Gleam of Darkness

by Elian Tars

  After a while, I dug out a small, forged chest with a handle and a tiny padlock.

  Safe

  Level of protection: unknown

  I had a triumphant smile on my face. Yes! My trip hadn’t been in vain after all! I knew something else had to be hidden here!

  Inspired by my small victory, I checked the rest of the walls with the blanket on my head. The glowing marker was nowhere to be found. However, that didn’t upset me. My work here was done, now I had to get out!

  It was a pity that I had to part with my items, but sometimes you had to make sacrifices. With this philosophical thought, I took the axe, which I had found today, out of my inventory, and put its blade against one of the earthen walls at a height of twenty inches or so. Tossing a final glance at the pit, I forcefully pressed the axe into the dirt wall and stepped on it with one foot, checking if it would hold my weight. It wasn’t very stable, but it would do the job.

  However, not everything in life always went as we would expect it to, otherwise, everyone would be a billionaire. Quickly rebounding from the step, I successfully grabbed the edge of the hole; straining myself, I climbed up. Bon didn’t upgrade his strength in vain, and I had upgraded agility and acrobatics. But suddenly, the axe dislodged itself from the dirt and fell with a thud. It wasn’t very loud, but it was loud enough for John to hear and turn around.

  Blind Eye.

  “Lerk! Get up! We have guests!” yelled the guardsman, shaking his head in amazement. “On your side!”

  I disappeared right in front of the guard. I’m sure he didn’t even get a good look at me, let alone at my info. Wasting no time, I scurried out of the burned down village toward the tall grass.

  “There he is! He’s leaving!” another voice shouted. Oh hell, could the second guardsman see me even through Blind Eye? “Hey! Stop! We need to have a word with you!”

  “Bastard’s gone!” Lerk angrily exclaimed when I bent down, hiding myself in the grass. The duration of Blind Eye had ended and wading into the forest without it was very dangerous.

  “Maybe it’s for the best,” John snorted. “Who knows what level he was.”

  “Maybe…” said the archer. “Or not... Who was that, anyway? An Iron Faced, or one of the locals? Hey!!” Lerk suddenly shouted very loudly. “Can you hear me?! If you’re a friend of the murdered villagers, the mayor of Ekheim wants to meet you! You should go see him! He’ll be waiting for you!” He then quietly added: “I wish someone would tell me what the hell is going on here. Let’s go, John. Where did you find him?”

  “By the chief’s house,” replied the swordsman. “He came out of the cellar.”

  “We should search the place and then send a messenger-pigeon. Let’s hope our mission in this hellhole is over.”

  I continued to sit in my hiding place silently, digesting what I had just heard. First of all, Blind Eye had been vital in saving my life as only some could see through it. Apparently, they couldn’t see much of me because they weren’t able to distinguish if I was an Iron Faced or a villager. Also, they weren’t able to see my status, which was a definite plus.

  Secondly, I agreed with the archer as I also wanted for someone to explain things to me. Looks like these guys weren’t here to protect the ruins from an unknown enemy, like the Iron Faced. John and Lerk were here to deliver a message to an unknown ally, instead. Could it be that the mayor of Ekheim knew, or had assumed, that Chief Jason had comrades for which he had buried the safe in the basement’s wall? Possibly. He had either not set a clear goal for his guards or, like me, he was just guessing. At the same time, the mayor wasn’t hiding the fact that he wanted to meet with these unknown people.

  And now, after my foray, he would definitely believe that he had been right and also that the person he was looking for had received his message. The hole left behind the safe I had dug up and the axe in the pit made for some quite compelling evidence…

  Unfortunately, I was the one who got the safe and the invitation to visit the mayor; not the person they had counted on receiving it.

  Furthermore, I also learned that, in addition to the Iron Faced, there were two more forces that, in one way or another, had something to do with my in-game father, and they were clearly eager to find me.

  Making sure that the guards had returned to the chief’s house, I silently moved toward the forest. I couldn’t wait to examine the safe.

  Chapter 9

  An Everyday Skill

  Only after hiding deep in the forest, in the part where I had started grinding with the help of Tranquility of Darkness, did I finally feel relatively safe. There were still some loyal, low level wolves snooping around; if someone else appeared nearby, they would attack them and the sound of fighting would be heard for hundreds of yards away.

  That’s why I didn’t bother to climb a tree and sat down next to the roots of a mighty elm. I took out the safe and began to turn it over in my hands.

  Despite the fact that the lock looked flimsy, I couldn’t just tear it off with my bare hands. After a few minutes of unsuccessful attempts to do just that, I put the safe down onto the grass and, materializing the pitchfork, jammed one of its teeth between the lock and the safe. I placed one foot on the safe and tried to hit the ground with my pitchfork.

  “Lock picking” not high enough.

  You needed a skill even if you were just trying to break a lock? On the other hand, this might just work for me.

  “Open the skills menu.”

  In the second column, underneath the Acrobatics skill, Lock picking, level zero, had appeared. Wincing and doubting myself the whole time, I spent one of the unallocated “everyday points” to improve the skill and repeated the attempt.

  “Lock picking” not high enough.

  “Shit!” I said through clenched teeth.

  Should I keep going? Maybe I shouldn’t spend skill points on such a dubious skill?

  Why was I even second guessing myself? All my actions had been aimed at getting this safe. It would be foolish to stop halfway. Searching for a specialist in the city, knowing that many people would love to get their hands on the contents of this safe, would be a dumb move.

  “Upgrade Lock picking to level 2” I ordered and then struck the box again with my pitchfork.

  “Lock picking” is not high enough.

  Well, this doesn’t look good — I don’t have any more saved up points. What if I need something like level 10 to get this safe open? I figured that, soon enough, all of my Everyday Points would be spent on just Lock picking. A very useful “everyday skill”, that’s for sure.

  Sighing and feeling doomed, I sat down, staring intently at the unyielding box.

  “Information” I mentally said, even though I had already read everything there was to know about the safe back in the pit.

  Safe

  Protection level: 3

  Almost immediately, I felt a sense of renewed purpose. Previously, the level of protection had been unknown, but now I could see it. I had the skill at level 2; the protection was level 3. So, I needed to get to level 15, get the “everyday point” and make my Lock picking the same level as the safe’s protection.

  Although, it would be better to do so at dawn. Right now, it was time to climb a tree and take a nap.

  I woke up with the first rays of the sun and, after quickly eating some breakfast, went looking for more restless wolves. It took half a day of methodical grinding, but I achieved my goal — I leveled up.

  Using the one point I gained from “everyday skills” by getting to level 15, I immediately upgraded Lock picking. I looked at the other changes and got a little sad. But there were some good news: I now had the opportunity to raise my skills to level 3. The bad news was that doing so required two more skill points. Right now, two of the three skills of Darkness were level 2 and one was level 1. To upgrade everything fully, I would need another seven skill points and eleven levels. That meant that I needed to get to level 26. But what if, by that time, I were given the option t
o improve my spells to level 4? Hell, did I really have to choose only one thing? Two at most? I badly wanted to completely upgrade the whole dark magic branch... Maybe I should say to hell with the vile Darkness? Why am I, all of a sudden, so obsessed with it?

  Right, this was probably the negative side effect of my Halfway Toward the Light achievement. What kind of game was this? I wish there were guides to read, because my head was already spinning. I could go insane like this.

  I slowly exhaled and pushed the evil thoughts aside, took out the safe from my inventory, and smiled. Now I had a reason to be happy, so I needed to be happy, and not concern myself with nonsense.

  I put the safe on the ground, materialized my pitchfork and, just like before, jammed it between the lid and the lock. It cut through as easily as a knife through butter; the metal jingled and the shattered lock fell onto the grass.

  Feeling awed, I raised the chest, but hesitated to open the lid. I savored the moment, fully understanding how pirates and other treasure hunters felt. The overused expression of “feeling high” fit this situation perfectly. Even if it was pretty clear that there were no diamonds or gold in the safe — it was simply too light.

  "Alright, that’s enough" I told myself and finally opened the safe.

  Inside, I saw a sheet of yellowed paper that had been neatly folded several times. I quickly took it out and unfolded it. It was a map.

  It was very similar to the one I had found in the hunter’s house, except that the territory was a little different. Looks like the northeast, I think…

  I took the second map out of my inventory and compared them. I was right; the one I found in the safe showed the neighboring locations, though some objects were on both maps. If I placed them on top of each other, I would get more detailed information about the area.

  However, all of this was a secondary matter. Far more important was the black, barely noticeable dot on the chief’s map. If it wasn’t an accidental stain, then Jason, or someone before him, had found something in the northeast. There weren’t any villages in that area, it was beyond the border of Decay…

  I placed both maps into my inventory and climbed up the nearest tree. I haven’t been to this part of the forest yet, I thought. What should I do next? My magic had no effect on the creatures of Decay, but I had some resistance to this strange element. I could try to go in, walk through the Decay, and see how my body responded to being in the rotten forest. If I ended up feeling ill, I would quickly come back and activate the increased regeneration.

  Maybe I would have done just that if I hadn’t encountered the bear. At the moment, I wasn’t ready for such an expedition. I needed to visit the merchants, sell all of this junk, and get something useful. Maybe some potions, armor, and weapons…

  Hmm... Sounds like a plan. It may be simple, but it’s still a plan. It’s time to finally see the world.

  After having a quick meal, I opened the map again, figuring out where exactly I should go. My choice ended up being the village of Selbera. If I had correctly determined my own current location, it was closer than any of the other ones. My soul felt warmer and happier when I thought about this village. I must’ve been experiencing some echoes from my avatar’s memories.

  Climbing down from the tree, I went over to the path, and for about twenty minutes, I peacefully walked along the road. And then I was attacked.

  Little Spider Changed by Decay screamed as it lunged at me, and I managed to react before the creature hit me in the leg. I grabbed the pitchfork and began to dance with my vile opponent. I won fairly quickly, and, after leaving it unconscious, I hurried away.

  “Damn it! It jumped right out of the woods! I hadn’t come across these creatures while I was grinding the wolves! I’ve only ever saw them at the cemetery!”

  Along the way, I pulled out the map and carefully peered at the border of Decay. It was uneven, with what appeared to be ledges or enclaves of some kind, surrounded by the ordinary lands on three sides. A similar "appendix" was located near Bon’s village, Listeri, right on the side where the cemetery was located.

  Selbera was even closer to Decay, but still quite far way... or was it?

  I already had a suspicion that the borders on the map were wrong. Or maybe they had changed over time?

  My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar rustle coming from my right. I turned around, materializing the pitchfork, and cursed. This time, an arthropod about the size of a wild boar had come out to greet me.

  Spider Changed by Decay

  Level 12

  HP: 479/479

  I had to spend a lot more time dealing with this beast. It was much quicker than its smaller version. It even managed to reduce my HP by half before it was left with just 30 HP. At this point, the spider screamed and, arching its back, shot its web at me. A huge, sticky net covered me from head to toe, and the bastard ran away. I managed to hit it with the pitchfork, but it wasn’t enough to win. Changing my weapon to a loaded crossbow, I shot the creature’s behind and began to hastily cast Tranquility of Darkness on myself until I activated the speed up regeneration. After that, I could only stand still, hoping that no one would attack me in the near future, and keep scrolling through the logs.

  “Spider Changed by Decay” used “Web of Decay”.

  You have received 45 points of damage.

  Decay’s effect has been weakened. You are being dealt 5 points of damage every 5 seconds for of the next 30 seconds.

  Your movement is blocked by “Web of Decay”.

  “Web of Decay’s” invulnerability to physical attacks will end in 10 minutes.

  You have dealt 26 points of damage.

  You have dealt 22 points of damage.

  You have beaten “Spider Changed by Decay”.

  XP received: 413

  Maybe I shouldn’t go to Selbera? I didn’t like that there were so many creatures of Decay around here. On the other hand, there were very few places left where I could go. Once I’ve started something, there’s no sense quitting before I finish it.

  Covered in cobweb from head to toe, I was completely defenseless, so I breathed a sigh of relief when the spider twitched and sprang to its feet, then walked back home. After that, I managed to break free from the sticky web.

  I climbed a tree and waited until I was fully recovered before continuing on the path toward the village. I remained alert and even got lucky; I didn’t encounter any other large creatures. I only faced three more Little Spiders.

  Finally, I reached my goal. An hour later, I was standing atop of a small hill, admiring a stretch of land near the village.

  “I immediately suspected that something was wrong; it was too quiet. I couldn’t see anyone. I stopped some hundred yards away from Selbera. Frozen in place, I cursed several times.”

  Corpses were strewn across the streets of the tiny village; torn, rotting, filled with a caustic, green muck that had mixed with the dried cobwebs. Something flashed and a level 21 Huge Spider Changed by the Decay lazily crawled out from behind a house.

  I crouched and hid in the grass, and then began to slowly move backwards, hoping that the creature wouldn’t notice me. Later, alongside the Huge Spider, two ordinary ones and one Little Spider also appeared. Standing in front of each other, the monsters clacked their jaws, as if they were really talking to each other, then turned around and wandered in different directions. Before I could even express my surprise, the Little Spider stopped by a corpse and poked its face into it. The rest of the arthropods also chose a treat and began to eat.

  I quickly turned away so I wouldn’t have to look at this abomination. I felt a raging storm inside me. It was all just too realistic! I was now quite sure that I was experiencing Bon’s emotions, and he was furious! It seemed to me like he had repeatedly been a guest in this village, and now all of its villagers were going to become food for the spiders.

  Once I got away from Selbera, I slipped into the forest and, out of habit, climbed a convenient tree and tried to calm down a littl
e.

  What was I supposed to do now? Where was I supposed to go? This crazy, dark world would end up eating me alive!

  Suddenly, the sound of hooves came from off in the distance. I listened closely. They seemed to be approaching!

  Soon afterwards, the familiar rustling sound and clicking of jaws could be heard from down below. A spider was standing near the trunk of my tree, and a second later, it started climbing up. What a jerk! That’s alright; I knew that this might happen. These creatures weren’t wolves, so I couldn’t hide from them in the trees. But while I was sitting on the branches, I had a chance to escape from other dangers, of which there were plenty.

  I fearlessly leapt down, losing 12 HP, and immediately began to stab the creature of Decay in the back with my pitchfork. The spider quickly turned and rushed at me. Doing a half turn, I counter-attacked, and then saw another creature that looked the same as the first one.

  But I had neither the desire nor the time to lose heart. Dodging and swinging with the pitchfork in response, I slowly approached the road. Ideally, it would be best to defeat both spiders before the unknown rider got here. And, since I would’ve already finished off the enemies by then, I could hide and try to figure out who could be riding along such a dangerous route.

  However, I soon realized that it wasn’t that easy to beat two creatures at once. Not to mention managing to do so quickly.

  You have received 33 points of damage.

  I turned away from one and immediately got hit by the other.

  You have dealt 27 points of damage.

  You have received 35 points of damage.

  You have dealt 43 points of critical damage.

  So what if I landed a crit? Even if I was using Power Strike every five seconds, I was still missing too many hits. They were just too fast…

  “F-i-i-i-t!” an arrow whizzed past my ear and embedded itself in one of the many eyes of the nearest spider; which lowered its HP to 100 points. “F-i-i-i-t!” The whistle from two arrows that had been released simultaneously merged into a single sound, and each spider lost about 40 HP.