Chapter 32
During the trip back to Haden’s Knoll, I was pulled from the game. I thought I heard the voice of someone familiar as I lay in my feeble body, separated from the processing power of the game. After an indeterminate amount of time, my mind returned and I was not in my command tent, but instead I found myself seated at the table in the backroom of the commencement commissary. Clio the AI sat across from me, sipping her ever-present cup of tea.
I grabbed for my own cup; I had to admit, the blueberry tea she served was excellent. In the center of the table was the shell of some creature. It looked to be a piece of an insect. Clio would spill the beans about that soon enough, no doubt. I grabbed a shortbread cookie from the small plate next to my tea.
“These are great COOKIES, Clio. Thanks for remembering I liked them,” I said, emphasizing and nearly shouting the word “cookies” in order to get under Finley’s skin. I heard an annoyed harrumph from behind the curtain separating the back room from the rest of the establishment.
“If you’re done harassing Finley, I have something to discuss with you,” Clio said.
“My apologies,” I offered while helping myself to another cookie.
“We’ve reached a milestone, Colonel Raytak. Your mind is coming along nicely and repairs to your memories are nearing completion. Despite the recent setbacks with your heart valve, I believe we now have the correct material composition to prevent rejection. The newest valve is functioning perfectly.” She paused to sip her tea, smiling . . . Something was up; I could tell.
“From a memory standpoint, I would like to conduct a test. I believe we can now safely introduce you to a member of your family in order to further gauge the physical effects of your emotional response. The family member is one that you have no memory of because they met you after your mental decay.
“There is risk in this procedure and you face the potential that you may forget everything about your past without chance of recovery. I do think the risk is small and the chance to map family interactions and emotional responses will help ease your transition once your full mind is unlocked. I wanted your permission before I revealed the family member to you. Do you wish to be introduced or do you want to wait until all your memories are unlocked?” Clio asked.
I was taken aback. I knew the day was nearing when my memories would be repaired, but to meet a family member now . . . That would be the most amazing thing I could think of. So far, I had made some good friends, and I enjoyed Ty’s company, but that wasn’t quite the same as family.
“You have my permission. It would be nice to know at least one member of my family,” I answered.
“Very well. Please take this as it will complete a quest for your granddaughter.” Clio handed me the insect shell. I examined it; it looked like a beetle shell . . . “You’ve met her in-game . . . Yendys is your granddaughter, Raytak. She was born after you fell ill and has always wanted to meet her grandpa. She knows who you are, and up till now I have been filtering her speech to keep her from giving away that she’s family. Yendys is having a great time playing the game, and I think she will be very excited to hear that you know who she is,” Clio advised.
The crazy kid with the beetle was my granddaughter. I couldn’t help but smile as tears began to flow. I had a granddaughter and could talk to her here in-game. A thousand thoughts went through my head as I tried to recall all the conversations I’d had with her. One stuck out. She consoled me when I was first in-game and had lost some memories; she encouraged me not to quit the game.
“Her real name is of course not Yendys, but Lauren. She is currently waiting at the Petty Dispute to have her quest item delivered. I will break a few rules to transfer you directly to the area; I’ll just file the rules violation as a medical necessity. Hurry along now. I shall enjoy examining your interactions together now that you know who she is,” Clio said, and I felt the same feeling as when I used a transition point.
The teleport ended and I found myself outside the Petty Dispute. I was too nervous to even notice the smell of its always delicious meals. Hurrying inside, the place was busy, but not the crowded mess it became in the late evening. I spotted Yendys at the table we always used. Kathala, Nitor, and Jacoby were with her. A camouflage-colored Crunchy rooted about for food as the others noticed me. Jacoby waved me over to join them.
“Hey, Raytak, how did you get back so fast? I got the notice that the Painmaster was killed. Did we win the battle?” Jacoby asked. I barely heard the question and was focused entirely on Yendys . . . I still thought of her as her in-game name. “Lauren” would take some getting used to. Yendys ignored my appearance other than a quick wave, looking about for someone.
“We won and I found out about Tessel and how she came about. Let me check something.” Out of curiosity, I checked my in-game logs, and since the vision Tessel gave me was like an in-game cut scene, I was able to share it. I forwarded Tessel’s story to the group.
“This is awesome! Thanks, Raytak!” Nitor said. The kid was a lore junky, a perfect fit for the skald class, I thought. Jacoby and Kathala both zoned out as they watched the video of Tessel.
“Lauren, you’re not going to watch the cut scene like the others?” I asked.
“No, Grandpa, I’m waiting for someone to come and drop off a quest item for me. I’m going to get a new class and can learn to ride Crunchy as a mount!” Yendys said excitedly, not noticing I used her real name.
“You mean this thing I found?” I said, pulling the insect shell from my pack and laying it down on the table. She snatched it up and began to examine the item.
“Laser focus on the target and oblivious to what’s going on around you. I should know; I have the same tendency. Must be because we’re related,” I said.
“Yeah must be . . . Wait! What did you just say?” Yendys blurted, finally beginning to realize what was happening.
“I said we share the same tendency to focus too hard on the task at hand. Figured you inherited that from me, since you’re my granddaughter and all,” I told her, my voice cracking as I tried to hold back the tears burning just behind my eyes.
“Grandpa, you know who I am! You have your memory back!” Yendys shouted, running over to hug me. I held my grandchild close, relishing the experience.
“No, the AI is still working on my memories, but Clio did tell me about you. She figured that my repairs have progressed far enough, and since we never met in the real world, revealing who you are to me wouldn’t be a danger,” I replied.
“. . . will be so glad you’re getting better and I can’t wait to take you to . . .” Yendys stammered out, tears flowing from her eyes as well.
“Hold on there. I think the game is still filtering out names and things my brain isn’t ready for yet. I like your name by the way. ‘Lauren’ is a pretty one,” I told her.
“Thanks, Grandpa, but you can still call me ‘Yendys’ in-game if that’s what you’re used to,” she told me. After I thought about it for a moment, it made sense.
“You know what? I’ll do just that. In-game, you’re Yendys, and once I’m out of the medpod, you’ll be Lauren,” I decided.
“I’m going with . . . to visit you in the hospital tomorrow. I guess you won’t realize it though. Did you know that Smashem knows you in real life, too? Not like you know him, but just like he knows you, you know? His grandma is your nurse and . . . was able to get him into the game to play with us. Ohhh, that means Crunchy is really your grandkid in a way, too, doesn’t it?” Yendys asked.
“Well, I’m not quite sure I’m ready to adopt Crunchy as a grandkid just yet. Especially painted like that,” I said, noting that Ty had drawn in a small Marine Corps emblem beside the beetle’s horn to complement the MARPAT camo. The beetle looked up at me for a second before resuming his meal.
I never noticed the others leave; they must have clued in on what had happened, wishing to give us some time and space to catch up. Lauren and I spent the time talking about her life until she had to log out.
I was able to get to know my granddaughter and learn something of her life. It was the greatest thing I had ever experienced. There was real hope now, and Lauren was proof I could get better and remember my family. I had a new determination and a full heart when we finally said our goodbyes.
As I watched the spot where my granddaughter had disappeared, I thought about our conversation . . . about the parts of it I couldn’t remember. Those blank spaces ached inside me. Who were they? My wife? My children? More?
I missed them. I couldn’t remember them, but I missed them all the same.
“Soon,” I said softly to the empty air. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Epilogue
The ground beneath the kobold mines rumbled again. The workers fled the collapsing chambers in a stream, their taskmasters whipping them as a punishment for fleeing. Eventually, the ground settled and the rumbling stopped. Movement occurred at the entrance as a man cloaked in dark robes emerged. The guards stopped whipping their charges and bowed before their master. Narbos the Grimm had arrived back in his domain.
A column of creatures emerged after him. There were mobs of troglodytes in almost unending numbers. The primitive subterranean humanoids were only the first of the army now emerging. Behind the troglodytes, squadrons of giant spiders marched in formation. A hundred giant rats gathered around Narbos as he watched his new army continue to march forth from the mine. A pair of giant serpents followed the spiders as more of the fodder troops marched after.
“Did I come through or did I come through?” Zipp asked Narbos, waving his hand at the army still emerging.
“You scratched my back and I scratched yours. These guys are yours to command until you conquer Hayden’s Knoll. No two-bit soldier is going to stop these numbers. That I can guarantee you,” Zipp boasted. The imp lounged on the back of Narbos’s dire rat pet, Snuggles. While they watched, a thirty-foot-tall cyclops dragged his way out of the opening. The giant stood and stretched his back. Even from their distant vantage point they could hear the cracking of his bones.
“I do admit you came through with what you promised, Zipp. These forces combined with my own will brush aside Delling and his friend. The fight won’t even be close,” Narbos boasted as more troops emerged from the depths of the Hypogean Realm.
***
Drake waited impatiently at a table in the back of the Boiling Peddler. He wasn’t cut out for this covert stuff, and knowing he was breaking a rule made him nervous. A sweating and jittery man entered the establishment. He looked around before his gaze zeroed-in on Drake. The man looked sick or something as he sat across from Drake.
The corner Drake had selected was dark, and he hoped his heavy cloak hid him from anyone who might recognize him. Drake usually went to the Petty Dispute with his friends, but tonight’s work was something he didn’t want them to see.
“Do you have it?” Drake asked. The man looked reluctant, hesitating before placing a small metal box on the table. Drake reached out to take it and the man grabbed his hand.
“Here, as promised,” Drake said, placing a hefty bag of coin onto the table. It was a lot of money, but his class of pitmaster enabled him to access large amounts of gold if it was needed for the dungeon.
“Do not open it until you are at your destination. She will be detected in town immediately and you will be marked for death by the guard. I spent many days to escape where I had been. Now I do not wish to be so close to what is coming. Our business is done and I’m getting as far away from this zone as I can . . . You would be smart to do the same,” the man said before snatching up the bag of coin and heading for the door. The man’s information appeared above his head for Drake as he fled.
People’s Commissar Yuri, Level 14.
“Strange one. Wonder what he’s so skittish about,” Drake said to himself as he pocketed the small but surprisingly heavy box. Nobody stopped him as he made his way back into the dungeon. In fact, the guards waved and greeted him as he passed. With Drake commanding the dungeon, it didn’t spew forth hordes of creatures occasionally to terrorize the area like most dungeons did.
Drake loved his class and was having fun thwarting parties with Tessel and her creatures—which was why the recent development had him doing things he probably shouldn’t. He pulled up the system notification he had received earlier, not at all happy that he lost his main attraction.
The Foul Spore Pit has lost its main boss, Tessel the Foul Spore Dryad. Promote one of the other monsters in the dungeon to boss level or seek a new boss mob. The dungeon will despawn if no choice is made in the next 48 hours.
He wasn’t sure what happened to Tessel. She was just gone when he logged in and the system message was flashing. He didn’t like either the hydra or the ogre as a main boss. Both were tough but simple encounters. Making them just stronger as a boss mob made for a boring dungeon. Drake didn’t want a boring dungeon, so he jumped at the chance when that Yuri guy had said he could provide a replacement.
Drake was skeptical, but the guy had been willing to sign a lifepact, saying only that a mysterious “entity” had led him from his old zone and into here. Drake didn’t have time to listen to the skittish guy’s story about jumping into a river and avoiding an owl bear . . . though he wouldn’t mind finding one to place in the dungeon. The fact that the lifepact was an agreement the system would enforce if either party broke his side of the bargain had sealed the deal for him.
Entering the dungeon, Drake teleported to his sanctum. The room was inaccessible by anyone else and was the place he could organize and upgrade the dungeon to his heart’s content. Placing the box on the table, Drake carefully unlatched and opened it. The box was lined with thick lead, accounting for its heavy weight and preventing detection.
“Why did they need to hide you behind lead?” Drake asked as he pulled a velvet-wrapped object from the box. A golden insect was revealed. Drake held it up to the light, admiring the workmanship, when something shot from the insect and into his hand.
You have been infected by a Gul Dorg parasite.
You have resisted infection. The pitmaster class protects you from such attacks.
“Well that was rude, little parasite,” Drake said.
“How is it that you can resist my sting? I am Siren, a Gul Dorg master. No mortal can resist infection,” a voice called to him.
“Well I’m not a normal mortal. I am the pitmaster for this dungeon and I have a deal to offer you,” Drake said.
“What kind of deal? What is a dungeon? Are you attempting to imprison me here?” the parasite asked.
“Yes and no. This will be your prison in so far as you cannot escape without my permission. Within the dungeon you will have free rein over all who enter here. Adventurers will come to challenge your creatures, seeking treasure and experience. Sometimes they will succeed and slay you; other times they will add to your power when you slay them. Within this place you can never truly die. Death will be but an inconvenience, a brief break until the next group comes to challenge you. Interested in the job?” Drake asked.
He could feel the mind of the Gul Dorg parasite working. A benefit of his class, npc creatures were an open book to him inside his dungeon. The thing was trying to find a way to trick him, to escape out into the world once again. Drake grinned; that wasn’t going to happen. When it could find no loophole in dungeon contract, the creature eventually conceded to its new lot in life.
“Very well, I agree,” Siren told him.
“Don’t get too down. You’re going to have a great time in here. By agreeing to the boss contract, you agree to not attempt to escape or influence the world outside the dungeon if the opportunity should present itself. The dungeon boss agreement is as binding as a lifepact and can’t be breached. The only time you can leave is with my permission and then only to defend the zone itself from attack,” Drake advised his new dungeon boss. He felt Siren agree to the terms.
Zone Announcement.
The Foul Spore Pit has altered itself! The dungeon i
s now known as the Slave Pits of the Gul Dorg. Challenge the Gul Dorg master Siren and her spawn through harrowing encounters as you protect the land from the curse of the Gul Dorg.
Drake smiled and got to work designing the new dungeon layout for the Gul Dorg, excited to see what Siren would do with her new home.
Afterword
Thanks for joining me once again, my legionnaires, as we follow the adventures of Raytak in the Limitless Lands. I appreciate the support you have all given me over the course of this series and look forward to bringing it to its conclusion in Book 5.
I wanted to thank several people who have made this book possible. First and foremost, I wanted to once again thank my family for its continued support and encouragement. To the great artist Piero Mng (Gianpiero Mangialardi), thank you for another amazing cover; I think this may be the first litRPG novel to feature an owl bear on the cover, and he nailed the look perfectly. Thank you, Jacob Steponaitis, for your excellent editing work. Jacob has helped me improve my skills as an author and I appreciate his longsuffering efforts. Bodie Dykstra did the formatting for the novel. Bodie is a wizard at getting a novel to read well on any device.
Work on Book 5 is well underway and will answer many questions. Will Raytak recover both his mind and body? Will the forces of the Imperium be able to hold back the onslaught of Narbos’s invasion? Will Raytak accept Crunchy as his grandchild, even though it has the Marine Corps symbol emblazoned on its shell?
Find out how the story ends in Limitless Lands Book 5: Invasion, coming in the summer of 2020.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 35