by K. T. Hanna
“I did notice that.” Mur answered dryly.
After a few more pulls, Devlish stopped, frowning. “Is it just me or are they worth at least as much experience as they were earlier?”
Havoc grew distant for a few moments before speaking. “Seems so. One or two more points here and there. Perhaps our level disparity was too great before. Two levels seems acceptable, but three might be pushing it when we’re still single figures. So therefore they reward less because you’re over leveling, I guess.”
“Makes sense.” Merlin ushered the group toward the next pull. “Good thing we didn’t venture into the caves then, right?”
The steady rhythm of pulling and clearing was strangely soothing, and Murmur found herself fighting to stay awake. Apparently so did the rest of them. During a pull of three mobs, Beastial accidentally sent his pet to attack the wrong one, breaking Murmur’s Mesmerize. What appeared to be a locus-thief gleefully leapt at her with a strange jump punch that made her stagger. She got pummeled until Dev could pull it off her. At least the blasted thing was using a blunt weapon.
“What the fuck, Beast!” She glared at him, clenching her teeth through the pain while Sinister hurriedly healed her. “Don’t break my Mez!”
“I didn’t mean to. If I’d planned it, you’d be dead.” He stood, hands on hips glaring at her.
“Maybe if you had better control over your—”
“Stop it!” Havoc stood between them, his voice raised. He turned to Beast. “Don’t do it again. You know better. You don’t break a Mez.”
Just as Murmur was about to thank him, he whirled on her. “And you. Stop snapping. In case you haven’t noticed the sun is coming up, which means we’ve been going for almost twenty-four hours straight. Give yourself and us a break, but mostly yourself. We have mobs to kill.”
Murmur glared at Havoc’s back as he turned around, seething. But why was she seething? She took a figurative step back and looked at herself. Was she feeding off someone else’s mood? Was it just the length of time she’d spent in-game? Had she had way too little to eat and was secretly angry about it? Instead of retorting like she wanted to, she began to have a long and hard look at her mood.
A while later, when the sun was well and truly over the horizon in the virtual world, and yet it was past midnight back in reality, they moved on from the middle camp, only to find the first one finally had another group there.
For a few seconds they watched them. Cleric, warrior, the first bard Murmur had seen, what appeared to be a wizard, a ranger, and a rogue.
“That’s very traditional,” she muttered, glancing over at her group, which was decidedly less boring. “Level eights—we should leave them to it, and head back to the other camp, I’m sure it’s repopped by now.”
Just as they were about to leave, a familiar voice sent a chill down Murmur’s spine.
“Hey there, Murmur.” Jirald’s voice rang out loud and clear, and the rogue strode over, a jovial smile on his face and an unreadable emotion behind his eyes. “Fancy meeting you here.”
She nodded, scanning the area and barely hiding her shock when Jirald’s thoughts bombarded her mind. Slimy, angry, and very resentful. He hid something behind that gaze his smile never reached. Instead of backing away she made herself stand where she was, forcing what she hoped was a smile and not a snarl onto her face. “This is a great spot.”
“Yeah, we thought so too. Though, you’ve out-leveled me again.” For just a moment a hint of steel shone through the words, but didn’t persist. Murmur thought she might have imagined it. Or she would have but for the screaming warning still twisting her gut.
Jirald stepped closer, and Havoc and Dev stepped up to Murmur’s side, their own smiles fixed in place.
“Fable again, huh? Got your guild started already. Good show.” Jirald turned to leave, but leaned back, his smile gone. “It’ll be good to have some competition.”
With that he left them, returning to his group, who didn’t seem impressed by his absence. Murmur turned and headed to the camp they needed, quite sure now that Jirald knew them from some previous game or other. “We have to rip through that camp and make it back to the middle one, because we need to level. That fucker has some serious ulterior motives and I am not letting another guild get those damned keys.”
It was impressive what running into a potential rival could do to a group. Murmur stared in amazement as they ripped through the far camp, barely pausing to loot in-between. Beastial became their de facto loot master, arbitrarily allocating usable loot to the right people, and storing anything else. They’d figure the rest of it out later anyway. Sin’s eyes held an unholy glow that had nothing to do with her class. Or maybe it did, just a little. Her friend began to cast damage and transfer spells so fluidly, it was a joy to behold. Maybe the AI got her class right.
Havoc’s necromancer was a potent class. Even at these low levels Murmur could see it. He had two Damage Over Time spells, one that took away attributes from the mob, and the other that did purely damage. His pet had abilities of its own and obeyed his commands flawlessly. The dark shadows that mixed around him when he cast melded with his skin, sometimes giving him the appearance of an otherworldly being. This darkness clung to him like a second skin, and suited him far better than the nuke factory wizards he used to play.
Beastial’s tank days were gone. He attacked the mobs as ferociously as his tiger, stacking damage before his pet triggered minor explosions on his order. His eyes held a slightly feral gleam, and she shuddered, not sure if it was the cool air, or the fact that he seemed so suited to the class that was chosen for him.
Merlin made an excellent ranger. That whole bow and arrow thing suited him, and Sin no longer regarded him with envious eyes. But it was Devlish who’d changed the most. He attacked the mobs with a precision he’d obviously learned from his rogue, but she watched him drain the life out of the mobs, a thin layer of bloody mist constantly traveling from the mob to himself. A dark aura surrounded him, suffusing his scales and giving them an ominous glow. Occasionally he’d unleash a taunt and the mobs would snarl viciously, disregarding everything else around them.
For her part, it was frustrating. Other than controlling the mobs, there was nothing overly unpredictable about her role. Granted, their targets were low level at the moment, and once the group had figured out their quirks, quite predictable, but she knew in just a few levels she’d gain access to some fantastic debuffs and control spells, and it was annoying not to have them yet.
Their quick rotation and massive damage output allowed them to keep the two camps, while the other group barely got through the first camp without respawns. Murmur failed to see how Jirald would be competition at all.
Though those venomous thoughts in his mind still made her skin crawl.
With a frown, she glanced through the combat logs between casting Mezes. Sure enough, Beast’s tiger, Shir-Khan—she chuckled, not having noticed the name before—did a shit ton of damage. For a few seconds she couldn’t find Havoc’s skeleton, until she realized he’d named him Leroy. Rolling her eyes as she remembered the stories her parents had shared with her, she checked its damage too. It was like they were running with a group of eight. The pet damage allowed them to rip through mobs faster, even if it seemed they might take a tiny portion of the experience.
Worth it.
Making it back to the third camp, the layout had changed. Murmur frowned as Merlin paused. “That’s a named in there, isn’t it?”
Lieutenant Gashik stood tall and proud with all of his twelve levels. A guard stood on either side of him, and his luna eyes glowed red as his nose twitched, sniffing at the wind. Murmur stretched out her net, catching faint but definite thoughts from him.
People. Invading our area. They will pay.
“He knows we’re here,” she whispered. “Just not quite where. Yet.”
Storm Corp
Storm Technologies Division—Theoretical Neuroscience Arm
Countdown: T
hirteen months before Somnia Online launch
Trying to fit the visit to the AIs in around his full schedule was going to be tight, but Michael was sure he could manage it. Just half an hour to check that theory. But when he arrived at the door, the lead developer for the game was standing there, her eyes obviously focused on something in her augmented vision set. She looked up as he approached, her dark brown eyes studying him closely.
Laria. He thought Laria was her name, if he remembered correctly.
“Dr. Jeffries.” She inclined her head, and a brief wash of what he thought was relief passed over her face. Like she’d been waiting for ages and hoped he’d come.
“What can I do for you, Laria?” He almost second guessed himself about the name, but was glad he overrode it when he saw her smile briefly. Maybe using the headgear so much had clued him into the nuances of people’s expressions more than he’d been before. He definitely wouldn’t have cared to judge her actions so accurately a few years ago. He’d been consumed by building the prototype back then.
“I was wondering how close the headgear is to being ready for actual use?” She swayed slightly from foot to foot, like she was extremely nervous to ask.
He frowned as the time ticked down, quite sure this would delay his one free half hour. But the questions were about his headgear, so he could make the exception. He’d just have to make sure he got to try his experiment as soon as another hole in his schedule opened up.
“They’re almost ready, although I have been tinkering with a few to get them to open up full throttle, if you will. We’re not implementing that yet however, of course. Why do you ask?” He had to be careful. Talking about the headgear to someone who was interested always made him want to give out more information than he probably should.
Laria hesitated. “It’s my daughter. She loves MMORPGs. It’s her one actual hobby. She’s been strict on herself for years, so much that we’ve never had to nag her. I really want to get one of those headgear sets for her. But I want to make sure I have one—a guarantee? I don’t want to be left scrambling like most of the public will be.”
Michael thought it over. He was sure he’d heard of Laria’s family before. Hadn’t the woman met her partner in an MMORPG? And it seemed they had a hard-working daughter. Why not? A million different possibilities climbed into his head. He could tweak a headset for her, and use her data as an extra step in his own results, the results the military didn’t even realize he was after. “I don’t see why not. I’ll pull one of the first edition ones we’re going to use for the big test aside, and tinker with it a bit if you like? Make it even better than the generic ones.”
Laria’s eyes lit up. “That would be perfect! Thank you Dr. Jeffries. She will be so excited when I give it to her.”
“Now, you won’t be able to give it to her for about eight months or so. But I’ll make sure I set it aside in my office for her only.” He smiled, and suppressed a smile as he realized he had no time left. “Now, I do have to get back to my office.”
He made his farewells, overall not as disappointed as he thought he’d be. After all, he’d just managed to nab another promising guinea pig.
Release Day: Somnia Online
Lieutenant Gashik’s red eyes were almost lazer like. Murmur gulped, a twinge of unease making her stomach flip-flop.
“Think you can Mez the two guards?” Merlin asked, his gaze never leaving the camp in front of them.
Murmur shrugged. “Probably, but three levels higher might result in some resists.”
Dev glanced around. “I guess we’re not going to know unless we try.”
Merlin snorted. “Just make sure you taunt the bastard off me. I’ll line of sight using that hut.” He pointed to the hut, which was more of a lean-to with one wall, and two posts that held the roof up. They’d been ransacking goods from it everytime they cleared the bandit camp.
“Good idea.” Havoc smiled, and began casting a buff on his pet, visible by the tenuous line it formed between them. “Pretty sure he’s at least part caster.”
The group moved, slowly and quietly, keeping their distance and using the trees to their advantage. They took shelter behind the small hut. Murmur stepped out to the side with Merlin, and they timed their casts.
When her Mez took hold of the guard on the right, she breathed a sigh of relief, immediately starting the cast for the other. Releasing it as Lieutenant Gashik ran after Merlin, the left guard resisted, turning its attention to her instead of the ranger.
“Fuck.” But she started the spell again, and just as it closed in on her and swung its blade, the spell hit, freezing him in place. Her left arm smarted, indented by the frozen blade, and she took a step back, watching the wound gush blood. “Fantastic.”
It was only a small wound comparatively, but still, that had been close. Would Harlow be able to regrow a limb if it got detached? So many questions about game mechanics and world mechanics swam through her head. Throwing her DoT quickly on the named, she began to cast Mez on the first again, knowing the possibility to resist existed. Luckily it held on the first try, and she switched back to the other guard, watching the group carefully and gauging her distance so Sin’s heals could reach her should things go wrong and pull the lieutenant and his guards onto her.
The second mob resisted again, and she wished for the umpteenth time that her magic resistance lowering spell had been a level eight one. She frowned, turning her attention back to the named, refreshed her DoT, and cast her nuke. The lieutenant was just above fifty percent.
Turning back, she renewed her Mez. This time, it stuck immediately.
“Watch out, Mur!” Beast’s voice cried out, and she saw the health of the party take a sudden huge dip, as a ripple of energy made its way toward her. Running before she knew what she was doing, it only took several steps to escape it, but she looked back, shocked at the wake of damage.
“Didn’t expect him to cast since he hadn’t yet.” Dev’s bar slowly filled back up. “I’ll interrupt it next time.”
Sin growled. “Please do, I can area effect heal, but I’m not a miracle worker.”
With the health bars slowly filling up again, Murmur returned to Mezing the guards. Their teeth were clenched together, and their eyes followed her every move, making her nervous. “Going to need some heavy taunting once we get him lower.”
Dev just nodded, exerting more energy into this fight than he had even when they pulled five.
“Ha! Fucker!” He interrupted the lieutenant’s cast. “No casting for you!”
Murmur laughed and she could feel the tension leak from her shoulders like water over a dam. Her Mez targets had stopped blinking, so intent was their stare on her. In the back of her mind, she wondered if that was right? Weren’t they supposed to be completely stationary? Maybe the level difference allowed them that sliver of movement.
“Start taunting, Dev.” She urged him, noticing Lieutenant Gashik was nearing five percent. “Beast, can you stun?”
“Pet can.” He grunted.
“Keep an eye, while Dev makes sure I don’t die, thanks.”
Beastial chuckled. “Oh good. Mur, you’ll owe me one.”
She didn’t even have a comeback considering she could no longer use heals as a means of extortion. Sin came to her rescue.
“Sure, you can owe Mur one, or I can, you know, not heal you.” Her tone was even, with an underlying menace.
“You two are no fun.” Beast pouted, but his eyes never left the target.
Finally Gashik died, and Mur recast the Mez on the guard farthest away, noting with relief that the one closest to her seemed to be looking at Dev now. The guard was easier than Gashik, noticeably so, and yet still harder than the other mobs they’d been camping. Likely a level thing. She glanced at her experience bar and groaned. Getting closer, but another eighteen percent seemed like so much. The sun was high in the sky by now, at least mid-morning.
Reflexively Mezing the guard again, she sighed. “Dev, Taunt please.”<
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He nodded, and she knew instinctively that he’d never forget, but still felt better for having said it out loud. Activating Thought Sensing wasn’t taking as much effort anymore, and she could keep it up as long as she thought about it occasionally. The same with her own internal shield. How much of the shield was just her mind? Did it create a true barrier? If so, maybe that barrier could be adapted for other things.
The last guard finally heaved its last attack at Dev, who side stepped and thrust clean through it. Tactical attacks from the group were well and good, but these NPCs had their own buffs, defenses, and attacks. Not to mention many seemed to have their own form of regeneration. One of these days she’d figure out how to zero in on their weaknesses.
Your group has slain Lieutenant Gashik and his guards.
Your group is the first to slay Lieutenant Gashik and his guards.
Lieutenant Gashik sent a plea to his men, one of whom will replace him. Your names are known, and the bandits have a long reach. Watch your backs.
You gain experience.
Murmur blinked at the scrolling words across her screen, watching them intently. Her experience jumped a whole three percent. She glanced around, noticing that her friends were having the same reaction.
“What, it couldn’t have just said ‘your faction with bandits is shit?’” Beastial voiced what they were all thinking.
On the bright side, Gashik and his men yielded some pretty cool stuff. Murmur scored a dagger with plus one stamina and intelligence. Sadly, it wasn’t usable until level ten. None of it was. Level ten seemed an age away.
“No slowing down.” Merlin scouted their mobs yet again. “Keep it coming. Also, when do you get area of effect aggro holding spells?”
Dev grunted. “I like to let my spells surprise me.”
“Know what I like?” Merlin didn’t wait for an answer. “Training people who look at their spells beforehand.”
“Ass.” Dev glared at Merlin’s back as they moved back to the middle camp.