Glory to the Brave (Ascend Online Book 4)

by Luke Chmilenko

  “Protection?” Sonia repeated with a confused expression. “From whom? The Ascendancy?”

  “If only,” I said. “They wanted protection from one another. Or if not exactly that, for the military to intervene in their favor if relations between the houses continued to…deteriorate.”

  “You mean if they broke out into civil war,” the woman stated, an incredulous expression blooming across her face. “They’re dickering about that while the dark elves are expanding outwards towards them with war on their minds?”

  “According to Gavin, yeah,” I replied. “The Marshal was not particularly impressed and would have thrown the noble houses out of Coldscar if it hadn’t been for the other thing that happened practically at the same time. Remember that brewing guild war that I mentioned the other day? Well, that’s around the same time that it all started too.”

  “Damn,” Sonia stated as she fell back into her seat. “You weren’t kidding when you said things were rough. Do they even know what prompted the war? Is it connected to the assassination attempt at all?”

  “Gavin didn’t say,” I replied, shrugging at the question. “Though based on what Elliot told me, I’m inclined to think that it isn’t—at least, not directly. Everyone knew that the guilds were getting ready to square off, and it was only a matter of time until it happened. It is still a bit suspicious though.”

  “Damn right it is,” the woman said, breathing out a deep sigh. “Well, hopefully, the gang will be able to find us some answers. Did they say what they’re doing now?”

  “Actually, they did. Right now, they’re waiting in Coldscar for their feed exposing Graves to drop tonight. Of course, that’s assuming that guy in the feed was Graves in the first place,” I said. “I got an email today from Paul saying that they’ve finished putting it together the other day and got it a slot right after our feed airs tonight. Given everything that’s happened in the city, I can’t really think of any better timing for it.”

  “No, definitely not,” Sonia agreed, her head bobbing in excitement. “If it’s airing tonight though, we’ll need to watch it when it comes on. If only to gauge what sort of reaction it gets and if people start moving in the direction we want them to.”

  “We can do that,” I replied. “And hopefully it’ll work out. Paul seemed pretty confident that it would make a splash.”

  “Good,” Sonia stated, her expression hardening for a moment. “Hopefully, that’ll have the adventurers there focusing on what’s important or at least draw more attention to what’s going on.”

  “We’ll have to see,” I said, knowing that as soon as the feed aired any attempt at controlling the result would be impossible. With how unstable Eberia and Coldscar already were, it could push everything to the edge and make things worse, or conversely, it could shine a light on what was going on in the city and encourage people to get involved. “But past the news about the feed, Paul did have one other thing that he sent our way.”

  “Was it a paycheck?” Sonia queried, her left eyebrow rising inquisitively. “‘Cause I really like the ones he’s sent before.”

  “Okay, two things then,” I replied with a chuckle. “He finally sent us the ability compilation that his team pulled from all the feeds that other players are posting.”

  “He did? Already?” the woman asked, her eyes visibly dancing with excitement at the news. “You better not be teasing a girl again.”

  “I’m definitely not,” I assured her with a broad smile, happy to see her excitement. “Paul apologized for how long it took to get organized, but he sent us nearly a hundred hours’ worth of feed our way.”

  Ever since we had floated the suggestion to Paul about collecting feeds from other players with special abilities for us to try and learn from, Sonia had been the most eager to dive into it. With the amount of time that she spent working with and training the other Virtus members, she’d taken on the unofficial role of being the guild’s “combat trainer”. If you wanted to learn how to cut, stab, or bludgeon something, she was the person to go to and would work tirelessly to help you reach your potential. As such, a near-endless feed of special maneuvers and abilities was a perfect gift for her, allowing her to see what other players had managed to discover while playing Ascend Online.

  And then, of course, learn it herself.

  “In that case, why are we wasting time talking about all this other stuff?” she asked excitedly as she abruptly stood up on her end of the camera and bent down so I could her face. “Let me get a refill for this coffee, and then we can dive straight into it!”

  Without waiting for a reply, Sonia promptly rushed out of sight, prompting me to lean back in my chair.

  Well, I thought, feeling a smile creep across my face, that went even better than I expected.

  Chapter 30

  Settling in to watch the ability compilation with Sonia, the next few hours of the day passed blissfully, with us chatting almost nonstop in the process. While it wasn’t a perfect substitute for actually meeting one another in person, it was the best that we were able to manage—or at least the best we could with the time that we had. With me being based in Toronto and Sonia being based in Miami, we weren’t quite close enough to be able to meet up easily without spending a good portion of the day traveling. So, instead, spending the day with one another online and talking through a video link was the next best thing we could come up with.

  That way at least we were able to maximize the time that we had with one another.

  “This one here looks promising,” I said as I watched a lithe kitsune player dance across my screen as she lunged towards a towering ogre, the spear in her hand lancing out with a barrage of attacks faster than the eye could follow.

  In the span of a second, she then inflicted three deep wounds into the creature’s side before effortlessly sliding away from a thundering overhanded smash as the ogre tried to crush her with the oversized mace in his hand. Missing her by inches, the kitsune was completely unperturbed by the proximity of the blow, her spear twirling by her side as she completed her maneuver. Then, no sooner did she stop did she leap almost straight upwards, her spear gleaming visibly with blood. Slicing through the air effortlessly as she rose, the pointed tip of the weapon buried itself in the ogre’s chin, piercing through flesh and bone effortlessly until it erupted from the top of its head.

  “Whoa, check that,” I replied, unable to help but be impressed by the player’s flawless execution of the creature, seeing her figure bounce effortlessly away from the now-dead body. “You definitely need to see this one here. This player has a triple attack of some sort, plus fights pretty damn well. Sending you a link now.”

  “Sweet, I’ll check it out!” Sonia answered, her eyes on the second screen beside me flashing up to meet mine with a smile. “And I got one for you too. A blademaster of some sort fighting in a kickass arena somewhere. I have no idea where it is, but damn if it doesn’t look amazing.”

  “Ooh, yes, please,” I replied, seeing a link pointing to a timestamp appear in the chat linked to our video link and promptly clicking on it.

  Adjusting itself to the proper segment in the hundred-hour-long compilation, my other screen shifted away from the kitsune on my screen, replacing it with a tall, dark-skinned half-elf. Clad in a loose crimson tunic with matching pants, the man stood calmly with his arm extended to his side, a long, straight-edged sword in his grip. Camera panning around him as the feed continued to play, the scene shifted to reveal that he was standing in the middle of a large sand-covered field, which, in turn, was set in the very heart of a massive arena.

  Filled completely to the brim with thousands upon thousands of spectators, each and every single one of them screaming with excitement.

  Wow, I thought as my eyes drank in the sight, the raw energy of the scene causing my heart to race just watching. From what I was able to see, the arena was absolutely beautiful, and it was clear to me that no expense had been spared in its construction. It vaguely reminded me of the C
oliseum in Rome, or how it must have once looked like when it was in its prime, but with the addition of a strong gothic motif to its design. Wherever this place was in the world of Ascend Online, it certainly wasn’t like anything that I’d seen before.

  Continuing its playback, the camera stopped its movement behind the red-dressed blademaster, revealing a lithe, bronze-skinned elf. Mirroring his stance, save with two slightly shorter swords, the man’s opponent appeared little different in comparison, the dark blue tunic that they wore being the only variance in their attire. It seemed that in whatever competition was being showcased in the feed, armor was not allowed, or more likely, it was set to a common baseline to ensure fair play. Regardless of that, however, neither of the pair seemed to be perturbed by that restriction as they both suddenly leapt forward towards one another the instant that the sound of a loud gong filled the air.

  Crossing the distance that separated them in the blink of an eye, the two combatants wasted no time in pressing the attack, their blades flashing brightly between them. Struggling to follow the exchange due to its speed, I at first found myself wincing in favor of the half-elf after seeing a flurry of attacks descend down upon him faster than he could react.

  Or so I had thought.

  Having expected to see the man stagger backward from the veritable avalanche of steel, I was surprised instead to see him instead press forward even closer towards the blue-dressed elf, showing no sign of injury. Blinking in surprise at his bravery, it was then that I noticed how the blademaster was moving, his body barely shifting to evade the oncoming attacks, his opponent’s swords just missing flesh when they weren’t caught by his blade. Watching the duel unfold, I realized that the blademaster was moving only as far as he needed to evade an attack from his opponent, and not one inch more. So complete was his control in doing this that he almost appeared slow when compared against the pale elf, who was a blur of motion in comparison—but motion that was full of wasted movements.

  Where a simple step back would have sufficed to evade a slash, the pale elf instinctively leaped back two, counting on his quick reflexes to compensate for the added distance. Where a hard parry with both of his swords would have stopped an overhanded slash cold, the pale elf instead chose to dance away from it, taking him away from the melee entirely until he was able to check his momentum and counter it. Against any other opponent, such a trivial display of skill would have gone completely unnoticed and been equally unnecessary, but against the red-dressed blademaster, it was his downfall.

  The contest had gone on for nearly a minute before it came to its abrupt and sudden end, the pale elf having continued his high energy assault without pause for the entirety of the duel, and without success as well. Beginning to pant and breathe hard from his constant exertion, his pace started to slow ever so slightly as the contest drew onwards, eventually prompting him to falter, his foot sliding in the sand just enough to disrupt his balance. Reacting almost instantaneously afterward was the nameless half-elf, his sword chopping itself deep into his opponent’s chest with enough force that it sent the elf hurtling backward and onto his back, a massive bleeding wound spanning from shoulder to hip.

  “How’d he do that?!” I exclaimed as I saw the duel come to an end, the single strike having been enough to end the contest. It had happened so fast and inflicted so much damage that it absolutely had to be an ability.

  Except that I hadn’t even seen it.

  “That’s what I asked too,” Sonia commented with a smile, having clearly been waiting for my reaction. “You can see a bit more of it if you replay it in slow motion, but whatever it is, it’s still fast. We might have to poke through more of that player’s feed itself to see if he posted anything about his training. Same goes for the stance that he’s using. Whatever it is, it’s definitely strong.”

  “Yeah, no kidding,” I replied as I paused the feed and made myself a quick note to do exactly that. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to learn either of the two abilities, but at the very least now, I wanted to find out more about them. Once I finished writing my note, I found myself leaning back in my seat and stretching, my stomach choosing that moment to let out a hungry rumble. “Hm, I think I’m up for a bit of a break to grab a bite to eat. How are you doing over there? You up to maybe watch a movie or something together and relax a bit?”

  “That actually sounds perfect,” Sonia said, her head bobbing on the screen. “I’m starting to get pretty hungry too, and after four hours of watching these feeds, my brain is ready to call it quits. I have a bunch of abilities I’ve vaguely memorized at this point that I want to see if I can learn in-game. I think if I try to stuff more into my head, I’m going to start forgetting things.”

  “I hear that,” I replied, sharing a similar sort of feeling. “Do you want to regroup in a couple minutes with food? Then we can pick something to watch.”

  “That works for me,” Sonia said, her face shifting as a somewhat nervous expression appeared. “But before we go do that, there’s something I wanted to ask, if you’re okay with it.”

  “You can ask me anything,” I replied, picking up on the woman’s sudden hesitance. “What’s up?”

  “Well,” she began, her eyes dropping down as she clearly continued to fight her nerves, “things between us have been pretty good the last couple of weeks, and I kinda like where things are going.”

  “And so do I,” I said, seeing Sonia’s eyes shift up to meet mine. “Quite a bit, actually.”

  “I know,” she stated, offering me a weak smile as she continued to speak, her next words coming out in a rush. “Which is why I was wondering if you would be okay if I put in for a location transfer to shift my login point to Toronto.”

  “A location transfer?” I repeated, it taking my brain an extra second to process Sonia’s fast speech, after which, my heart began to race. “You want to move up here?”

  “If you’ll have me,” the woman replied hopefully. “I don’t want to rush things necessarily, but at the same time—”

  “Sonia, I would love it if you came here!” I interrupted, having noticed that she was beginning to talk faster and faster with the more words that she got out. “I didn’t even think to look and see if transfers like that were even possible, else I’d have suggested it earlier myself! How soon do you think you can make the switch?”

  “Not long,” Sonia answered, the earlier nervousness I’d seen on her face replacing itself with a sheepish smile as a wave of relief visibly passed through her. “I already looked, and it’d take roughly a week or two, depending on availability. I just wanted to ask before I did anything.”

  “Well, I’m glad you did, and I can’t wait until you’re here!” I said, meaning every word of it. “Though are you sure you’re going to be okay leaving Miami? That’s been home for you for a while now.”

  “Only because it had hot beaches and entertainment,” Sonia replied with a shrug, the smile still not leaving her face. “Before Ascend Online started, that was pretty much all I did here. I don’t have anything really holding me here elsewise. My parents are way across the pond in Sweden, and my other friends are scattered similarly around the world.”

  “And none of them play Ascend Online?” I asked, this having been the first time that this particular topic had come up.

  “No, or at least not yet,” Sonia said with a shake of her head. “A bunch of them missed the boat and are on the waitlist for the next few months—though I don’t think my parents will ever jump in. They’re not quite as adventurous as yours are.”

  “I wish I knew how adventurous my parents were,” I replied with a snort, vaguely recalling my father’s email at end of last month that he and my mother were going to start playing. “I haven’t heard from them at all since they started playing last month. At least nothing beyond them getting their old gaming group together. Hell, I don’t even know their avatar names!”

  “Oh, boy,” Sonia said with a chuckle. “They’re that intense, eh?”

  �
��Where do you think I got it from?” I asked, prompting another laugh from the woman.

  “I see,” she said once she’d settled down. “Well, hopefully, they’ll reach out at some point soon then.”

  “Hopefully,” I agreed, making a mental note to send another email to them in hopes of at least touching base. “Now, what do you say about getting some food in us and that movie?”

  Agreeing wholeheartedly with the plan, we then ordered our respective meals and passed the time until it arrived talking to one another, ironing out details about Sonia coming to stay here. Once that was all sorted out, and my suite was filled with the tantalizing smell of both pizza and chicken wings, we watched a movie together, syncing its start so we could experience it at the same time. Then, when that movie was finished, we talked for a bit again before starting another one, content to let the day pass in each other’s company.

  By the time that the third movie ended, night had fallen, and we had long since ordered a second meal to supplement the first, the two of us getting ready to watch our exposé on Graves from Lazarus’s feed. But before that came on, we managed to catch the tail end of our feed, which covered our discovery of a razed Shadow’s Fall and our attempts to figure out where the Dread Crew had gone.

  “Well, I’m glad we finished eating before this part came on,” Sonia said, her jaw tightening as we watched. “Just seeing the way that they torched the place makes me feel angry. Such a waste…”

  “Yeah,” I agreed as I watched myself and Amaranth appear on the screen in front of me, him and I busily scouting for any potential trail or clue to help us find the Dread Crew. Despite all the time that had passed, it was still a little surreal to be able to watch what had been a rote and ultimately fruitless experience, knowing firsthand what I’d been thinking in the moment.