by EA Hooper
“Thanks, but that’s all far behind me,” Vincent replied. “Monika and I had a long life together. We lived better lives than many people have had, so we always counted ourselves lucky despite everything. The only thing I maybe regret is that she didn’t see this game. She would’ve loved it.”
Xan sniffled, and Vincent felt bad for making the young woman gloomy.
“Hey, I think I see the Jump Gate,” Vincent said, pointing at the structure ahead. “I can’t believe I’ve been stuck in this game for fifteen years, yet I’ve never used one.”
“I’m really nervous,” Xan said. “I’ve never used one, either. I can close my eyes after it starts, right?”
“Yeah, you just have to lock your crystal onto the target gate,” Quinn explained. “Once you get liftoff, I suggest shutting your eyes until you land. These worlds aren’t as large as Earth, or even the Moon, but it’s crazy watching the planet fly out from under your feet. Shooting across the sky and through space—it’s a wild trip. I’d do it for fun if these Jump Crystals weren’t so damn expensive.”
They reached the protected building that encircled the massive Jump Gate, which was made of 999-rated daistone. Members of the City Watch Guild nodded as they approached and allowed them to take the stairs. To their team’s surprise, a crowd of people waited for them at the top.
“Yo!” Jim shouted from the crowd. “Vince, I know we already had your party, but I wanted to get all the friends you’ve made in Knightrest to see you on your way out.”
Vincent peered across the group. He saw a bunch of his friends from the City Watch Guild; the regulars from Varia’s Club that sometimes partied with him and Jim; several friends he’d made in training classes for sword fighting and rune making—even Roderick had shown up to see him on his way.
“You be careful out there,” Roderick said, shaking Vincent’s hand.
“I will,” he replied.
“How about a good luck kiss?” one woman from Varia’s Club asked. She and five of the other ladies took turns kissing Vincent on the cheek.
He shook hands with several more men and women of the guild, and then approached Jim. His old friend reached forward and hugged him.
“I’m not dropping myself from the Party List,” Jim told him. “You might already know, but you and a party member can link your crystals together to increase their power. So, if you ever get into too much trouble out there, I’ll try to fly to you and help. I’ll save as many Jump Crystals as possible—maybe get the City Watch Guild to help me track and farm Gazal for Crystal Hearts.”
Vincent patted Jim’s shoulder. “I’d really appreciate that. Although, once I reach the mid-tier worlds, I don’t think you’d be able to reach me, no matter how many crystals you’ve saved.”
“Well, if that happens, I’ll keep saving up anyway. If I ever get bored of Knightrest, I’ll try to catch up to you. No promises, though.”
“Thanks for everything, buddy,” Vincent said. “Next time we meet, whether it’s in-game or the real world, I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Make it ten,” Jim said, grinning.
“You got it,” Vincent replied, stepping onto the round, fifty-meter-wide plateau.
He equipped a Jump Crystal, and a massive, glowing rune appeared across the plateau. Intense energy danced over the complex rune design, and the entire plateau glowed blue like a gargantuan lantern. Vincent remembered the few times in Knightrest when he’d seen the Jump Gate glowing in the distance.
He stared up at the worlds above. With the crystal glowing in his hand, he could see blue specks appear on the worlds with connected Jump Gates. There were only two close enough to reach with one crystal, however.
“Remember the plan,” Vincent told Quinn and Xan as they stepped onto the glowing plateau. “We’ll land on Fountmell, follow the branch up to Rann, and then take the Jump Gate on the opposite side to the City-World of Navrun. Altogether, reaching Navrun should only take a few weeks.”
Vincent held his crystal toward the blue dot on Fountmell. He activated the crystal and felt the gravitational energy encompass his body. He floated off the ground, slowly at first, but then he picked up speed. Jim and his friends from Knigthrest became specks as the plateau flew away from him.
The old man’s heart raced as the plateau became smaller and more distant. He flew through the clouds, but found himself still gaining speed. “Holy shi—”
Once he hit low orbit, his speed increased dramatically. He shot across space and watched the World-Tree and the planets with wide eyes. He stared at the thousands of worlds in his view, each one looking different from the next. The handful of City-Worlds in his sight were mostly covered in grasslands, forests, and plains. The Nature-Worlds varied more in size and composition. He saw worlds covered in seas, forests, deserts, and even ones frozen in snow and ice. There were worlds with massive structures like great walls and hundred-story-high castles. He spotted pyramids and craters and one world covered in storm clouds.
His speed slowed as he hit the low orbit of Fountmell. His eyes followed the numerous crags and lakes of the calm world. We shouldn’t have much trouble with this one, so long as we avoid the lake monsters.
His body tensed with fear as he fell toward the Jump Gate. He knew the gate would slow him, but he couldn’t stop his natural instincts. Relief rushed over him as his speed decreased. He floated to the plateau with a gentle landing, and the Jump Crystal crumbled to dust in his hand.
Vincent heard screaming and looked up. Quinn and Xan floated down together, and the younger woman continued to shout even after her feet touched the ground.
“We’re here!” Quinn shouted. “Look, Xan.”
Xan opened her eyes, sighed, and then dropped to her knees. “Oh, ground, I love you so much. Never leave me again.”
“You’ll have to get used to taking Jump Gates,” Quinn told her.
“I know,” Xan groaned. “Luckily, we don’t have to use one again until we jump to Navrun. We’re taking one of the branches, right? Aren’t the wyrms that lurk there really dangerous?”
“Branch wyrms are smaller than trunk wyrms,” Quinn said. “That being said, we’ll focus on evading them. They’re really hard to kill, since they don’t have a brain to destroy. Basically, they’re mountains of flesh with teeth. I doubt Vincent’s Void Gun would even bring one down.”
They stepped off the plateau. The surrounding steps and buildings looked like they’d been abandoned for years. Vincent equipped his compass and walked north. Several small lakes circled the Jump Gate, and they followed a path between two lakes.
“I meant to ask about that void spell,” Xan said, glancing at Vincent. “What the heck was that? You killed Sharky in one shot—I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s more or less an exploit,” Vincent said. “The game’s physics uses something called negative energy. You rarely ever see it for more than a fraction of a second when two large spells collide. I spent fifteen years trying to weaponize it.”
“Wow,” Xan said.
The path between the lakes grew shallow, forcing the players to walk through large puddles of water.
“You need to show me how to use negative energy,” Quinn told the old man. “Even if it takes me years or decades, I’d like to develop my own ability like that. Maybe I can combine it with Breaker somehow. Not sure what that’d do, but I bet it’d be powerful.”
“I’ll show you while I work on developing a new shield with negative energy,” Vincent replied. “I picked Mage because Elemental Conversion should allow me to convert negative energy faster now that I know how to use it. That’ll make it easier to create new void spells. Besides that, I’m also halfway to upgrading my Scan with Farsight. After that, I might try Darkeye. That would’ve been useful in Sharky’s Cavern.”
“Look at you with all your fancy abilities,” Quinn said. “And then there’s Xan with her Light Drain. Here I am just improving Breaker over and over.”
“Your Impact Shield is
a cool ability,” Vincent told her. “You have a unique fighting style too. I’m surprised you don’t use the Brave Warrior’s Sword you got from completing the Fighter Class Quest. It might be only a short sword, but it’s hardened-verasteel. So, a 300-Rating. That thing should cut through most players in the low-tier worlds.”
“I use it sometimes,” Quinn replied. “The thing is, Breaker charges three times faster on my fists. It uses less mana that way too. I can get two punches in by the time most players get off a sword swing, so I do damage faster that way. Not to mention, I took taekwondo and boxing classes growing up, so I acclimated to this fighting style easier than using a sword. If it works, it works, you know?”
“Yeah, I understand,” Vincent said. “I guess I shouldn’t be questioning Knightrest’s Arena Champion.”
“Speaking of which, I think we should pick our speed up to a jog,” Quinn told them. “You want to reach Navrun in five weeks or five months?” She ran in place, waiting for the other two to pick up their speed.
Vincent swapped his armor for lighter wear, and the three jogged past the lakes. They eyed the sights of pristine water and tall, jutting crags in the distance. Sometimes they spotted abandoned cabins overlooking hillsides.
This world had been a popular vacation spot before the update. Then ARKUS increased the reproduction rate of monsters. After most the players were killed, they abandoned all the cabins on this beautiful world. A shame, really. If Monika had been here, I’m sure we would’ve built ourselves a lakeside cabin.
They continued for several hours, chatting and watching the sights. They passed tall, thick trees and overgrown grasslands between the crags and lakes. Vincent Scanned antelope and rabbits, but they spotted no monsters.
“This is getting a little eerie,” Quinn told them after several minutes of silence.
“Yeah, it’s too quiet,” Xan said. “Should we play I spy to pass the time?”
“No, I mean there’re no monsters around,” Quinn explained. “These cabins and forts were abandoned because the monster attacks became too frequent after the update. I heard you couldn’t walk ten minutes without spotting a troll in the distance or mers looking to drag you into a lake.”
“My dad had a friend that got drowned by a mer right after the update,” Xan said. “He said it was the most horrifying experience of his life. I’d rather not go through that.”
“Get a Lotus Capsule ready if you’re paranoid,” Quinn told her. “If we reach Navrun without you, it should only cost you one Jump Crystal. Although, I’ll have to use one to connect it.”
“If two of us don’t make it, that’d be four total,” Vincent noted. “Between the three of us, we only have thirty remaining. Let’s try not to waste them.”
“We’ll have to find more as we travel,” Quinn said. “If you Scan a World Boss, let me know. It’d be worth the risk if we get a Crystal Heart. You should be able to one-shot them anyways.”
“Not Fountmell’s World Boss,” Vincent replied. “It’s a divine hydra that moves between lakes using underwater caverns. You have to kill all seven heads to defeat it, and the heads regenerate after one minute.”
“Sounds frustrating,” Quinn said. “Let’s skip this one, then. I defeated Rann’s World Boss in a party once. We should be able to take it on, and it’s easy to find.”
“I’ve never fought a World Boss,” Xan said. “In fact, I’ve only seen Gazal once. He was so beautiful.”
They circled around a lake, but Xan stopped and pointed at a pile of ash with a twinkling crystal. Vincent grabbed the item.
Troll Heart-Rock – The heart that controls the nervous system of a troll. You feel the soft beat of magical power within it.
“It’s a troll heart,” he muttered. “What in the world is going on with Fountmell? The only enemy we’ve found is a dead one.”
“This is getting bizarre,” Quinn said, leaning beside the water. “Might as well stop and refresh ourselves.” She splashed water on her face, and then screamed.
Quinn jumped away from the lake, and her face sizzled. Spots of blood appeared across her skin, but Xan hurried over and healed her.
“The water burns!” Quinn shouted. “It’s like acid or something.”
Vincent stared into the clear water. He saw a purple wisp and Scanned it.
Miasma – A harmful vapor that can infest caverns, valleys, and water systems.
“There’s miasma in the water,” he told them.
“What?” Quinn said. “How? Only certain enemies create miasma. I feel like I would’ve heard if Fountmell had an enemy that did. That doesn’t synergize with the ecosystem here.”
>Vincent: Hey, Jim, do you know if there’s an enemy that creates miasma in Fountmell?
>Jim: No, but there’s a World Boss that does on Evafall. You didn’t miss with your Jump Crystal, did you?
>Vincent: We’re on Fountmell, but we’ve seen no monsters. Just found troll dust beside a lake corrupted with miasma.
>Jim: What? There’s no way. The lich on Evafall is the only enemy on any nearby world that makes miasma. I’d know because around my tenth year of gameplay, I joined a caravan there to farm. Evafall has some good monsters and items, but you have to clear out the lich. It only spawns once every in-game year, but once it does it starts to ruin the world. Everything it kills with miasma feeds it, so it’ll keep spreading that miasma until half the monsters and wildlife on Evafall are dead.
>Vincent: Is there any possibility the lich’s miasma could’ve spread to Fountmell?
>Jim: The miasma can’t leave the world the lich is on. It can only spread the miasma through valleys, canyons, and rivers—stuff like that. But it must stay connected or it’ll slowly dissipate.
>Quinn: Woah, you said it feeds by killing wildlife and monsters with its miasma, right? And players had to clear it to stop it from destroying Evafall?
>Jim: Yeah.
>Quinn: When was the last time anyone went to Evafall and killed it?
>Jim: I don’t know. Before the update, it was a popular spot for low-level players to farm items and grind levels before moving up on the World-Tree. It’s rich in resources, and there’s ten different dungeons there. Since the update, the players I know that used to lead caravans there all stopped going.
>Quinn: So, no one’s killed that lich in fifteen years?
>Jim: Probably not.
>Quinn: And how long did it take for the lich to wreck the ecosystem on Evafall?
>Jim: Maybe a few years? When the game started, there were NPCs designated to hunt and kill it every three years. Once players regularly showed up to Evafall, ARKUS let those NPCs grow old and die.
>Quinn: Okay, I’m thinking that lich wiped out Evafall by now, then it probably got hungry and migrated to the next closest world: Fountmell.
>Jim: I’ve never heard of a monster migrating from its homeworld. Especially not a World Boss.
>Quinn: It can happen. I found a goblin wandering on a branch. It seemed like it had gotten lost and traveled off the world by mistake. It was half-starved and weak when I found it. So, monsters can migrate from their homeworld, even if it’s not in their nature.
>Jim: Maybe that’s not a bad thing. The lich can keep Fountmell almost monster-free for us. It’ll make players more willing to travel to Navrun.
Vincent stared at the dark, twisted trees and dying grass near the lake.
>Vincent: Until it kills everything here and moves on again. This world’s entire ecosystem is interconnected. If it keeps spreading that miasma, it’ll run out of things to kill and set its eyes on another world. Then another. And another. If it moves toward the trunk, it might reach Bewrick and the city of Glassdale. Bewrick is covered in valleys, giving the lich plenty of places to spread its miasma, and Glassdale is a small city that relies on the rivers flowing across Bewrick. The lich might turn their water supply into acid.
>Quinn: Yeah, we should probably kill it. Jim, where would we find it?
>Jim: The lich its
elf doesn’t hide very well. It flies around looking to gobble up miasma that’s caused damage to a living creature. Once miasma inflicts harm, it absorbs blood into the particles. The lich converts that into energy, or something like that. So, if you find something dying, keep an eye out for it. I’m not sure if you guys can kill it, though.
>Quinn: You kidding? Have you seen my fighting skills or your friend’s cheap spell?
>Jim: The lich can’t be killed by normal means. It’s bound by an invisible, magical tether to a phylactery. You have to destroy that item to destroy the lich. Otherwise, it’ll regenerate infinitely.
>Vincent: Any tips on finding its phylactery?
>Jim: The lich has to stay within ten miles of the phylactery, but that includes underground. We used different methods of tracking the phylactery, since it gives off magical energy. However, the lich was smart and moved the phylactery every few weeks. I’m not sure what you three could do to find it, since you didn’t come prepared. If we’d known beforehand, I could’ve given you a divining rod, but it can take weeks of searching to find it even with that.
>Quinn: Is there really no other way to kill it? Vincent’s Void Gun differs from most spells. You sure that won’t work?
>Jim: I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Quinn huffed and picked up her pace toward a nearby crag.
“What are you doing?” Xan asked, hurrying after her.
“Finding that stupid lich,” Quinn said. “There’s got to be an easy way to kill it. What kind of stupid crap is that? Smashing a dumb item to kill a monster. This is a physics-based game. There’s limitations to everything, including this lich’s regeneration.”
Vincent followed, and the three climbed to the top of the crag. He peered at the hundreds of lakes in his line of sight. He could see that portions of the grasslands ahead had withered from the miasma’s corruption. A sharp wail in the distance caught their attention, and Quinn pointed at a shape in one of the far away lakes.
“Vince, Scan that lake over there,” Quinn commanded.
“I don’t have Farsight, but I’ll try,” he replied. It took almost twenty seconds of constant Scanning to get any information.