“Wasn’t expecting to see you until Myszno,” I said cautiously.
“Nor was I,” he replied. His voice was light, crisp, but there was no trace of dark humor this time around. “But you are my Herald, and so I come to you with grievous news... and a warning.”
“News?” I let go of Cutthroat, curious to see what she’d do. The big dinosaur hissed through her teeth, and hung back near the reeds. I advanced a couple of steps.
“The Architects have fallen silent,” he said.
It took me a second to realize what he was talking about. The Devs. “The blackout? You know what happened?”
“It rippled through all Creation.” The point of light in the void that passed for Matir’s face spun like a small galaxy. “And the Architects have always whispered in the ears of the Gods, until now.”
There could only be one reason why the Devs and Temperance had gone silent. I rubbed my face, rubbed my eyes, heedless of the dirt, my imagination consumed by the image of the Pacific Alliance raining nuclear fire down on Aurora Shard and the other Shards on the West Coast. But that couldn’t be right. We had missile defense systems, we had...
A population wiped out by disease, and no one to man the stations. Battleships empty of soldiers. Our cities were now a graveyard for hundreds of millions of people. And above them all, a desperate elite on both sides of the war who preferred false victory to a real defeat.
Fuck.
“They nuked us,” I said, hollowly. “They fucking nuked us. The game reset. We blacked out... because it had to reboot. From the orbital servers.”
Matir watched me in grim silence.
“They fucking nuked us.” I couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, I couldn’t believe anything else.
While Matir waited, I tried PMing Lucien. He was online, but the message bounced. The asshole had me blocked. I swallowed, steeled myself, and looked up at Matir.
“What does that mean for us?” I said. “Players? The Starborn?”
“There are some two thousand of you here already,” Matir replied. “And I assume no more will arrive. That is where my warning comes in. A great evil lairs within these ruins, Hector. I suspected you would come here, given your association with the White Witch, Rutha, and so I waited... because you would have seen the trap laid here, and reported it to the Architects. Now the Architects cannot be reached, save for those few who have incarnated here as Starborn,” he twirled the deadly flower, “and they are now as powerless to remove evil from this world as all other mortals.”
Two thousand? How long have I been in here? There were only a couple hundred when I arrived, and that was... what? Three days ago? Four? And it seemed Matir had some awareness of the nature of his reality after all. “I don’t know how I feel about the God of Actual Fucking Darkness talking about ‘removing evil’ from the world.”
Matir dropped his chin down, and the darkness of his face shimmered and danced. “When a babe is born, it screams in pain and terror as it emerges from the darkness into the light. Yet this passage marks the first moment that the child is truly human. Darkness is not the same as Nothing, Hector. As you know very well.”
Memories of a dark jungle at night, the smell of blasted earth and atomized rubble and burning trees, the sounds of rifles rattling and men screaming… they flooded back, and with it came the old combat surge: the pounding temples, the tunnel vision, the sudden reptilian focus. I fisted my hands. “Then why don’t you do something? Why are you trying to manipulate me into doing this shit for you?”
“Because I am still imprisoned. My power, and that of my brothers and sisters, is used to maintain the Caul of Souls,” he said simply.
I blinked a few times. “Well, fuck. Why?”
“That is a long story,” Matir replied. “The important fact is that my prison has weakened enough that I awoke and discovered that I could project my image and voice to a chosen few.”
“Why just you? What about the other Gods?”
“Solnetsi and Khors also stir,” Matir said. “But I am the first target for those who seek to bring ruin to this world. There are… cultists… who expect that I am some Dark Lord who will lead them into the transcendental apocalypse they desire. Needless to say, their expectations are exaggerated, but the fact remains that those who sabotage the Dragon Gates, the portals which sustain the Caul, have focused their efforts on liberating me. And there lies a story, one which I must tell you now that the Architects have fallen silent.”
“I’m all ears.”
Matir straightened, and stepped away from the pillar. Shadows seemed to cling to him, trailing in his wake.
“Once, an Architect fell to Archemi. His name was Ororgael. Like you, his spirit did not incarnate correctly. Unlike you, he was not rescued from purgatory by one of The Nine, nor by any of the Young Gods of humankind... he was rescued by the Drachan.”
My eyes widened. “The Void Dragons? The ones that invaded Archemi-”
“Some five thousand years ago, yes.” Matir finished. “Meshtaroth, the most powerful of the Drachan, is contained by the Caul of Souls, but he does not sleep. He is practically a god unto himself, and he saw in Ororgael the potential for an avatar. He was a bitter, brilliant, twisted being... a true Architect, but a loathsome one. He hated his own kind. He hated other Starborn, and the fact that he had to share what he saw as his world with them. He found a position of power here, in Ilia, and became a master of time and space... abilities he abused to shape the world to his liking. He found a way to exclude Starborn from being incarnated, and with that, the other Architects were forced to intervene.”
I frowned. This sounded like the ‘crazy Dev’ that Lucien had told me about.
“They pulled him out of Archemi like a tumor,” Matir continued, passing the stem of king’s sorrow from hand to hand. “They even attempted to rewrite history to erase him. But cancer has a way of hanging onto the body, doesn’t it?”
“You’re saying he’s still here?”
Matir shook his head. “That, I do not know. But I think it is no accident that my Herald is here, in Ilia - the very seat of Ororgael’s power. I do not think it an accident that you consorted with Rutha of Vasteau, the White Witch… Ororgael’s finest apprentice, and his lover.”
The revelation hit me like a hammer to the gut. “Rutha? Rutha was-?”
“Aye,” Matir agreed.
I held up the Spear. “But she gave me this. She told me I had to restore the Gates with it.”
“Gates that would have remained stable, had her master not interfered with them.” If Matir had a mouth, the words would have been accompanied by a wry smile. “But take heart, my Herald. She currently acts in innocence. As I told you, the Architects rewrote history to erase her master… and I doubt she even properly remembers him or his agenda. Perhaps this is something he anticipated… something he prepared for.”
“Does that mean Rutha is in danger? Could he could still execute his plans if he was deleted?”
“Anything is possible.”
“Then Rutha giving me this spear, this quest… was it like a… what’s the word?” I struggled for a moment. “A contingency? Ororgael’s contingency?”
The god bowed his head.
Puzzled, I called up the ‘Restore the Spear of Nine Spheres’ quest, and had the HUD read it to me aloud
New Quest: Restore the Spear of Nine Spheres
The Spear of Nine Spheres, an ancient Aesari relic, was used to create the Caul of Souls - the great magical seal that protects all of Archemi from the Drachan. The Court Sorceress of Ilia, Rutha, believes you can become a hero worthy of wilding the spear and revitilizing the Caul.
Reward: ??? (Varies)
Difficulty: Epic
Special: This is a unique quest.
Special: This quest relates to a world event.
Special: This is an evolving quest. Updates will appear in your log.
Now that I thought about it, this was a weirdly advanced, epic quest for a ran
dom noob like me to receive. I hadn’t imagined the misspellings, either. It was just believable enough to really stroke your ego, but vague enough that it could lead to anything. “This quest is some kind of a trap. It has to be. It’s not part of the game… or, it uses like… end-game content, repurposed. But why?”
“I can only guess,” Matir replied. “The Architects are terrifying, Hector. Not even a god can fathom their designs and motives. They created my reality as surely as they created yours.”
He extended the poisonous branch to me. Numbly, I bought out the leather sack I’d gotten specially for carrying this plant. I turned it inside out, wearing it like a mitt, carefully took the king’s sorrow, and then folded the sack over it.
“I’ll go back to Liren and dig into it when I can,” I said, filing all the information away. “If it’s true… if the Devs – the Architects – are dead, then we’re on our own here. Bugs and all. The last thing we need is some crazy admin fucking it up from the inside.”
“Indeed, my Herald.” Matir returned to the hexagonal pillar, wisps of his robe winding around it. “This quest is a burden that requires one willing to dig in the dark.”
“Someone like me?” I added the herb to my Inventory. It left a bitter smell in the air. “Why did you choose me, anyway?”
Matir spread his long hands, stained red with berry sap. “Among other things, I am known as the Lord of the Hidden Seed. It is my nature to notice that which has unmanifested potential and bring it into being.”
“You could have asked me.”
“You would have refused.” The dark wryness returned to Matir’s voice. “Because you have always chosen to avoid the suffering that accompanies true growth.”
I blinked, mouth open to retort, but in the moment between when my eyes closed and opened, Matir had vanished.
“Jerk.” I crouched down, and rinsed my hands off nervously in the water. As I did, I saw a shadow nodding across the surface of the marsh. When I went around the pillar, I found the remains of the wiry king’s sorrow plant, along with a cluster of eerie, near-translucent flowers with silvery stems. Ghostbell. I reached for it mechanically.
Quest Partially Complete: Ink, Glorious Ink
Return to Jasper with the plants required for making ink.
I stared at the quest notification for a couple of minutes, listening to the distant drone of dragonflies and other low-level creatures, and it finally hit me that this was it. This was my life now. There was no way to know how long it would last, how many days had passed outside of the game, or whether everything would just turn black and disappear. The Spear felt like it weighed a hundred pounds in my hand. Whatever I’d stumbled into, I couldn’t do it alone. I needed help… I needed a party. Allies. And I needed a dragon.
Chapter 33
Me and Cutthroat rode back to the fort to find it bustling. If any of the NPCs knew anything had happened, they weren’t showing it. I delivered Jasper’s plants, and he gave me the other skill tomes I needed: The Jump skill, basic smithing, intermediate sewing and armor repair, and cooking. I knew the basics of campfire cooking out of game, but there weren’t any MREs or ramen noodles here, and I wanted to make sure the things I made gave me buffs or enhanced health regen.
I had to take a couple of deep breaths before I found a place near the gate and brought up my Advanced Path menu.
All the areas that were grayed out were now in color. The first thing I got was a pop-up:
[Congratulations! Now that you are Level 5, you can select your first Advanced Path!]
[You have unlocked a Secret Path: Dark Lancer]
[You have unlocked new Combat Skills: Herald of the Hidden Seed]
My eyes widened. As the Mark of Matir tingled and itched, I navigated to the Path description and read.
Dark Lancer
Wielders of the almost limitless power of Darkness, Dark Lancers are warriors who channel the power of shadow into strong energy-draining attacks and dizzying evasive maneuvers. Naturally resilient to magic, poisons, and diseases, they can clear even the most chaotic battlefields with ease.
“Huh.” Being resistant to disease sounded good. Too good. In fact, the class sounded like it had been tailor-made for my particular set of circumstances. Hmm.
I opened the Paths menu and had a look at the skill trees.
Jump still formed the basis of the class, but all of the other skills were different from the typical Lancer. For one thing, they punched a lot harder – a lot harder. Damage was up, but the skills consumed large quantities of Adrenaline Points per activation:
Jump I
You spring into the air, making a powerful attack on landing.
Required AP: 8
Damage: 300%
Flow combinations possible
10ft vertical Jump. Leaves you vulnerable to being knocked from the air
Inflicts Stun debuff (15s)
Jump distance can be improved with the Acrobatics Skill
Shadow Dance I
Become immaterial and evade attacks with supernatural speed while draining health.
Cost: 25 AP
Cooldown: 3 sec
Invincible during Dash. Effect nullified during cooldown
Dictum I
Push your opponents forward with a powerful whirling strike, draining their health and energy.
Required Level: Dark Lancer 1
Required AP: 10
Damage: 200% x 2
Max 6 targets
Pushes enemy forward
2% of max HP recovered on every good hit
2% of max AP recovered on every good hit
Mantle of Night
Boost Movement Speed and Special Attack Power 20%
Drains 5 AP every 3 sec
Whirlwind Butcher I
Dash toward enemies and cut them down with the power of shadow.
Required AP: 20
Cooldown: 5 sec
Push Damage: 150% x 2
Extra Hit Damage: 150% x 3
Max 6 Targets
AP recovery +10 on every good hit
Invincible while moving
Knocks targets into the air
Knocks targets down
Extra Hit activated on good hits
Blood Sprint I
Cooldown: 3 sec
Forward push damage: 125% x 2
Extra damage: 125% x 2
Max 3 Targets
Attack speed: +10 for 5 sec
+30 Bleeding Damage every 2 sec for 10 sec
Stun on good hits
Chain: Blood Storm 1
After using Blood Sprint
Damage: 220% x 2
Max 5 targets
Stun on good hits
+ 10 HP recovered on good hits
Mark created on target after Master of Blades is learned
As the individual skill trees grew, so did the damage and effects. In my head, I put together the available skills in chains and combos, and realized I was actually intrigued. The attacks were fairly basic at Tier I, but from Level 20 onwards, things got really interesting. Everything was acrobatic AoE, focused on evasion instead of defense. The last tier of the Blood Strike to Blood Storm chain boosted damage up to an impressive 650% per hit, with a base +100% critical hit rate, improved accuracy and movement speed on top of a +50 HP regen, and you could hit up to 6 targets at once. There were ranged, explosive energy attacks that could be useful from dragon back later on, too. Long cooldowns and AP gluttony wouldn’t be a problem, as long as I had lots of combos to cycle through, and kept a good supply of Adrenaline pots…
I had a look at the Mark of Matir information next:
Herald of the Hidden Seed
As the chosen avatar of Matir, the primordial elemental god of Darkness, you can gain the use of certain powers within the domains of Shadow, Knowledge, Life, and Death. You may pick one Herald power per 4 levels. New powers will become available at level 12.
Life for Life
Channel a blast of damaging dark energy
into your enemy and drain their lifeforce to replenish your own.
Damage: 128% + 50% max HP regen
Double damage on surprise attack or backstab
Cost: 5AP per second
Touch Attack 1 Target
Stuns Target
Inflicts Corruption debuff 15m (Player and Target)
Special: Using this ability on Undead negates HP regen and causes HP damage instead
Close the Wound
You draw on your own raw lifeforce to heal another’s injuries.
Heal other player/NPC 50 HP per sec while ability is active
Cost: -30HP and -10AP per sec
Suppurate
You channel dark power into a person’s wounds, destroying the body’s ability to heal and causing their injuries to fester.
Cost: 20 AP + 10 HP
Damage: 120% + 5% max HP per hour until enemy receives treatment for infection
1% chance to cause Blood Poisoning per 5 Levels
Inflicts Corruption debuff 15m (Target)
Blessing of the Raven I
You call on your power and gain increased insight into knowledge and skills
+10% Skill EXP for 45 min.
30 Min cooldown
Tempting. But tempting mortals was what Darkness did, didn’t it? I had a feeling that if I took this class or these new and admittedly awesome abilities, I was somehow signing my soul away to Matir. I flexed my branded hand, flipping to the normal Lancer path, then back to Dark Lancer. Old stories about signing contracts with the Devil whispered in my ear as I brought up the confirm box and accepted my first level of Dark Lancer.
A bubbling violet nimbus surrounded me, and I sucked in a deep breath as a flood of knowledge and context flashed through my mind. With it came a mix of feelings – relief that the game was still working despite some cataclysm happening on the outside. Fear, because the information was alien, but only for a minute… then it naturalized in my body, as if I’d always known how to properly handle a spear… and push energy through it. Experimentally, I focused that energy on the haft of the Spear of Nine Spheres.
Dragon Seed: A LitRPG Dragonrider Adventure (The Archemi Online Chronicles Book 1) Page 28