World-Tree's End

by E A Hooper

  Monika stared at him for a few seconds before responding. “No, there’s nothing to do right now. If you really feel bad, then you’ll drink with me.”

  Damn, she usually forgets about the wine after I’m gone so long. I’d almost rather she be mad at me.

  “I already feel kind of dizzy from being in the mines so long,” Vincent told her. “Maybe I should take a nap first. You can have a few drinks on your own, and then I’ll join you when I’m rested.”

  Or you’ll pass out, and then I can sneak back to the mines.

  “No,” she replied, looking expressionless.

  Vincent paused, trying to think of a response that would work. Ask her to take a walk. That always seems to reset her weird patterns.

  “You know, I almost forgot how beautiful it is above ground,” Vincent said. “You want to take a walk with me?”

  “No,” Monika answered.

  Okay, okay. I’ve really pressed my luck pushing back the drinking night for a few years. I’ll have to give in—but I’ll have to be careful too. At my level of Vitality, I don’t even know if I can black out anymore, but I should keep my wits about me regardless.

  Vincent smiled at the woman with his wife’s face. “You know what? I would love some wine. I’ll take that walk later.”

  The NPC’s face shifted, suddenly looking normal and happy again. “Oh, this will be so romantic!” she said. “Just the two of us. Maybe we’ll have that walk once it’s dark out and we’re both a little tipsy.”

  Monika grabbed Vincent’s hand and led him to the house. When they stepped into the kitchen, she took a bottle of wine and poured it into two very large glasses.

  “To us, and all the wonderful times we’ve had together!” Monika said, raising her glass.

  “To us,” Vincent replied, tapping his glass against hers.

  Monika remained still, watching with big eyes until Vincent finally took a sip. “Don’t be shy. There’s plenty to drink!” She chugged down her glass, then poured herself another.

  Vincent took another sip, but he noticed himself already feeling lightheaded. “What the hell is this?” he asked, glancing at the blue liquid in his glass. “This is way stronger than that stuff we had last time.”

  “It’s a special recipe,” she said.

  Vincent took another drink. “You should really show me how to make it. My friend Jim would love this stuff.”

  Monika glared at him.

  “I mean, assuming he ever stops by for a visit,” Vincent said nervously. He took another drink—a larger one that time—and that seemed to calm Monika.

  “Oh, I don’t think we’ll be having guests anytime soon,” the NPC replied before taking another drink. “Not with that angel hanging around. No one will ever get past her.”

  “Well, they must’ve been here at some point,” Vincent replied. “How else would the daiglass shard have gotten here?”

  “You’ve said that before—hundreds of times, actually—but I think you’re overlooking the fact that the Voice of the World-Tree wanted you to be here. Those people you used to know have no idea you’re here. They’re not coming for you. It’s okay, though, you have me.”

  Monika smiled, then she finished another glass and poured herself more wine.

  “They’re not people I used to know—they’re my friends.”

  Vincent took another drink to drown his own frustration.

  “Do you miss them?” the NPC asked, sounding almost as caring as the real Monika.

  “Yes, I miss them. Dearly. I haven’t seen them in a century.” Vincent shook his head, feeling a wave of confusion pass over him. “Has it really been a century, or just a few minutes ago? I can’t even say anymore. The longer I’m in this game, the harder it is to tell what’s real anymore.”

  Monika flashed a beautiful smile. “I’m real,” she said, grabbing his hand. “This world. The Garden. You here with me. This is real. I know you’ll see that in time.”

  Vincent nervously pulled away his hand. “No, no. I won’t. It’s been fifty years, Monika. Another hundred and thirty won’t change my mind. I’m sorry.”

  “Who says we only have a hundred and thirty left? Why not more? Wouldn’t you want to spend a thousand years with me?”

  “I have a timer,” Vincent said, opening his HUD. “I can see exactly how much time I have left here. It’s a little over ten minutes of real-world time, then I’m free.”

  A fearful look crossed Monika’s face. “That’s not what the Voice of the World-Tree said. It told me we would be together for a thousand years.”

  “A thousand? That’s not possible. ARKUS’s developers said it won’t be able to keep this update going forever. The AI System will burn itself out eventually, assuming the U.S. Government doesn’t shut it down first. Besides, the update is only supposed to last for thirty minutes. We’re almost two-thirds of the way there.”

  The NPC started to relax, and she stared off in space for a few seconds.

  She looks like a player staring at their HUD… or more like Archie when he was tampering with his back-end interface.

  “Oh, I understand,” Monika said, appearing happy once again. “Yes, you only have a hundred thirty years, don’t you? The Voice wouldn’t harm itself to keep your people here longer, right? I’m sure those developers have it all figured out. You and I can wait out the clock together, and then you can see your friends again.”

  Monika gulped down another cup of wine, then refilled her glass.

  Vincent stared with suspicion. “Hang on, did ARKUS—the Voice—tell you I would be here a thousand years?”

  “I just misunderstood,” she replied. “Silly me.”

  Monika gulped down another cup of wine, then refilled her glass.

  She’s lying to me. The update won’t end in ten real-world minutes—the timer is only a way to placate us. Just like this fake Monika is here to keep me content, so I won’t keep trying to leave.

  Monika gulped down another cup of wine, then refilled her glass.

  Chapter 8

  Vincent kept a slow pace while drinking over the next couple of hours, even as Monika tried to refill his glass before he could finish it. He made sure not to get more than a little tipsy, but he pretended to be drunker than he really was while he stumbled around the kitchen and joked around with Monika.

  When the NPC started getting too frisky, touching his arm and staying close to him, Vincent decided enough was enough and pretended to be sleepy. She followed him to the bed, but the moment he laid down he shut his eyes tight and let out a fake snore. The NPC tried to wake him with sweet words and running her had down his chest, but Vincent only snored more loudly and let drool drip from his mouth.

  Eventually, Monika huffed and left the room.

  Vincent tried to keep the act up by laying there until he saw sunlight. He faked a loud yawn, then stumbled into the kitchen with a feigned hangover. Instead of finding Monika making breakfast as expected, he discovered that the room, and even the baskets, were empty.

  I guess she’s already out working. I ought to help and get the Hero’s Boon before I return to the Man Cave.

  Vincent went outside and looked around a while before he found Monika tending to the weeds that always grew near the petals.

  “That was a fun night,” Vincent said as he approached. “We really ought to do that more often.”

  “Uh huh,” Monika replied, her focus on the weeds.

  Vincent crouched next with her and started to assist until she paused to look at him.

  “What are you doing?” the NPC asked.

  “I’m helping you.”

  “No, it’s fine. I can do it on my own.”

  Vincent stared at her, trying to figure out if she was upset at him. “Is something wrong?”

  “No, everything’s fine. You can go down to the mines. I know that’s what you want.”

  “That’s not true at all,” he defended. “I enjoy spending time with you.”

  “You just want t
he Hero’s Boon. That’s all.”

  “No, no, I—”

  “Stop lying to me,” Monika cut him off. “You believe you can trick me—treat me like I’m a character in a game. You think it’s easy, right? Just say the right things and make the right moves. Did you think you had my patterns figured out, Vince? Well, I’ve been studying your patterns too. You act friendly, then get the Hero’s Boon and disappear for three days. I know what you’re doing. Last night, while you pretended to snore, I went down there. I found your hidden lair, Vincent.”

  There’s no way she found it. She’d have to fly sideways through a narrow loop just to get to it. Maybe she meant the first forge I built early on.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vincent replied, trying to sound confused. “Lair? Do you mean my forge? You knew about that.”

  “Not that one—the real one. It doesn’t look like you do much forging anymore. I recognized some of those runes. You’re using them to develop new spells, aren’t you? Why?”

  “You know I like getting stronger,” he defended.

  “You’re already strong enough to defeat the four bosses on this world,” she said. “Why would you need to get any stronger?”

  “Come on, it’s just a hobby.”

  “No. You’re planning to challenge Rosaria again, aren’t you? You won’t beat her. You won’t ever, ever win against her.”

  “Where’s all this anger coming from?” Vincent asked. “Last night you seemed happy enough knowing I’ll be here another hundred thirty years.”

  “You won’t be—that’s the problem! You’re trying to leave. Everything you do, everything you say to me, it’s because of that one goal. I thought enough time had finally passed that you would want to stay—that you’d start to love me. Fifty years hasn’t been enough. Will a hundred? I don’t know the answer, but it doesn’t matter when you’ll probably be gone by then. You’ll find a way to escape, I just know you will. You’re too stubborn. I feel like I should love you for that, but I can’t when you’re fighting so hard against me.”

  Vincent sighed. “You can’t make someone love you by trying to control them. If you wanted to come with me, I’d let you. Don’t you realize that? You could travel with me and my friends.”

  “I don’t want to travel with those people. What I want is for you to stay here.”

  Vincent shook his head and walked away. “Fine, be that way. Don’t ever say I didn’t give you a chance. I tried to cooperate with you, but you won’t even meet me halfway.”

  Vincent hurried back to the house and grabbed the daiglass shard, then returned to the well. He used Zero Field to fly down and zip through the tunnels at full speed. The Ranger smashed through protruding rocks as he barreled down narrow passageways without care. After following the loop and diving into his secret cavern, he came to an abrupt stop.

  The Man Cave had mostly collapsed, leaving only a small area connected to one of the underground lakes.

  “What the hell?” Vincent said, gaping at a cave-in that had buried everything. He glanced at the floors and ceiling where the glowing mushrooms had been, only to find burn marks covering the stone. With a sigh, he set the daiglass shard in a safe corner.

  Vincent used multiple Voidfires to tunnel through the fallen stone until he finally reached the chamber where his forge had been. It had caved in too, but even the few open spots in the corner of the room revealed that massive holes had been burned through the rune-covered walls.

  “How is this possible? Monika couldn’t have done this… unless she called Rosaria to do it.”

  Vincent tightened his fists in anger as he tried to decide his course of action. I can’t attack Monika—I just can’t. Even if she’s responsible for all this. And even if I did, she’d probably respawn. Or worse, Rosaria would come to her defence. I doubt I’m ready to face that monstrosity yet. My emergency plan isn’t even halfway done yet. I still have to finish Greater Mana Bomb, then start work combining that with Greater Voidfire. Assuming that combination actually works, then I might have a spell powerful enough to kill her.

  He slowed his breathing to calm himself. I’m so close to finishing that Long-Shot Jump Gate. I might as well focus on that. The bosses will all respawn in a few weeks. If they drop their average amount of gild, I’ll have more than enough. Hell, even their worse drops will be enough. Just to be safe, I’ll scavenge anything I can sink into my tome.

  Vincent started by equipping King Kame, which he’d gotten from Silpher decades ago. The weapon let him cast Vaporize for a High+ cost, and he used it to begin tunneling through tons of stone. Whenever he uncovered some of his old equipment, he fed it directly into his Builder’s Tome. First, he found all the basteel items that had gotten buried under rubble, but they offered little alchemic value. He saved two hardened-basteel swords in case he needed them.

  After clearing out the forge, he moved on to the other chambers. Sometimes he found crushed mushrooms that he gave to his Builder’s Tome. The remains of his apothecary lab proved the most helpful, giving him two thousand BP in total.

  After two days of nonstop work, he’d finished clearing out the entire Man Cave. With almost two weeks left until three of the bosses respawned, he decided to stay underground and train, refusing to face Monika unless absolutely necessary. Without his forge, he had to figure out a new way to work on his next upgrade to Density Shield.

  I got it! I’ll develop my shield upgrade and Greater Mana Bomb at the same time.

  Vincent cast Mana Bomb, then continued to stuff the spell with more power. He’d had a problem containing its energy in the past, which normally led to him tossing it away before it exploded, but this time he let the attack detonate while he focused on his Density Shield.

  Both spell upgrades still showed them at ninety-nine percent, but he didn’t lament as he continued the same process over and over with relentless vigor. Sometimes he had to stop to heal and regain mana, but other than those brief pauses, he continued day after day. Whenever he started to lose his focus, he tried to remember Rosaria’s fearsome smile. Although he hadn’t seen her in decades, the angel’s cruel expression had been burned into his memory. That was all the motivation he needed.

  Vincent bombarded himself with blast after blast, day after day, until he finished development of Singularity 150. With that out of his way, he focused all his attention on Greater Mana Bomb. He pounded the sides of the cavern with the experimental attack, opening up entire new caverns. At some point, he dug one spot so deep that he accidentally exposed world magic.

  Oh well. I’m done cooperating with her anyways.

  Vincent realized he was days away from the bosses respawning, so he started slamming together two Mana Bombs at a time, trying to combine them. The first few exploded, sending him flying into the cavern wall, but Vincent dusted himself off and repeated it again, and again, and again… until finally, two intense balls of mana merged together in a perfect, swirling unity. He unleashed the attack against the cavern wall, only to watch it create an entire new cavern with its raw power.

  Spell Created (???) - Mana Usage: Very High | Magic Rating: 400-800 | The user forms a large sphere of intense mana. When the sphere strikes an object, it creates a large, high-intensity explosion of mana.

  Vincent labeled the spell Greater Mana Bomb. With a few days still remaining, he decided to start on the next part of the theoretical spell for his emergency plan. The Ranger aimed both his palms at one another, but he imagined Greater Mana Bomb in his left hand and Greater Voidfire in his right. After channeling extra mana from Silpher’s Coat, he tried to cast both spells at the same time, but the void spell consumed the other in an instant.

  “This can work,” Vincent assured himself. “I can make it work.”

  After refilling his mana reserve, Vincent tried once again to cast the spells at the same time, only to get the same effect. The heavy mana cost per attempt led to him burning through many ethers in a single day. He started to think he wasn’t goi
ng to see any results with the experimental spell until he was off that world, but it didn’t stop him from trying a few more times.

  I’ll make this work. No matter how long it takes.

  Finally, during one attempt that didn’t seem any different from the dozens before it, Vincent saw Greater Voidfire take a spherical shape for a split-second before exploding. Absolute blackness filled his vision for a few seconds, and he felt his body dissolve into nothing.

  You’ve died. Respawning at Daiglass 0167.3076.0775.0729…

  Vincent watched the Man Cave materialized around him, but then another game pop-up caught his eye.

  Spell Creation: 1%

  He smiled and hurried to the chamber where he’d been training to see how much damage the experimental spell had caused, but what he saw shocked him. The cavern had opened to the size of several city blocks, revealing a lake of exposed world magic. He hadn’t expected the attack to dig so far down, or to spread out in such a massive radius.

  And that’s only the incomplete version, he reminded himself, grinning ear to ear.

  Vincent returned to the daiglass shard, then took it with him as he flew past the well to the thralls’ tunnels. He used his Builder’s Tome to create a small hole in a random wall, then placed the daiglass shard inside and covered it.

  Builder Points: 420,382

  Just in case Monika comes looking for the shard while I’m gone. She’ll expect it to be hidden somewhere in the Man Cave.

  Vincent hurried back to the Garden. He spotted Monika behind the glass wall of the winery, but he ignored her and flew into the sky.

  I’ll take care of those bosses, then grab the daiglass shard and leave before she notices.

  Vincent sped off to Silpher’s lake. He flew around for a minute, unable to find the friendly skeleton, but he noticed the water level was lower than normal. When he went closer, he realized he couldn’t see any fish under the surface.

  I remember when he respawned the first time, we had a long fight where he boiled the lake, and the water dropped a couple of inches. This looks even more extreme, though.