Fantasy Online Polynya: A LitRPG Saga

by Harmon Cooper

  “He’s right, goblin, there is no point nor moral to your story and it’s probably made up. I think all goblin stories are made up, or at the very least, hyperbolized to an extreme degree.”

  “The fick you say!?” Hiccup starts to growl.

  “Here! Weapons up!” FeeTwix has out just about the biggest gun in seconds flat. “Spitfire LMG,” he tells Ryuk before he can ask. “From a mech world called, well, Mecha XXE. No short bursts here,” he grunts as he pops the mag in the weapon. “High recoil reduced by fifteen percent every 1/9th of a shot … best for long bursts.”

  The Swede aims the gun in front of him. “Let’s fuck this wolf up.”

  Hiccup shoulders past him. “You and your damn guns. You know, if you want to really kill a wolf, all you need … ” The goblin yelps as a man leaps down from a higher rock.

  The warrior, his body covered in scars and mud, brandishes a huge sword splintered into three distinct peaks. He takes a step forward and drops to a knee, lifts himself, and tries to hold steady again.

  “It’s … you!” Ryuk says, after he sees a glimpse of the Unigaean tattoo on the man’s chest.

  Chapter 13: The Takeover

  Kodai swivels his haptic chair so he can get a sparkling view of nighttime Tokyo. He takes a deep breath, places his NV Visor over his head, and after the familiar tone, he waits for the sine waves to start up. A message from Sarah the Aussie piques his interest.

  Sarah: You want me to come over tonight?

  He thinks about this for a moment as he watches the twinkling lights of the city. It would be interesting to see her reaction to Tesla …

  Kodai: Yes, in an hour.

  Sarah: I won’t be off until one.

  Kodai: You’ll be off in an hour.

  With a deep breath in, he settles into his haptic chair and chooses a spawning point, the rented guildhall in Aramis, and after a few moments, he steps out into the large banquet room.

  His stats appear and away they go.

  Kodai Matsuzaki Level 15 Ballistics Mage

  HP: 830/830

  ATK: 213

  MATK: 176

  DEF: 98

  MDF: 105

  LUCK: 7

  “You’ve both failed,” he tells Tamana, who stands before him with her head bowed. Next to her is Tomas, who looks equally troubled. “And at your levels and with the armor we’ve given you, this is totally unacceptable.”

  Kodai takes his magic slingshot from its holster and pouches two knife marbles. He adds a black marble on top, pulls back, and fires the three marbles directly into Tomas’ neck and face.

  -321 HP! Critical hit!

  Skill level up!

  Tomas is blown back a good five feet. With his body now smoking, he tries to pick one of Kodai’s blades from his cheek.

  A skill level up?

  Skill: Explosive Blades

  Level Four: Use two knife marbles and one black marble to cause confusion and pain through an additional shrapnel bonus.

  Damage: 25% if enemy is less than level 30; 9% if enemy is greater than level 30.

  Odds of instakill: 3%

  Requirements for instakill: LUCK > 8

  “Good,” he says as he walks past Tamana, who still stands facing him with her head bowed. He approaches Tomas, and after equipping a knife marble, brings his slingshot up to the side of the RPC’s head.

  Instakill!

  Kodai turns back to Tamana just in time to hear Tomas’ body slap against the floor. He slowly walks towards her from behind, a new knife marble in his pouch.

  Kodai.

  The voice rings out in his head and he pauses. Even though the woman behind the door has spoken to him like this several times before, it still takes him off guard.

  “Yes?”

  Come to me.

  With a grunt, he slowly lowers his slingshot. Not done yet with Tamana, Kodai brings his foot down on the back of her knee, sending her sprawling to the floor.

  “Failure is not an option.”

  “Yes, Kodai,” she says as she scrambles back to her feet. “It won’t happen again.”

  Once he reaches the door at the far end of the room, Kodai takes the stairs down to the basement. While the room upstairs has been repaired, the basement is still in disarray. Shards of broken tiles litter the ground, portions of the wall have been ripped apart and the front door lies flat on the floor, its hinges broken.

  The golden door in the center of the room, however, is in as perfect condition as ever, and as Kodai approaches it, the door cracks open revealing the galaxy inside.

  Kodai.

  The serpent woman stands before him, her image the clearest he’s ever seen.

  She has dark hair with hints of purple, orange eyes, and faded Thulean tattoos along the side of her neck. She’s nude from the waist up; the scales from her lower half form a point at her sternum. Her scales are a deep shade of blue and dark green, the ventral scales a dark shade of yellow.

  Kodai takes a knee before her and bows his head.

  You’re angry.

  “I am,” he grits. “They failed.”

  I am aware, but it was you yourself who suggested sending Tamana and Tomas, and while they did little to stop your brother’s guild, they were able to add some psychological damage to the equation. Too bad we lost the dragon, though.

  “Yes, you’re right. I’m sure my brother wasn’t happy.”

  And his unhappiness will only grow with what I have planned next.

  “Oh?” Kodai stands and raises an eyebrow at the serpent woman. “What is it you have planned? I’m aware of what we discussed, the larger plan.” He can’t help but grin. “The takeover.”

  It will be glorious, but we cannot and have not yet been able to fully take over a person’s life chip.

  Kodai nods.

  This isn’t the first time he’s heard the woman mention ‘we.’ She has told him some of what she, or better, they, are trying to do. It seems easiest with RPCs, as their D-NAS has already been registered in Tritania’s system and when they take an avatar, small slivers of their original avatar remain with them, which is how the infection seeds.

  But all they’ve been able to do with this infection is briefly modify a person’s iNet display. They still haven’t worked the kinks out in actually controlling the person, and for the most part, people that don’t immediately die after they see Tritania play out on their real world feed seem to recover. Well, sort of. They generally end up going insane, which doesn’t help to build an army at all.

  An army of people who are controlled from within the game.

  The thought only increases the size of Kodai’s grin.

  They will work the kinks out. Kodai knows this, and he has already begun to plan how to control this army of mind-zapped denizens in the world out there. When they first met, it only took the serpent woman thirty minutes of explaining how it would work to completely sell him on the idea.

  Still, he had questions, and for the most part, she deflected any question that dealt with specifics or reasons as to why he was chosen for this task.

  “What is your plan?” he asks. “Should we attack them again?” A sinister grin spreads across his face. “I’d love, love, to lead an attack.”

  Come here.

  Kodai takes a step towards the open doorway in the center of the room. He reaches his arms in, moves closer, and breaches the game-time continuum.

  His body and lower torso are still firmly planted outside the golden door, but his upper body is now inside.

  He blinks as he takes in the starry galaxy in which the serpent woman stands.

  She moves closer to him and a forked tongue extends from her mouth. It touches the bottom of his chin and pulls him just a bit closer to her.

  The woman kisses him, as she did before, and as they kiss, images flash in front of his mind’s eye.

  He sees a man in a robe; a white mage floating in the air with her nose upturned; a clean cut guy pursuing him around a circular hallway; a man in a
life vest with arms that have turned into two grotesque weapons surrounded by throngs of screaming people; a war viewed from a perch in the sky; a faun flying through the air with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he unloads an ungodly amount of bullets; a black man pleading with her in the very space in which they currently stand.

  Kodai just barely manages to pull away.

  I believe you will really enjoy our next move.

  “Sure, but,” he tries to recall the images as they slowly burn out, “but … what was that? What did you just show me?”

  My past. Once you leave here, you will spawn in Porthos. Her eyes soften as she takes in Kodai’s face. You will mask your handle, and you will wreak havoc.

  So transfixed is he by her gaze, Kodai doesn’t see the tendril of green magic moving to his temple.

  “And the authorities will think it’s Ryuk,” he says.

  And you will continue to disrupt his guild, preventing him from furthering his endeavors.

  “What makes you think he’s going to Porthos?” Kodai asks. “He’s way out of the way.”

  Your brother may not be as smart as you, but I’m assuming he’s smart enough to know when he is in over his head. I believe he is hoping to contact The Knights of Non Compos Mentis, specifically Sophia.

  “Then we can bring the battle to them.”

  The serpent woman smiles. The knights are the most powerful guild Tritania has ever seen. Bringing the battle to them, as you have suggested, will not only result in the Shinigami being destroyed, it will also tip them off to our plan.

  “How would they know?”

  They’ll know. In Porthos, you must make it so no one trusts Ryuk and his guildmates so that even if they’re telling the truth, the Empress and Sophia will find it hard to believe. Of course, after you’ve caused some havoc, you can continue leveling up and building our group. You’ll get your chance to battle, but first, the psychological warfare continues. Their confusion is our victory.

  “How did you get in here?” Kodai asks suddenly. “Who are you really?”

  We will speak soon.

  Kodai tries to fight a force that pushes him back out of the open door. As soon as he’s out, the door pops shut, and to the right of it, a blip of light that he recognizes as a spawning point appears.

  Kodai reaches out for it, and everything time warps.

  (0)__(0)

  Kodai’s avatar forms on the top floor of a building near a great dock.

  The sky is dark, but he can see the faint outline of a magic half-sphere covering the city of Porthos, the capital of Polynya. The serpent woman’s magic still dissipates off him as he takes a step forward, and he instantly senses a few others around him.

  He sees the two NPCs, the Berserker Mage and his Dark Mage companion. He also sees Tomas, who has respawned quickly, and Tamana, her head still bowed in his direction. The NPC owner of the establishment has been stretched out over a table with his arms and legs tied to the table’s legs.

  A rag is stuffed in his mouth.

  The man’s eyes go wide as Kodai approaches him. Curious as to how he’ll react, Kodai takes a small blade from his inventory list and runs it along the man’s jawline. The man tries to squirm, but is prevented from doing much more than shifting his body ever-so-slightly.

  Kodai grows bored quickly and stabs the blade into the man’s open palm.

  -82 HP!

  The man screams a muffled shriek, pisses himself, and passes out.

  The Berserker Mage lowers the hood covering his head and steps forward. He takes a knee in front of Kodai. “Empress Thun is having a procession tomorrow at noon. It would be a great place to be disruptive,” he says with a grin. Kodai has seen the mage do this before; the only time he speaks is when the serpent woman speaks through him, same with the other mage.

  “Then that settles it. Each of you draft up a plan. In the afternoon, we will see that Empress Thun hears from Ryuk and his band of fucking losers.” Kodai lifts his finger and the logout button appears. “I have to go,” he says hastily, “I’m expecting someone.”

  Chapter 14: Extreme Vetting (For Fick’s Sake)

  The warrior is muscular, with dark eyes and long, brown hair. He holds a huge sword that is splintered into three distinct peaks. A Unigaean tattoo is etched across his chest, visible due to the way his armor is cut.

  Ryuk recognizes the man at once. He saw him once before, at a distance, while he was near the Mines of Rotlana with Tamana. It feels like ages ago now, and he doesn’t remember seeing a giant black wolf with the man.

  The man’s stats appear:

  Oric Rune Level 58 Warrior Berserker

  HP: 104/3,104

  ATK: 554

  MATK: 11

  DEF: 467

  MDF: 389

  LUCK: 31

  Oric Rune points his Splintered Sword at the group and drops to a knee. Ryuk notices a scar on his neck, a bite mark, but he quickly returns his attention to the black wolf that snarls next to him, ready to pounce.

  “All right, sheeples,” says the gaseous goblin with a hint of caution in his voice, “Twixy and Liz take Conan with his broken-ass sword; the rest of us, you too, Elfy, take the green-eyed wolf. Marbles, see if you can’t fire a shot right in his ass, like you did that bearadillo. Right in the pocket.”

  Hiccup’s face morphs from serious to comical as he imagines the bearadillo crying out in pain after Ryuk popped him in the sphincter with an explosive marble. “Fick that was funny! Let’s get ‘em!”

  “I’ll kill you first, goblin.” Oric stands and lifts his sword, only to fall to a knee again. The veins on his arms bulge, and even in the dim light, Ryuk can see that the warrior’s skin has a green tint to it.

  “Like fick you will!”

  “I think he’s been poisoned,” Enway says, but no one really pays attention to her.

  Hiccup smacks his spiked club against his shield. The wolf bolts forward, nips at the goblin, and returns to Oric’s side after the warrior whistles for him.

  “Fick!” The goblin lets loose a squeaker that instantly befouls the air. The wolf’s nose twitches at the smell, but it isn’t long before he quickly returns to his aggressive stance.

  “You won’t like him when he’s angry,” Oric coughs. The Unigaean warrior is back on his feet now, just barely, and it takes him longer than expected to lift his sword.

  Ryuk’s eyes return to the wolf’s stats.

  Tagvornin Wolf Level 38

  HP: 2296/2296

  ATK: 679

  MATK: 0

  DEF: 521

  MDF: 236

  LUCK: 19

  The wolf will be difficult, Ryuk thinks, but this guy only has 100 HP left.

  Zaena steps to the front of the group with two of her four swords drawn. The wolf growls at her and she ignores him. “I respect a warrior who will fight to the end,” she says, and just as Ryuk is thinking Zaena has turned over a new leaf, the Thulean asks, “How would you like us to bury you and your dog?”

  “Fick yeah!” Hiccup calls out from the back of the group. Somehow, the goblin has managed to weasel his way behind Enway, so he is the last person in line, furthest away from the action.

  “Easy, babe.” FeeTwix places a hand on her shoulder and she bristles. “Let’s not handle this that way.”

  His weapon zips away and a bag of Purina Taste of the Wild Lamb, Buffalo and Rice formula appears in his hand. He steps around Zaena, rips open the package, and proceeds to pour it out in front of the Mitherfickers.

  “Is this a fickin’ ad read or something?” Hiccup asks.

  “Are you hungry?” FeeTwix asks the big wolf. The beast looks from his owner to the Swede.

  (0)__(0)

  “His name is Wolf,” Oric says, as the pony-sized canine goes to work on the pile of dog food that FeeTwix has laid out.

  “That’s like Liz’s mom naming her Liz!” Hiccup snorts. “Fick me, I’m funny. Hey!” He swats at the air, hoping to catch Zaena’s ghost limbs in the act. �
�Enough with the konoshlo, Lizzy, it’s late and I’m already creeped out.” He shivers, looks around, and eyes a particular shrub suspiciously for a moment. “Better not be any ghosts up here.”

  “Wolf loves the food,” FeeTwix says, “but most dogs do. I, um, need to get my GPS bullet out of him. Unless you want to.”

  Oric gives him a funny look. “You shot my dog?”

  “Well, yeah. But it’s pretty easy to get this particular bullet out. Painless really, you just have to flash this little device I have … ” FeeTwix rummages around in the pocket of his overcoat. “Ah! Here it is. Flash this over it and the bullet will release its barbs. Then you just push it out. I can do it, but you probably should, seeing how you’re his owner and whatnot.”

  Oric limps forward and takes the small device, which is about the size of a credit card.

  “Know where you shot him?”

  “In the hind leg – right leg, I believe.”

  Oric presses a button and red light appears. He runs it over his wolf’s right leg as it eats, and sure enough, a beeping sound lets him know he’s found the bullet. Once the barbs have retracted, he smooths his hand over Wolf’s fur and the bullet drops out.

  “You want the bullet back?”

  “Um, sure.”

  Ryuk switches to instant messaging.

  Ryuk: He’s level 58. Everyone saw that, right?

  FeeTwix: Noted.

  Zaena: He is very powerful.

  Hiccup: That’s what she said. Fick me, I’m funny.

  Ryuk: This may be a little presumptious, but what if we ask him to join us? I mean, he needs to heal up, obviously, but you saw what we just went up against back there. Tomas was in the fifties, and I’m guessing the next enemy the Shinigami throw at us will be equally leveled. Tamana is leveling up too.

  Hiccup: The fick you just say?

  Zaena: We’ll need to be careful, but I don’t see any problem with improving the strength of …

  Hiccup: The Mitherfickers. We have a name and if I’m not mistaken, I’ve never heard you use it.