by Rick Scar
“Do you know when he’s coming back?” Rinnah’s voice interrupted Will’s examination of the item. As he looked up at her, he saw she was trying to smile, but her protruding fangs and disappearing illusionary cover promised a disaster to Daltaro.
I shouldn’t have gone that far.
“Hey, calm down. It was just a joke. I sent him to El’Lako in the north, as a scout.”
“No need to cover up for him, kitten.” Rinnah ran her finger over the table with a predatory grin. “Once he comes back, I’ll find out what kind of joke it was.”
“Okay...” Will mentally apologized to the poor adventurer as he realized just how awful his joke had been. “By the way, what are... special shadow sources?”
“What? Ah.” Rinnah still sounded annoyed. “They are places that have never been touched by the sun. The Order’s castle has many of them.”
“Thanks.”
Now that the plan was ready, Will could sleep calmly knowing that Adamarona wouldn’t take too much damage in his absence. He had to set off for a journey that would get him far from state affairs and closer to his roots. He had to get The Lightning Tablet before Insanity’s return.
I hope this won’t be a problem.
He said goodbye to Nanel. She squinted at him as he listed the reasons preventing him from taking her along with him. I’ve promised to take her on a journey so many times, and never did. It’s all my fault. The limited-time access to Floor 3. The tournament. The war... One excuse after another...
As he spoke, Nanel snorted and shook her head.
“You never change.”
Raven sighed and came closer to kiss her.
“We’ll go to the Monarch’s Door together. I promise you.”
“Don’t promise what you can’t deliver,” she said softly, and putting her arms around his waist, returned the kiss. “And don’t take too long. Adamarona needs you.” In a smaller voice, she added: “I need you.”
Attention! Your relationship with Nanel has been upgraded.
+57
Current relationship status:
Romance: 214/400
Will swiped the message away without paying much attention to it. The two of them stood in complete silence, hugging, and he just couldn’t let her go. His mind was a mess. For already a week, he had been feeling that his feelings toward this NPC had moved beyond affection.
Chapter 258. The Mountains of the Heavenly Plague
T he midnight between Saturday and Sunday saw two historical events in Ascension. The first was the finale of Round Three. The three players who had been watched by millions had completed their task, saving whatever remained of their cities and their civilians. The insane complexity of this round and the amount of effort that needed to be placed in winning was understood by everyone. When you saw the face of a player pondering over a choice that could either save or destroy them, you couldn’t help but imagine yourself in their place and wonder what you would’ve done.
The second was the twenty top players passing into Round Four, despite dying and failing their task. This news extracted a breath of relief from all the clans whose members had died during the challenge.
However, passing into the next round meant that they now had to be prepared like never before. The Siege had shown everyone how drastically the difficulty level would be increased at each new stage of the tournament. Considering that the main prize was attracting TOP clans like a magnet, this wasn’t surprising. Rollin’ Dice was the only clan benefitting from their connection with a player from another Floor. What exactly were they getting out of their cooperation with White Raven? This question puzzled analysts of other TOP clans as well as the audience.
Surrounded by her clanmates, Mollie was staring at the center of a broad table. They hadn’t gathered here to discuss the next round. In her hand, she held a shimmering glass of expensive wine from the cellar of one of Rollin’ Dice’s restaurants.
Today, they were celebrating their advancement into the semifinals. It was a good reason to celebrate, despite the late hour. The road to here had been long and difficult, especially for Mollie. Not only did she have to oversee the preparations, but she also had to juggle a heap of tasks dumped upon her by the elusive rogue who had once again vanished, as well as the Rukh.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Perdition, who was tipsy after three bottles of special Witch Brandy, plopped into the chair next to hers. “You ought to be happier than anyone else.” She passed her gaze over the crowd of players loudly celebrating their victory.
Mollie gave a pale smile at this remark, still lost deep in her thoughts.
“Hey, what’s up? Tell me.” Perdition closed her eyes, slapped herself on the cheeks, and shook her head, struggling to get rid of the debuff that often followed extensive drinking. She knew it wouldn’t work, but she figured that there was no harm in giving it a try. “Well?”
“I’m just going over the quests to make sure that we’re not missing anything important about the Guard.” Mollie took a sip of her drink and looked at Perdition. “Remember? We’re waiting for the tournament to be over so you could join us.”
“Right!” the drunken girl exclaimed and tried to hug Mollie. “Thank you…” She staggered, losing her balance as Mollie dodged her arms. Moving closer, she stared at her in confusion. “…you? Hey! Why won’t let me hug you? It’s a sign of gratitude. Ah.” She squinted at Mollie. “You don’t want to make Will jealous, is that it?”
“Huh?!” Mollie cried, snapping out of her thoughts. “Are you for real? Why do I care what that idiot thinks?” She sounded astonished and somewhat anxious.
“Why?” Perdition finally straightened up and, with a sly gleam in her eyes, reminded Mollie of their rather tight hug on the pedestal.
“You of all people!” Mollie glared at her friend and asked, almost hissing: “Who told you about that?”
“Oh, relax.” Perdition giggled. “You have a thing for him. Everyone can see that. Dunno if you noticed, but he hasn’t said a word about his pay for a while now. I wonder why...”
She was right. It had been a long time since Raven had last requested to be paid for putting his name among that of the Rollin’ Dice members. Could it be because he had lost his status as the Number One? No. He was far too greedy for something like that to stop him.
“Please, that’s a mere coincidence.” Mollie rolled her eyes. “He’s probably too busy at the moment, but he’ll demand his share next time. I’m sure of it.” As far as she was concerned, Greed was Raven’s second name.
“Well, if you say so.” Perdition nodded and changed the topic to that of the Guard. “What about the Rukh’s egg? Why don’t we have it yet? I spoke to Katharine. She told me that Santil and…” She hesitated. “…and Terry? Is that his name? She told me that they found it.”
“Tony,” Mollie corrected her, relieved that the topic had been changed.
“Tony, yes.” Perdition hit the table top with her fist. “That’s it! They said that it’s a unique pet.”
“Yes. It even has a chance of becoming a legendary one. That’s another reason why we’re not hurrying to complete that quest. The egg must spend as much time as possible in that location since it needs to soak up its energy.”
“Oh, I see. Well...” Perdition stood up and, passing her gaze over the crowd that had filled the restaurant, reached for Mollie, and patted her on the shoulder. “Congrats once again. I know how important this is for you.”
“Thanks.” Mollie smiled sincerely and raised her glass. “To you. Sleep well. The new rules will be out tomorrow. I don’t even want to think about what they have come up with this time.”
“I agree with the majority that this tournament is much, much different from any other,” Perdition said after a short pause. “It’s nothing like PvP combat. Stakes are high. And the scale…” Pausing, she added: “At some point, it felt like completing a hidden quest. Ahahaha! Maybe it’s just me, who knows? I better get going.”
“Yeah,�
� Mollie muttered, looking at her back. “It might well be a quest.”
As she looked at the amber liquid in her glass shining in the chandelier light like a sunset over a calm lake, she remembered that this tournament had brought her clan another victory. Taking a sip with a dreamy smile, she closed her eyes and wondered how Will was doing.
Floor 24. Latakhorgh
The next morning, Raven left Adamarona and headed north. After teleporting to the Shadow Order and being told that no one could help him because of the upcoming war, he decided to make most of this situation, and spent one point to learn the pass-charging skill. Fortunately, his character’s build allowed that.
To reach his destination, he had to cross the Taargada Forest. He needed Shamtan-Kragh: the castle of the ruler who had once ordered the Wild Thunder Bracelets to be made for him, but who never got to know why these Bracelets kept attracting lightning.
Daltaro had come the same way, heading north. Raven regretted sending him away so early as they could’ve been keeping each other’s company now. But he knew that the archer had to reach El’Lako as soon as possible to get advanced gear for Adamarona’s soldiers. As much as he wanted to visit this country, too, and save his game there, getting another tablet was his top priority at the moment.
He couldn’t help feeling excited as he embarked on another journey that would open more of this world to him; a half-forgotten feeling urged him on into unexplored locations. He was back to exploring his home Floor. And since he was much stronger this time around, he didn’t have to avoid the mobs.
However, the problem was that he had no idea where to go. To find his way around, he’d have to question a lot of NPCs, and no one but the system knew how long that would take. What he did know, however, was that he’d return to Adamarona momentarily if he heard that it was under attack.
It’d be nice if that happened after I’ve discovered a portal outside the capital...
Round Four was to begin the next Tuesday. He had two days left to try to find whatever he was looking for.
The Taargada Forest was already half-explored, so he had no problem finding his bearings there. He slid through the familiar woods like a shadow, following the trail of mobs that had respawned since the last time he had been here. He ran past them, certain that they wouldn’t attack. His speed was high enough to escape any local mob without wasting time on killing them, and he had the Giant Aura, a passive skill that prevented weaker creatures from attacking him.
He jumped over obstacles and climbed rocks and trees, running without stopping until he was finally out of the Forest. The moment he set foot out of it, a message instantly popped up in front of his eyes.
Congratulations! You are the first player to visit the Silent Prayer Plains.
+3% magic resistance for the next 24 hours
+1 rank of the Strong Shield spell for the next week
His chat window was soon filled with messages like this one, informing him of the (mostly useless) additions to his stats. But sometimes his Luck would grant him a bonus to one of his main stats.
+2 Strength
+3 Agility
+1 Endurance
Each of these was extremely useful, considering that the only other way to level up your main stats was to discover a local settlement.
The landscape around him changed as he walked. Woods gave way to lakes, and they to rivers. There were mountains taller than Everest, and trees growing on top of volcanos, their branches heavy with strange fruit. After eight hours of making his way through these fantastic locations, Will realized that he had seen nothing that could pass for a village, let alone a city. Only ruins. Traces of this place’s long-gone inhabitants, now consumed by Mother Nature and Father Time.
At one point, he had to take a detour and circle a group of huge monsters that looked like the fifteen-foot-tall frogs and hammer-handed giants that had stormed his city during The Siege. He wasn’t yet strong enough to discover the secrets of the places they guarded, but when the time came, he’d explore every inch of this godforsaken land.
As his map filled with new locations and names, he rushed on and on until he got a message.
Congratulations! You are the first player to visit the Mountains of the Heavenly Plague.
+5% mana points for the next 3 hours
+15% energy replenishment speed for the next 48 hours
He passed his gaze over the lines. He was about to swipe the message away as he usually did, but suddenly stopped and stared at it.
“The Mountains of the Heavenly Plague? What the…?” He stared up at the sky, struggling to make sense of the situation. Several months ago, when he had sacrificed ten levels for information about this place’s name and location, Paley had told him that this place (the lair of the ancient monster that he had planned to show to the royal elder) was about ten miles away from where he now stood.
It was either the priestess having lied to him or, more likely, the Mountains actually being as tall as the legends told. As he remembered the story of Paley’s first descent from this Mountain taking three months, his face became pensive.
Having Wings and Without Barriers, Will believed that he could reach the summit much faster than that. But he had to decide whether the potential reward was worth the risk. He’d return empty-handed if the ancient monster proved too powerful even for him to defeat.
Chapter 259. A Beautiful Monster
K irsssan Pai, the third king of the Swarm, who was in charge of the Latian government, was staying in Tisss & Misss, a luxurious hotel in the center of the capital. He was sitting alone in the suite he had booked, bracing himself for what he was about to do. Kirsssan loved his queen. His beautiful, graceful, and kind queen. Her word had always been his command. But over the past few years, she had changed.
This… This plan B. I hate it. I hate it so much. I would’ve never thought that I’d ever get a command like that.
With a sigh, he gulped down the remains of his liquor made of Misty Spider Eggs.
She was no longer a loving queen. The woman who had once been worshipped by her subjects, including himself, had become a power-obsessed tyrant. Even at this point, her word was obeyed by everyone. Telisssa Ami-Ra’tasssu was the savior of their race. When their ancestors abandoned them, she offered them a helping hand and helped them back to their feet.
Out of the dark caves where the last Dolves had hidden from the disaster, came a new race: the Latians. According to the rumors spread by some of the youth, it was then, in that dark age, that their species had acquired the vile habit of devouring their own kin in order to gain access to their memories. Kirsssan winced as he remembered himself doing that.
Good thing that it’s only our soldiers and spies who must always be ready to devour an enemy.
His mind shifted to the more recent memories: those from the time when he received news about Adamarona preparing for war. The Swarm’s military maneuvers had somehow provoked the messenger into executing all of the Latians living in his kingdom.
Kirsssan had personally witnessed the consequences of this unexplainably cruel decision. As he watched the dry and weather-beaten heads of his brothers and sisters, with the fluttering flag of a hostile kingdom in their mouths, his mind was clouded with rage, vengeance, pain, lots of tantalizing questions, and fear. Primal, irrational fear.
He rarely talked with Kartas, the first king, so he had no idea how a part of his force had managed to cooperate with the allies and occupy the area around the Monarch’s Door. That is, until the massacre. Furthermore, one of Kirsssan’s own sons was in charge of the detachment that had provoked it. Unfortunately, Kirsssan had no way to learn how a terrible idea like that one could’ve crossed his mind. Not unless he found a way to converse with the dead.
Following the Monarch’s Door massacre, Latian diplomats in the Holy Empire were attacked by the local authorities and the city garrison. Kirsssan resolved this conflict by finding out that the attack hadn’t been endorsed by either party. The only ques
tion that the military tribunal had failed to answer was: Who was behind it?
The military overseers firmly stated that they would never give an order like that, but the survivors were swearing that they were following Dazzzak’s orders. And Dazzzak claimed that his plan had been approved by the overseers.
Kirsssan covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head.
What’s going on with the Swarm?
The order he got from the queen was just as crazy and weird as everything else. It was about the altar. The creepy, ancient structure erected by the Dolves and discovered and reconstructed by the Latians after it had been plundered following the Emperor’s death. It was gigantic. The gutters by which the sacrificial blood would run down formed the signs of the forgotten Dolf language shining with rare, precious metal.
For a long time, this altar had only been used for the coronation ceremony. But ten years ago, it also became a place where the Latians who had violated the Swarm’s law or insulted the Queen Mother (a crime committed more often than was thought) were executed.
Kirsssan lurched as he stood up abruptly, then adjusted his uniform, and strode toward the exit. The only way to know the truth was to ask the queen herself. He rushed to do it before the courage given to him by the drink ran out. It seemed like the only right thing to do.
If only he knew how drastically the situation was about to change.
***
Hit. Lunge. Jump away. Dodge. Quick jab at the dummy’s chest on the right. Wheel around. Bring the rapier’s end to the enemy’s neck.
Nanel stopped and took a step back, then took a towel handed to her by Emin and buried her face in it, wiping away beads of sweat. Since Raven’s departure the day before, she had been practicing intensely to kill time until his return.
“Good. Very good.” Emin clapped approvingly. He had entered a few minutes ago, and waited for Nanel to complete her training. “You’ve improved a lot, Your Majesty.”