Restoration: The Rise of Resurgence: Book II

by Joshua W. Nelson

  The first part of the plan required me to not only be Invisible with my Conceal/Stealth, but to activate my Blacksuit as well. If you asked any Rogue, they would tell you that Conceal/Stealth was the greatest skill they had. It made them Invisible to 95 percent of the mobs in the game. Due to the interference of the Wanderer, I was the only Rogue in the game with a Blacksuit. By gathering the “shadows” around me, I was able to make myself Invisible to 99.9 percent of the mobs. The Blacksuit was also the first key component in executing my Disembowel strike.

  Dan pulled two more mobs, very much the norm for us at this point, and I immediately led with my Backstab while in my Blacksuit. My plan worked and I successfully executed my Disembowel. I still didn’t know the percentage, but on occasion my Backstab, while I had my Blacksuit on, would turn into a Disembowel. Where the Backstab did twice the damage, a Disembowel did four times the damage. And if I landed a critical strike, where the mob had less resistance and therefore took more damage, I could guarantee our Tank would never take aggro from me.

  Without missing a beat, the bear turned on me and started raking me with its claws. I started to see my hit points fall dramatically, but I wanted to really sell the next part so I kept attacking, keeping the aggro, the mobs’ utter hatred, on me.

  “Dammit, Alex, stop stabbing it!” Jason yelled as he started casting a healing spell on me.

  “Sorry!” I yelled back and after two more seconds stopped attacking. At this point, there was no way the Bear was going to stop attacking me.

  “Shit!” I yelled as I watched my hit points continue to fall and activated the Force Multiplier ring in order to “save myself.” If I hadn’t timed it perfectly, I would have died. There was no way I would have gotten back in time to trigger the NPC.

  Immediately the number of my hit points jumped dramatically, and my Agility was such that I was able to dodge many of the attacks from the Bear. More importantly, the NPC would spawn in three minutes: enough time to finish both mobs. Healing me and Wayne after the Bears died would mean Jason had to rest to regain mana, but Jason was not happy—and rightfully so.

  “What the hell, Alex? You almost got sent back to the city! Why didn’t you stop attacking, for god’s sake?”

  “I’m sorry, guys! My head wasn’t in it. I was thinking about what we should start doing next, and I just went on autopilot! I got hit for so much health that I just froze up. I promise it won’t happen again.”

  I don’t know if they bought it, but it kept the group in place for the time it would take for Jason to regain his mana. If my rough assessment was right, it should be enough time for the NPC to spawn while my ring was still active and I wouldn’t have to move from the spot we were sitting at. I was happy with how the gamble turned out, but my teammates weren’t.

  “Seriously, man. I don’t know what would have happened if you lost so much experience that you dropped below Level 20. Would you even be allowed back to the Keep?” Wayne asked.

  “Shit. That’s a really good question. For once, not one that I am inclined to test with one of my experiments.” I resisted calling my three friends a bunch of babies when I saw them cringe at the word “experiment.” I had barely killed anyone in all the time I had tried to map out the inner workings of Resurgence. Sure, Wayne got beaten up by some bunnies and some goblins, and I had the rest of our group running around in circles, but it was for science! And by science, I mean my curiosity. “I said ‘no experiments,’ Dan, so stop giving me the side-eye!”

  The guys calmed down a bit after that, and Jason was sitting on the ground to regenerate his mana faster. I had no idea where exactly the NPC would spawn, so I was looking around at our surroundings without trying to look like I was looking for anything in particular. I must have looked like a moron.

  “Dammit! Mob spawned right on me!” Dan yelled out to the group. I stood up from the ground and ran to where Dan was standing.

  “It’s not a mob! Look, it isn’t aggroing at all,” I yelled before Dan could be true to his Ranger Class and shot the NPC full of holes.

  “What the hell is it then?” Jason asked as he approached Dan’s location. “Is it an NPC? What would it be doing out here?” Wayne was right next to his healer, intent to keep him safe.

  “Holy hell! She’s beautiful,” Wayne said when he got in front of the NPC, whose name we could now see was Lady Tessa.

  “If you forget about the Pink Tutu Affair Wayne, I promise I won’t tell Jenny you just said that,” Dan threw out.

  “Forget it, chump. The Affair never dies,” Wayne said while fist bumping Jason.

  There were few memories in Resurgence that could immediately bring a smile to my face, but the “Pink Tutu Affair” was definitely one of them. Why Dan ever thought that telling every person he knew, in every bar, that not only had he saved Wayne’s life, but that Wayne was wearing a frilly pink tutu while it happened, I still have no idea. The next day, Wayne received dozens of messages commenting on his tutu and asking what type of Warrior needs a Ranger to save his hide. Dan has been trying to get Wayne to forget about it ever since.

  Dan also wasn’t ashamed to bring Wayne’s girlfriend into play to get what he wanted, either. Jenny, or Serenity in the game, was a member of our larger team. Her, Gary (Sayhey), Kaitlin (Anastasia), and Tim (Slovak) made up the second part of our eight-person team. Jenny and Wayne started dating soon after the beta started for us. Dan wanted desperately to date Kaitlin. Or even have her acknowledge him. No one was trying to date Gary and Tim.

  “Why the hell are you fist bumping Allidonus?” Dan asked. And there was the other thing that always made me laugh on the inside. Dan had more names for Jason, or Allister in the game, than I could count. Dan used to use real words that began with “Alli” or “Ali.” He had exhausted those options long ago and now just made up words as he went, like “Allidonus.” It probably wouldn’t be so bad for Jason if he went by his regular name; but he insisted he play in character as much as possible and everyone had to call him Allister. Wayne and I never minded. Dan didn’t either, as it just added to his own enjoyment with what wordplay he could incorporate that day.

  “That’s my Tank. I always got his back,” Jason replied.

  “Focus here, guys,” I said, breaking up the banter, but enjoying the interaction all the same.

  “Says the guy who just five minutes ago admitted to not paying attention because he was cyber sexing some hottie,” Dan added.

  “I wasn’t cyber sexing anyone!”

  “It’s cool, bro. I won’t tell anyone else. As long as she has a friend for TheClaw.”

  I ignored Dan, a task that seriously got easier the more days we spent together. It had become surprisingly easier when the aforementioned party decided that his in-game name would be “TheClaw,” and spoke about himself in third-person.

  I made my way toward Lady Tessa. I knew this was the NPC that the Wanderer told me about, and I knew she wouldn’t be around for long.

  I took a good look at the NPC and was amazed at the quality of the character. Robert Shoal really went all out when he designed this one. All the characters and NPCs in Resurgence looked lifelike, but you didn’t realize the quality of that likeness until you saw Lady Tessa.

  “She looks more than real. If that makes any sense,” Dan said.

  “In your own twisted way, Dan, that’s probably the smartest thing you’ve said in days.”

  I kept staring at Lady Tessa and took in all the details. She was an elf, which was clear from the pointy ears, and likely a high elf, given the air that she seemed to carry herself. It was like with Jason, the way his character looked; the high cheek bones, the piercing eyes, it led the viewer to immediately think, “High Born.”

  Her skin was flawless. The color was a white so perfect it would rival the greatest pearls in comparison. Her eyes were the darkest forest green I had ever seen. Her hair blew in a breeze that was only affecting her, as I watched her golden strands wave through the air. She wore a gossamer gown and i
t clung to her curves and accentuated every part of her form. There was no doubting this was a woman and she was a picture of radiance.

  I could have stood there and stared at her for hours, but I had to trigger the quest or this would all be for naught.

  “Good day, Fair Lady,” I said.

  “You would not think it so good if you knew my story, adventurer,” Lady Tessa replied.

  “Bingo! Quest NPC! Hot damn on toast, we are the luckiest bastards this side of Port Town!” Dan exclaimed.

  “Well, Alex is. We just keep you around to make our IQs look better,” Jason said.

  “Thanks, Baron. That’s nice of you to say!”

  “He means yours is so low it makes ours look high,” Wayne replied while laughing.

  “Oh. Damn. I really should have seen that one coming.”

  I ignored the banter of my friends and continued on with getting the quest.

  “What is your story, Lady Tessa?”

  “It is not a happy tale, I fear. Do you really want to burden yourself with my sad affairs?”

  “Please tell me your story,” I said again. I could now see the guys were all ears.

  Lady Tessa paused for a moment, and I thought I hadn’t said the right phrase to keep the quest script going. I really should have asked the Wanderer for the right combination of words. Just then Lady Tessa looked up to the sky, as if she were recalling a memory, and sighed mournfully before she began to speak.

  “Years ago, who could really say how long now, mine was an honorable and well respected family. We were the only family of our kind. Scholars who traveled the world in search of knowledge.

  “Now you may be thinking, ‘There are entire institutions of learning for this specific purpose,’ and you would be right. But where those institutions are filled with men and women whose knowledge came at the hands of a tome or a lectern, my family’s knowledge came from the end of a sword. Where they were book scholars, my family was filled with warriors. In fact, our family was renowned for our acumen both on the field of combat as well as in the library. Sometimes the closest kept secrets are held by the foulest of creatures, and a warrior is needed to secure such booty.

  “With our profession, the members of my family ranged far and wide, and our house never grew large. My father had no brothers and only one sister, and she died in a tragic accident before she was betrothed. At the time my story starts, all that was left of my house were my four brothers, my father, and myself. That is if you still wish to hear it.”

  “Damn this is good. Say the words, Alex,” Jason said.

  “Lady Tessa, we implore you. Tell us your story.”

  At that prompt, Lady Tessa turned and regarded each of my groupmates, looking into their eyes for a brief second, before finally locking those beautiful green orbs on me. She nodded her head once and then began anew.

  “My father, Lord Lancaster, was regarded as the greatest warrior scholar my family had ever produced. There was almost no place he wouldn’t go in this land to find secrets hidden from this world. The King called on his services often, and our family was welcome in court more than any other.

  “But it was on one of his own forays into the wilds that the demise of my house began.” Tessa turned away for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh, and then looked to muster the courage to go on. “My father had heard rumor of a tome of history trapped away on the outskirts of the great swamps of the east. There, so rumor had it, a mage of great age and experience had begun the life of a hermit and shunned the outside world. His library was said to be the most expansive in the world barring that of Yerkich itself. But none could approach him as the swamp itself answered to his call.

  “My father, never one to back down from a challenge, set off to confront the mage. His return to us showed he had won, but had been soundly thrashed along the way. His armor was in ruin, and much of his belongings were lost in the swamp. But he returned with what my family valued more than anything else. Knowledge.

  “That knowledge, however, was to be our downfall.” Tessa paused at that point and walked away from the group. Not far from her spawn point she stopped and sat on a section of fallen tree. The roots, ripped from the ground by a force of wind no doubt, could be seen in her background. It was a study in contrast. The most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on sitting upon a piece of wood, mangled from its descent. The similarities to the fall of Lady Tessa’s house were not lost on me and I silently gave Robert Shoal a salute for his efforts in crafting this quest. Once seated, Tessa began again.

  “The hermit, as my father learned, had fled the land, fearing for his life with the information he possessed. It was not a rare tome on magic, no spell that would change the landscape of battles, but a simple journal. In fact, it contained words more powerful than some mere incantation, for they spelled out a story wherein the history of our King’s succession was cast into question.

  “My father, being the loyal subject he was, as well as personal friend to the King himself, immediately informed his Majesty of what he had found. My father believed the journal to be a fake, and that the King should know of its existence in case any other such falsehoods ever came to light.

  “Father didn’t think it at all odd when the King asked who else knew of the journal. Without realizing the error he was making, my father informed his Majesty that only his children knew of his quest and what he had found.

  Lady Tessa dropped her face into her hands and shook her head back and forth. When she finally lifted her eyes back toward ours, we could all see the tears flowing down to her chin. She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and with resolve she began again.

  “Telling my brothers and I of the encounter, my father recalled in minute detail the look on the King’s face the fateful night of that conversation. Father had turned away to refill his glass as he informed his Majesty on the details, and when he looked back he saw an ocean of sadness looking back. It would still be several moments before the King would attempt a facade of happiness for my family’s efforts to retrieve any and all knowledge for the kingdom, and told my father to forget this book. That smile never touched his Grace’s eyes, though, and my father knew an ill omen when he saw one. Two days later, my family received our summons.

  “Each of my brothers, like my father, was a warrior scholar. Their skill levels differed, but each was highly regarded for their abilities. As a rule, however, our house never sent more than two of the family on a mission. This wasn’t always the case, but none of my brothers had taken wives, and as such they had no heirs to their positions or property. Until such time that more males were sired father would not risk losing more than two men at a time. Women, such as myself, handled the politics of our house and not the sword.

  “The summons called for each of my brothers and my father to report to His Majesty the next morning. Here the King erred and gave some clue as to why the summons was sent. Each of my brothers was being sent on a quest to retrieve a piece of lost lore, and my father was to be given the hardest task of all: to secure a tome from the clutches of a dragon. More importantly, the King claimed these tasks to be of the gravest nature that could only be trusted to my family. And none other. Each would be traveling alone.

  “Once my father and brothers returned, a family meeting was called in the great room of our home,” Tessa said and then stood up to walk back toward the area where we originally found her and then continued for several more seconds toward Yerkich.

  “There,” she said while pointing toward the city, “my father recalled that look of sadness and believed that not only was the King aware of the journal, but his orders suggested it was real.

  “That night, my father removed the journal with the information. You see, he told the King of its existence, but never told the King that he actually kept the tome. All the King knew was that my father shared the information with my brothers and I. That is why his Majesty believed killing off my family would also kill off his lie.

  “My father divi
ded the journal between him and my four brothers. They were to carry it with them as they traveled into what became their ultimate demise. I was not to have knowledge of the eventual resting place of the journal and was instead to be spirited away in the night.

  “I protested, but my father begged me to keep their secret, saying that if the family didn’t return, one day it would be my responsibility to find those who could travel the lands and collect those lost journal pieces and to exact vengeance for my family. Are you such adventurers?”

  For a long time, none of us said a word, though Wayne summed it all up after just a few heartbeats.

  “Wow.”

  Wow was right. This looked to be a most epic quest chain.

  “So, are we in, guys?” I asked my friends. I received three nods in the affirmative.

  “We are those adventurers, Lady Tessa.”

  After a few heartbeats Lady Tessa looked up toward the heavens and mouthed “Thank you.”

  The guys started waving their hands at me, wanting me to press on Lady Tessa to get her to give us more information, but I wanted to let the script play out on its own. The Lady walked around a little more and then set her feet to the ground. With a nod, and a straightening of her shoulders, she turned back toward the group.

  “If you are honest in your claim, and if I am prepared to set you on this most dangerous of journeys, then you will need a place to start. There was a housekeeper that lived on our estate for longer than any of us children, and considering elves live for hundreds of years, you can imagine her age. And while we lived there, it was truly her home. She was much like a second mother to all of us. Her name is Madeline, though we just called her Old Lady Madsie. She still resides within Kich’s Keep, and the King and his men are none the wiser as to her identity. When I fled Yerkich, I gave her my youngest brother’s diary. In it, he wrote of the quest that he was being sent on. I could never bear to read it and have no knowledge as to the location where my brother was sent.

  “But that diary will point you in the right direction. My youngest brother was not much higher in skill than you four likely are, but I know he did not return from the quest he was given. So the beast that slayed him must have been formidable. I pray that should you find his remains, you will find answers to help you find the rest of the journal. When you approach Old Lady Madsie, tell her ‘Lady Tessa says she wants more of the happy juice.’ This was a phrase I used as a child and it remained a running joke for decades between us. That phrase will let her know that I sent you. This is all I can tell you for now, but I hope finding the pages of the journal will assist you in your efforts. Go with the grace of the gods.”