Last time we spoke, you had an ill opinion of my character. I’m an honest bastard, even if I am a bastard.”
I put my hands flat on the table. We’re getting nowhere. “Bane, why are you even getting involved with Seeker if you think he’s a crazy person?”
He shrugs, looks into his glass, swirls the new red wine. Looks up at me, trying to intimidate me with dragon eyes. I used to have them, and I’m not in the least threatened. I’ve found Nuudle eyes to be more effective now, but they wouldn’t be on him. “Boredom gets the best of us. Conquering the world and creating a new race fixes that.” He frowns. “Seeker, that pathetic, weak-minded Psychic. But, he has some powerful allies, and my business is having powerful allies. I can use this Psychic to my purposes. He is a powerful one.” His eyes narrow. “I’d rather have you as my ally than Seeker, as I said, and I don’t often repeat myself. Don’t have to. What say we take him out together? Throw him under the bus on Shealaday. He’ll never know what hit him.”
Bane has no empathy, no human left in him. I don’t say this. Anger and frustration with his flippant regard for whatever his whim is at the moment as being the chosen action, without consequences even considered, makes me irritated beyond belief. He’s a friggin’ player. What the fuck?
“Hell no.”
He looks at me like I’m being petty. “You don’t know a good deal when you hear one. Are you as high on your horse as Seeker claims?”
“I think you’re the one putting yourself on a very fragile pedestal.”
He slaps his hand on the crystal surface, tosses his head back. “Ha! Touché.” He meets my eyes again, no humor there at all. “Then be prepared for battle in two days, Mystic Sid. I care not. Mystic, Psychic, Ananta? Seeker is right. You two would be an unstoppable force.”
“Why in the world do you think I have any interest in being a force of anything?”
“Well, what do you want? You want out of Dark World. You want back in your precious, dead body, even if you’re worm food now. Ah, life, great human life. Romanticize it all you like. It’s never yours again.” He stands, towering over me. “I suppose this meeting is over. You’re an idiot like Seeker, but at least he wants action. I like action. I’m sorry, Mystic Sid, but now you’re a challenge for me. I love challenges. I love challenges more than powerful allies. I’ve been thinking this will be my first assault on the northern part of the Eastern continent. White Elves have been quite challenging. Damn divine magic. Nothing to study, nothing to prepare against. White Elves feel their divinity. How metaphysical. You’ve made your mind up. I look forward to the fight. I think it will be more thrilling to fight against you than with you, although you and I could have done great things together.”
I stand too.
Sid commands First Wish.
Bane is warped to Home Point.
His face contorts in both amusement and fury at the same time as he vanishes, and as he goes, the scroll magic shutting us off from the rest of the world disappears. I hear my friends still giving it their all in the hall outside the Throne Room.
No clue where his HP is, but it’s time to get the hell out of here. I run to the shattered doorway, slam my sparking Shaman Stick against a chunk of wall on the floor. I target all my allies, who are thankfully alive and at good HP, despite the six more guards who’ve joined the fray while I confronted Bane, but my friends have managed to keep their numbers in check. I also target myself.
Sid commands First Wish.
Sid and 4 targets are warped to Home Points.
As warp takes me to Cashmere’s Kila Crystal through a darkness with no meaning, I’m scheming. Thinking. Processing. A plan has formed by the time I materialize at the Kila Crystal, and my allies are there with me. We all set our HPs here. So glad Simple thought to get Silvia to set hers. Otherwise, she might have shot back to Elora.
Sid dismisses Djinn.
NPCs are players, but all of them? What about my summons?
I don’t think they’re players, but I don’t know what they are.
As soon as I see my friends, holding Silvia’s eyes longer than the others, I say, “We have to find Kane today, right now. I’ll go alone and meet back up with you in that valley where we checked out Ananta for the first time.”
“The only time,” adds Days. “Do what you gotta do. We’re behind you.”
CHAPTER 18: DESTROY CREATION
I approach practically every NPC and player I come across in Dawn, asking, “Where’s Kane?” Now, talking to NPCs is a different experience. They know so much I don’t, and they’ve been here a long time. They’re people, players with a purpose to serve the game. It seems to me there aren’t any perks to being an NPC, except you get to sit fat and happy and never get axed. No pain, but you have to play a role… but for who? Elora Online? Or whatever actually is in control of this existence? There must be something or someone running this show.
I haven’t talked to Cedra yet, avoiding his enchanted tent of treasure on the far side of Dawn’s main cavern. Guy didn’t like me. I put his story together as best I could. He’d been a successful Mystic at one time, at least somewhat, but things went wrong. Probably his greed. He chased after the secret quests that make a player an NPC, and these players-turned-NPCs must get some kind of perks other than sitting on their asses to play a part for players who have no idea what they really are. None of them seem to care either, except the few who have hinted around that there’s something I can do that they desperately want me to do, but are also afraid of.
I wish I had time for one last visit to Master Gronai so I could discuss this NPC quest business, hear his Dark World story. The real one, not the NPC backstory everyone has. Maybe if I get to Kane soon, today, I’ll still have tomorrow to Kila Crystal travel to the Temple of Nuudlel and spend some time with Master Gronai, see what he can clarify, if anything.
Cedra made it clear he didn’t like me much when we last spoke, but after no luck anywhere else in Dawn, I approach and enter his tent.
“You again?” I’m overwhelmed by how many more luxuries he’s packed into this place since I last saw him. He’s in the back of the “tent” and sitting on a gold leather chaise lounge, puffing his tobacco, silver eyes shimmering against the pure white of his Mylop scales.
I go up to him cautiously. “Hello again, Cedra.”
“Come to get your anklet back? Well, too bad. It’s mine.”
His eyes drift down to my feet. “Ah. I see Djinn is still with you, and I know the joys of treasure hunting. Nice score. Lucky you.” He’s dead-eying me, and it’s obvious he still has disdain for me.
“Cedra, yeah, well… you were right. I have learned a lot more while playing Mystic. I… I know what you are now.”
He leans back on the chaise and taps the ashes out of his pipe, not meeting my intent stare. “Oh, do you now? Please, do tell. What am I?”
“I saw Bane. I know you were a player. A person.”
“Psst. You know shit, Mystic Sid. I’ve never been a person.”
“Maybe not in the humanity sense, but you lived as a human with a human life, and somehow, you died while playing this game, arriving who knows when in Dark World, failed as a Mystic and chased down being an NPC. But why? Why be an NPC?”
He shakes his gold-adorned lizard head. “You think you have it all figured out. There is knowledge that comes with being an NPC, knowledge that’s more in tune with reality than claiming Ananta.”
“How do you know about that?”
“Like I said, knowledge.”
“Knowledge of systems?”
He pauses, considering me hard, then re-packs his exotic pipe, dismissing me.
“Look, can you just tell me where to find Kane?”
“And what business do you have with that Mylop?” he asks casually, too casually.
“You know what business. Like you said, knowledge.” I wait him out as he continues with his pipe habits until he lights it up at long last, and exhales with a tired look on his white face.
“So, you’re going to do it. You’re going to reset?”
I’m taken aback. I almost play dumb, but notice a tremor in the smoke coming from the bowl of his tobacco pipe. His hand is shaking. Nerves? Why? “If a reset means using Destroy Creation, no. I’ll never use that move.”
He inhales and exhales slowly, still not meeting my gaze. I wait, used to it with this particular treasure-hoarding NPC. I’m not going to slink out, dismissed like last time.
Total Immersion: Dark World: A LitRPG Adventure Page 27