Crystal Shards Online Omnibus 1

by Rick Scott

  The Goblin Champion rounds the massive wolf in a circle, pulling at its fur, and his bloodshot yellow eyes set upon us.

  Oh crap . . .

  Two monster readouts pop up on my HUD:

  Goblin Champion

  Level: 80

  After slaughtering and consuming thousands of its weaker brethren, this goblin has been blessed by the powers of the dark gods to lead the goblin hordes to victory against the realms of men.

  Affinity: Dark

  Giant Wolf Mount

  Level: 80

  Only the most savage of goblins could ever tame such a fearsome beast.

  Affinity: Dark

  I recast Shadow Haste as the Goblin Champion drives the wolf in our direction.

  My heart is in my throat. Dying in-game is no longer an option. Not for me, and most definitely not for Gilly. I push her behind me as the ground shakes again beneath my feet.

  I freeze in a panic as the massive creature bears down on me. What do I do!?

  Something comes flying from the side and nails the wolf in the head, causing it to yelp and stumble, taking away 3% of its health. I grab Gilly and dash out of the way, just as the huge beast slams into the wall of the log cabin behind us, taking off another 1%. The rider is thrown from its back and hits the ground with a roll that brings him surprisingly back to his feet.

  I realize then that it must have been Maxis who hit the wolf, because he’s now assaulting it with a series of punches and kicks. He crosses his forearms in a block as the wolf snaps at him with its huge jaws. My heart leaps again when my brother’s HP bar goes down by a third. He dances and spins, shifting almost like he’s using Active Dodge. He performs another block, literally slamming his forearms into the wolf’s huge face, and while his HP goes down again, it also pops back up afterwards, a bit higher than before.

  Maxis blocks the attack!

  The Wolf hits Maxis for 357(842) damage!

  Maxis regains 447 HP.

  The crack of a whip pulls my attention away from my brother and to the tall goblin standing twenty feet from me. The flaming whip lashes through the air a second time, but he’s not aiming for me. He’s aiming for Gilly!

  “No!” I cry as I leap in front of her.

  You rescue Gilly!

  Your shadow absorbs the attack!

  “Stick to me, ugly!” I shout using War Cry, and the goblin’s vile yellow eyes shift toward me.

  The Goblin Champion twirls his whip. I can’t tell which way he’s going to attack. It feels like I’m up against one of those octopus-type monsters again. I need to focus. I can’t get hit.

  I can’t get hit!

  Gilly casts a spell, and I see Maxis’s HP bar go up from 75% to full. Val Helena is chopping away at the wolf’s hindquarters, while Rembrandt circles it, blasting away with his pistols to steadily take down its life. My brother is surprisingly keeping hate, perhaps through pure damage alone, as he wails on the wolf’s snout with powerful blows.

  Everyone is doing their part. I’ve got to snap out of this and start doing mine!

  This is real, but it’s no different than the game.

  I can do this. I’ve tanked far worse than this guy.

  The goblin snarls something at me in a guttural language I don’t understand.

  He then cracks the whip again, and I dash to the side, avoiding it with ease. My confidence returns with my successful dodge, and I Charge Strike into him, stunning him with my katana and removing 2% of his life. I let off a flurry of triple attacks, taking down his HP 3% at a time. The goblin yells something and retreats under my assault, backing away to get the distance to use his whip again.

  I don’t pursue.

  Instead, I cast Shadow Cloak and vanish.

  The goblin starts snapping the whip blindly and defensively, as he turns left and right, trying to determine where I am. It speaks its strange language as I make a wide arc around it, but then it does something I don’t expect. It makes a mad dash for Gilly just as she casts another Heal on my brother.

  Oh crap!

  I instinctively try to Charge Strike, but it’s on cool-down. I do the only thing I can think to do next. I toss one of my blades at it, nailing the goblin right in the neck.

  Critical hit!

  You Backstab the Goblin Champion for 773 damage!

  The goblin falls to the ground, losing 30% of its life. It’s now down to half.

  Whoa! I didn’t even know that would count as a Backstab! Fully visible, I run in with another War Cry and start slashing away with my katana as the goblin struggles to pull the other free from its neck. The monster lets out a series of cries as sparks bounce across its silver armor, and I look up to see Rembrandt peppering it from afar.

  “Get that dead!” he cries. “We need you over here!”

  The goblin is down to 20% and scrambling to his feet. I land a few more slashes to its torso and, with Rembrandt’s constant damage, the goblin falls to the ground for the last time.

  You defeated the Goblin Champion!

  You gain 12642 experience points.

  Gilly gains a Level!

  I quickly reach down to loot the corpse. It disappears when I’m done.

  You find 6 Nano-Fragments.

  You find an Ornate Breastplate.

  You find a set of Ornate Leggings.

  You find a Flaming Bullwhip.

  Wow! I didn’t think I could get its gear like that.

  I retrieve my katana and rush over to where the rest of the party is still battling the wolf. It’s down to 60%, and my brother is still tanking it with blocks and retaliation strikes, while Gilly, every so often, tops him up.

  I recast Shadow Haste and prepare to engage.

  “Maxis!” Val Helena cries out. “Let Reece tank it!”

  My brother glances at me, miffed, and then looks back at her. “I got this! I have survived four tours on the surface, you know? I could solo this damn thing.”

  Val Helena swings her axe into the wolf’s hide. “I’m quite aware of that, sweetheart, but if you let a proper tank take over, I could go all out, and we’ll kill this thing a lot faster.”

  “It’s true, mate,” Rembrandt says. “I’ve got to hold back when you tank. No offense.”

  “What?” Maxis looks at Rembrandt like he’s just committed the ultimate betrayal.

  “Plus,” Val Helena says, swinging again, “you’ll be able to switch to DPS-mode, yourself, and go all out, too.”

  Maxis grimaces as he fends off another bite from the wolf. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, slamming the wolf with a retaliation strike instead. Then he looks in my direction with a glare. “Reece! If you screw this up and die, I’m going to freaking kill you! Understand?”

  Val Helena lets out a goddess laugh.

  Holy crap. My brother is actually trusting me for once?

  That spurs me on more than anything else. I cast Shadow Tendrils and enchant my blades with purple-blue flames. I buff with Shadow Copy next, and then vanish with Shadow Cloak. I circle to the wolf’s flank, and then pierce it with a Backstab for 8% of its life.

  I use War Cry as the giant wolf turns on me with a snarl. “Over here!”

  I feel more energized than ever, eager to prove my worth to my brother by more than just simply staying alive. I wait to predict the giant wolf’s moves. Its attacks seem a bit like Sheeba’s, but much slower. I slash into its muzzle with my blades and quickly sidestep a snap of its jaws. Yes! I can do this!

  I hear Val Helena yell as she buffs herself, and Maxis changes his stance.

  Maxis uses Fists of Fire!

  Attack speed and damage increased.

  Block and Counter decreased.

  They both go into some kind of hyper mode as they unleash, while Rembrandt does something that doubles his attack speed. Gilly switches from healing to using her TP to cast Second Wind, replenishing their Stamina bars as they deplete.

  “Nice one, Gilly!” Rembrandt commends her. “We should keep this one around, Max. I’
m loving the limitless firepower!”

  I work hard to counter the extra damage by landing as many of my enmity-buffed blows as I can, while fitting in War Cry and Shadow Magic in between, slowing the wolf and paralyzing it with Shadow Mist. After five minutes of fighting, we get the beast close to zero. Val Helena lands the killing blow.

  You defeated the Giant Wolf Mount!

  You gain 21200 experience points.

  You gain a Level!

  You are now Level 76!

  Gilly gains a Level!

  Gilly gains a Level!

  Gilly gains a Level!

  1/3 Quest Objectives complete!

  “Woohoo!” Gilly yells.

  Maxis reaches out to touch the wolf’s corpse before it even hits the ground. The huge object vanishes in an instant, and the villagers all start chanting the same thing: “Shard Warriors! Praise the gods!”

  That name again . . .

  “Don’t even think about celebrating yet,” Maxis says as he brushes past me and heads for the river. “We still need to heal these people and put out these fires before we can claim this town. Let’s go!”

  Chapter 3: Town Hall

  We spend the next thirty minutes playing firefighters and EMTs.

  Gilly uses her Celestial Magic to heal people and even raises a couple that were killed by the smaller wolves. The rest of us join in a massive chain that ferries buckets of water from the river to the burning houses. Val Helena acts as the anchor, using her eight-foot height to douse the burning roofs from near directly overhead. Eventually, we get the fires under control, and a system message pops onto my HUD:

  3/3 Quest Objectives complete!

  You gain +100 Favor with Brookrun Village!

  Favor Level in Brookrun Village increases to Level 1.

  [Town administration is now available.]

  What does that mean?

  The villagers around us cheer and shower us with thanks and praise. There looks to be about a hundred or so people in all. Most are middle-aged, with only a few children mixed in. I see a woman sobbing and wonder if she might be related to one of the villagers we couldn’t save.

  I meander toward Val Helena as she works to clean some soot from her face with a cloth one of the villagers gave her. “Hey, Val,” I say. “What happens when they die? Do they respawn?”

  By the way the woman’s crying, I suspect I know the answer already, but I need it confirmed somehow.

  Val Helena shakes her head. “Another reason I consider these people real, and maybe even alive. There’s no coming back from the dead for them.”

  That sends another shock of uneasiness through me, both for the people who were killed and for the goblin I killed, as well. “What about the mobs? Are they the same?”

  Val Helena removes her iron crown and dumps the contents of a bucket over her head, washing her hair. “As far as I can tell.”

  I don’t know how to feel about that.

  A bell rings; it’s the same one I heard earlier during the battle. I look for the source and see an old man who has to be in his 80s ringing it. He waves the brass bell up and down, rhythmically, calling for order. He’s short, almost like a Halfling, though it’s mostly due to his arched back. I focus on him and see if I can pull up his name and stats.

  Name: Wilbur

  Level: 35

  Class: Villager (Elder)

  “All hail our saviors!” he shouts aloud when the crowd settles down. “Mighty warriors from the Realm of the Crystal Shards. May the goddess bless them!”

  “Blessings of the goddess be upon you,” they say in unison with a short bow.

  “I am Wilbur,” the old man says to us, “an elder of this village. Who amongst you is the leader of your party?”

  “That’s a bloody good question, mate,” Rembrandt says with a laugh.

  “I am!” My brother steps forward to stand in front of Val Helena, who’s still washing her hair. “Does your village have a Wayfaring Stone?”

  The old man looks a bit surprised by the question. “We do, but . . . it has not resonated for many years now.”

  My brother lets out a cuss. “Figures. Damn waste of time all around.”

  Rembrandt laughs. “Come now, mate. You really think we’d be so lucky? We haven’t been able to find a working node these last two missions, either. You really think we’ll find one in the first village we stumble across?”

  “Yeah, well . . .” Maxis eyes Gilly and me. “I’ve got two burning reasons to find one real quick. Let’s go. We’ve gotta try another village.”

  “Wait, hold up,” I say. “What’s this Wayfaring Stone thing?”

  “It’s a means to travel, young warrior,” Wilbur says. “A conduit for where our two worlds meet. I was around your age the last time I saw one used. It brought a great warrior from your realm. He nearly conquered all of Athagar. Or so I heard. He never stayed with us long.”

  “Is that where we are?” I ask.

  Suddenly, a map appears before me.

  What the heck?

  It almost looks like a map of Nasgar, but when I look close, I notice there are slight differences in the terrain and the names are all changed. Even more to learn about this new world.

  “No, Athagar is far from here, to the east. You are in Torren. Our village is named Brookrun.”

  Something else pops up on my screen.

  Brookrun Village

  [You have completed all prerequisites to claim this town.]

  “Our village has suffered much this night,” Wilbur says. “As much as you have helped already, we could truly use your help to rebuild. If you have the time to spare, of course.”

  Do you wish to claim Brookrun Village? (Y/N)

  I shrug, and then, more out of curiosity than anything else, I answer him: “Yes, we’ll help you rebuild.”

  Congratulations! You have claimed a town!

  You have claimed Brookrun Village.

  You are now a town administrator.

  A huge stat screen loads before me.

  Name: Brookrun Village

  Level: 1

  Population: 102/110

  Growth: +1 Villager per year

  Food: +23 surplus per day

  Income: 0 gold per day [no trade routes established]

  Morale: 34%

  Security: -55%

  Production: 51 Labor units/day

  Trade Routes: 0

  Structures:

  (1) Common Hall(1): +10% morale. Grants Issue Edict.

  (1) Wayfaring Stone: [NULL]

  (22) Log House: +5 max population

  (25) Field: +5 food per day

  Resources:

  Gold: 5 units

  Food: 53 units

  Wood: 22 units

  Stone: 12 units

  Iron: 2 units

  Actions:

  Build

  Demolish

  Issue Edict

  “Ryan!” my brother snaps. “What did you just do?”

  “What?” I say. “I think we should help out.”

  “I agree,” Gilly says. “These people need us.”

  Val Helena lets out a goddess laugh.

  “Looks like your brother just claimed the village,” Rembrandt says with another grin. “Did you want him to do that?”

  Maxis gives Rembrandt an eye roll above his shades. “Ryan, tell him we can’t help and let’s go.”

  “But the young master said you would,” Wilbur says, looking confused. He turns back to me. “Is this not true?”

  Do you wish to abandon your claim? (Y/N)

  I have no idea what I’m doing, but abandoning the villagers in their time of need sounds like the absolute wrong thing to do—especially when I look at those stats again. These people are in trouble. “No, I want to help. What do we need to do?”

  “Damn you, Ryan!” my brother fumes at me.

  “Hey, hey, hey . . .” Val Helena steps between us, placing a hand on Maxis’s chest. “What your brother has done is not neces
sarily a bad move. We need some time to get our bearings, anyway. Plus, getting Gilly here some levels in this area is not be a bad idea, either.”

  Maxis grimaces. “I don’t care about getting her levels. I need to get her home! You know who her father is?”

  “Yes, that’s well established, tough guy.” Val lightens her tone with a wink. “But we can’t really do anything about that, now can we?”

  “Aye,” Rembrandt says. “Not without finding a working Wayfaring Stone. We’ll be stuck here waiting until the next world boss falls.”

  Wait! What?

  “You mean, we’re stuck here?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” Gilly says. “How do we get back?”

  Maxis sighs. “I’ll explain it all in a minute. Let’s get away from all these people first.”

  Wilbur looks back and forth between each of us, perplexed.

  I wonder just how much he understands of our world. Maybe it would be better if we had some privacy. “Um . . . Elder Wilbur?” I ask. “Is there some place we can go to . . . rest up? An inn or something?”

  Wilbur chuckles. “Oh, an inn would be a fine establishment, indeed. If you’d like to set about building one, it may take some effort, mind you.”

  A prompt then leaps onto my HUD.

  Village Inn: +20% morale, +5% pop growth, -5% security

  Cost:

  Wood - 22/100 units

  Stone - 12/30 units

  Iron - 2/10 units

  Food - 53/50 units

  Labor - 0/150 units

  Force Build: 100 gold <100 Nano-Fragments>

  You do not have the necessary resources to build this structure.

  What the heck? You can just buy this stuff? And with nano, too?

  “For now, all we can offer you is the Common Hall,” Wilbur says. “For what you’ve done for us tonight, you’ve earned yourselves a rest. Please, come with me.”