Magical After: Dark World Book 1 Part 1

by David Gunter

  That was a lot to take in, and David raced through his recollections to figure out what these meant to him against his own experiences. Had he been mistaken for an NPC? That was really something. He had interacted with many NPCs so far, and every conversation had simply felt natural. He hadn’t felt that he’d had choices or been presented with rewards, at least not often. When he interacted with other travelers, though, things hadn’t felt quite the same. He’d felt that he had to offer something in order to get something in return, quid pro quo. But how different was that from the interactions with Francis, Gwarm, or the Emperor? Oh! But wait, the traveler interactions came with reputation and rewards. That was certainly different. He hadn’t seen these screens that they seemed to always get during their interactions. He’d understood that they were selecting things and making decisions on a level he hadn’t been and that had bothered him far less than it did now.

  “Hey, “David spoke up, “when I’ve been giving you guys tasks, you guys have been seeing screens or reading something invisible to me; what’s that all about?”

  “You don’t see something light up on your screen when you’re interacting with NPCs?” WhoDadi5O asked him in response.

  “Um, well, I did notice something yesterday. Hold on”. David looked to the upper right of his vision, and he spotted that purple crystal that had lit up before. He remembered also seeing a message from the ‘Starlight Girl’ about pissing in her waters or something. Starlight Girl, he recalled, was also the same deity that the Emperor’s daughter had mentioned. He recognized how terrible he’d been at keeping track of things so far. He thought of the purple crystal, and suddenly a message appeared.

  “Two moonlight touched travelers have recognized you as one of their own and have extended you their favor.”

  We see you’re having trouble acquiring goods. We’ll gladly give you a hand. Let’s be friends. There’s lots to do in this city, and we should stick together. You’re cute” - MoonGlider

  The Startlight Girl has blocked this message.- The Narrator.

  David realized he hadn’t replied and the two travelers would have simply thought he wasn’t interested. Of course, he’d played along with their ruse due to just being a bit intelligent and seeing the wisdom of it, but still. MoonGlider would have thought he was completely ignoring her olive branch and even worse, he’d completely blown off her brief flirtation. Girls don’t like that at all. Starlight Girl was a big problem. He quickly opened the next message.

  “Hey there. I guess you’re not interested. That’s ok. I’m a big girl, but you don’t have to ignore me! You better be careful with these NPC girls. They always want something in return for their favors. Ok! Good luck in there! But not too much, hehe” - MoonGlider

  The Starlight Girl blocked this too. You don’t stand a chance. - The Narrator

  David quickly opened the next message.

  “Looks like you’re getting busy, man! Respect bro! My sister doesn’t look too happy, though. I, for one, don’t blame ya. Rock on! Hey, meet us at the ‘Dragon’s Tongue’ brewery later this evening. My sister owes me a drink since I saved her from a chance encounter with the Blue Druid. Oh, I’ll tell you all about it tonight. I also left a word with the caravan owner in case you aren’t seeing these. She mentioned you weren’t too talkative”. - MoonStriker

  The Starlight Girl is doing her thing, yup, blocked. Good luck, traveler.

  - The Narrator

  David opened numerous messages after this. It wasn’t clear why some messages appeared while others had been hidden. What was clear, though, is that he’d made a serious enemy after the incident with the Emperor’s daughter.

  “Fire and Brimstone! The realm of the gods is ablaze with starlight fury this afternoon. Traveler, in unprecedented fury, a goddess has declared her enmity towards you! Few have earned the disfavor with a god or goddess for even a short time, but you have done the unimaginable. Starlight Girl, the goddess of shine and beauty, has declared her hatred of you to all the gods and goddesses and declared war upon you and your seed. Arm yourself and prepare. Few desire her ire.” - Moon Mother

  “Between you and me, Starlight Girl can be a bit of a hothead. Declare your love for me, and I’ll protect you”. - Moon Mother

  I don’t know if you’d be better off with Moon Mother traveler. My advice, just disappear for a while. - The Narrator

  “I don’t know who this is, but when we find you, Narrator, we’re going to fry your interrupting butt on a…” - Moon Mother

  And that’s enough of that. - The Narrator

  David saw this last message and read and reread it. The three travelers watched him, wondering what had made his breathing heavy and turned his face red.

  “Dude! Is everything OK?” RamenBaby said, braving to interrupt the silence, but David said nothing and continued to reread the last notification.

  Finally, David looked up at the three and asked, “Have you guys ever noticed an odd-looking message intermingled with others from a person calling himself ‘The Narrator’?” He looked between the other travelers, but they simply looked at each other and shook their heads.

  David closed the last message and stated plainly, “I’ve really messed things up, guys! I’ve pissed off a goddess, and in this latest message, she’s pretty much-declared war on me and my entire family.”

  (To be continued...)

  Appendix

  Words From David Gunter

  This concludes the first half of Dark World Book I. I hope you have enjoyed this introduction to the virtual world of Atsia Major.

  In the coming books, the adventures of David, John, Tommy, and many others continue. It has been a long-time dream of mine to enter this fantasy fiction arena, and since this series has given me the opportunity to do this, it may remain one of my favorites.

  I think that I’ve always been a storyteller, but I never believed that I could do it. As something of a reprimand to parents that would discourage their children from writing, let me add that this isn’t my first book. The truth is that I wrote many short stories when I was in my early teens, but due to very strict parenting, I was forced to destroy my early writings.

  Now, a proud father of two great kids, the challenges are a bit different. Perhaps many of you can relate to how difficult it is to pull the younger generation away from their highly connected world and into a world of creativity and imagination. As a child, my house only had one TV and one computer, and my slice of time for their use was always close to none. Creativity and imagination were necessary for my life. In later years, I used that acquired creativity to create numerous computer programs for a multitude of industries.

  I may never recover the stories that I used to fall asleep telling myself or make up for the years of writing that I could have offered you. In order not to lose this fundamental human ability, let’s do whatever we can to help the next generation find their way back. Give your child the gift of imagination. Maybe, then, they will envision a better future for us all.

  Next is a sneak peek at Dark World Book I Part II, titled Darkness Stabs.

  Preview

  (Darkness Stabs)

  Challenger

  SaltyDawg stood up and started pacing. He’d just heard the most outrageous news and even though some of it made sense accepting the whole meant letting go of much more. Others in the guild awaited the response to the challenge which WhoDadi5O had offered to the organizational hierarchy the guild had formed and which had withstood many years of successful gaming. Sitting around and waiting for a lucky break wasn’t much of a plan, and yet that’s what it felt like to be a guild member in this game. The waiting was what was doing harm and which was unraveling the fabric that bound the guild together. What WhoDadi5O was offering was progression at the expense of the established order.

  SaltyDawg had been the guild master through so many games over the years that he’d gotten almost bored of always knowing exactly wh
at to do and always being right. He always thought that if he could just find a single game that could throw him a curveball, he would enjoy playing once more. This game had thrown him just such a thing, and yet he was finding it annoying and not fun at all.

  Since the game’s launch, he’d not seen a single boss fight, and no one seemed to be having any luck in any of the rival guilds. No clues, or hints, or signs of any kind, of the larger-than-life villains that should have been present, had been seen.

  He’d organized countless runs on monsters, though. Every cave, mountain pass, and road had been cleared time and time again. He’d hoped that with the return of all the caravans that perhaps information about larger things would also arrive, but that wasn’t what was happening. He was upset, but he was also relieved for the arrival of any information or signs of progression.

  What made him a little upset was that in all other games, individual progression was always rewarded far less than the efforts of the group. ‘We’re stronger together’ had been his line so many times. He had just learned, however, that in Atsia Major, this might not be the case. Two players had become stronger alone, and their strength was unmatched by all the players currently in the virtual world combined. At least according to his estimations. They could, after all, hand out experience to whomever they chose with as little or as much discrimination as they desired. Naturally, with this kind of power over the game, these players would decide who would rise and fall. They could pick which guilds would thrive and which ones would falter and ultimately disband. They held his guild in the palm of their hands.

  He still needed to respond, and the eyes of all the officers of the guild were on him for just this reason. He had gotten used to leading from a position of strength, and yet WhoDadi5O and the other unknown player held all the cards and would ultimately decide which cards he’d get to play with. Sometimes a leader needed to follow or at least seem to follow. He simply had to answer this challenge with the appearance of compliance and show the officers in the guild why they had put their faith in him all these years.

  He turned to the officers and spoke directly to them as if WhoDadi5O was simply standing by to prove some preexisting point only the officers and he were privy to.

  “We’ve finally gotten the lucky break we’ve been waiting for, ladies and gents. Something had to give, am I right?” He paused to see the nods from a few.

  He continued, “So it was bound to happen sooner or later. WhoDadi5O has stepped up like a true guild member and proven why we are the best at what we do. We have put our faith in our members for years and years, investing countless hours of our lives to see the guild grow and every member succeed, and always hoping to see that favor returned. Finally! Someone has done us a solid and paid back all the years we put into this fine group.” He saw the recognition instantly he was looking for in the wiser of the officers and then turned quickly away to look at the player who had chipped away at his leader’s mantle. He saw a gleam of excitement mixed with relief in the player’s eyes, and this was enough to reassure him and guide his next words.

  “WhoDadi5O, you’ve got the resources of the guild at your disposal. Lean on us, and we won’t fail you. You’ve made us remember the investment we made in you, and we’re ready to give you the support you need. Maybe, with your help, we can turn this place into the adventure we had hoped it would be. As you start to distribute the XP you are providing, ensure you do so in keeping with fairness and excellence, the strategy the guild has demonstrated over the years, and we will only get stronger as a guild for it.”

  After this short speech, SaltyDawg looked at the player and waited to see how the player would take his stance and apparent acceptance. He wasn’t disappointed.

  “Sir!” WhoDadi5O said, standing at attention. “It would be my honor to return the favor and give back in whatever way I can.” Then he added, “I think that the best way might be if we take turns performing the various tasks the primary quest giver is unlocking while at the same time keeping their identity a secret. I think if we can accomplish that, we’ll be certain to maintain the edge we need and avoid any other guilds’ interference in the process.”

  WhoDadi5O had said this already, so SaltyDawg simply nodded in recognition, awaiting any further revelations. WhoDadi5O paused for a bit and held his finger up as if he’d just come up with an idea on the spot. SaltyDawg held back the desire to roll back his eyes and simply continued waiting for the player to continue.

  “It has just occurred to me,” WhoDadi5O continued, “That we may be able to pass off these tasks as XP offered by our guild and not by me particularly. I have the ability to hand down quests, but I can make it appear that these are coming from the guild instead of myself personally. We could assemble players daily and call out a different set every day, and then you could publicly instruct me to provide the daily guild quests to the ones selected. This way, the players receiving the quests never need to question where the XP is coming from, all the while making it appear that the guild is exercising one of its abilities. This may also have the secondary benefit of confusing competing guilds into believing that our guild has discovered a guild ability which they do not possess.”

  SaltyDawg looked about the room and saw that the officers were all in agreement and that they were also awaiting his acknowledgment. He started nodding and added. “Let’s do it! But..” He paused for effect. “There’s only one problem and one that requires immediate correction.” He looked around the room to see if anyone in the room had spotted the same issue he had. It didn’t look like they had, though. This only bolstered the guild leader’s resolve and added volume to the next pronouncement.

  The guild leader spoke in a voice of authority. “WhoDadi5O, take a knee!”

  WhoDadi5O’s eyes widened and then turned from shock to sudden understanding. Then he responded with certainty. “Sir! Yes, Sir!” Then he went to one knee. The other officers suddenly realized, at seeing the player kneel, what their guild leader was proposing, and they all stood, some quicker than others. They each, however, once standing, reached within their clothes for a small object, but kept the object from view hidden within their hands.

  “Officers of the guild,” SaltyDawg called to his officers. “We have long stood guard, upholding the truest form of the traditions that bring us together. Before me, kneels a member who has distinguished himself above his peers and offers of himself freely to the service of his peers. How do we answer his commitment in kind?”

  The officers all revealed small instruments like whistles enclosed within their hands. These were made of silver and gold, and placing these to their lips; the officers began a tune which sounded solemn and rhythmic. Then they marched together in keeping with the tune. One by one, they came and stood before WhoDadi5O, and each, withdrawing their swords, placed the tips against one of his cheeks. As they stepped away, each left behind a small scratch upon his left or right cheek, and when all was done, the tune culminated with a single solitary whistle intoned by SaltyDawg and left upon WhoDadi5O’s cheek were ten and one small cuts indicating his rank and place among the officers.

  A small trickle of blood fell from WhoDadi5O’s face, and the only thing he could think of was how completely ridiculous the process of indoctrination seemed and how he’d keep it a secret till the day he died. He supposed that could be why it was carried out in this way.

  “Stand among your peers, Eleventh,” SaltyDawg commanded.

  WhoDadi5O looked at his character information and saw that next to his handle, he now had the title ‘Eleventh.’ He stood and took in the new state of things. He’d been accepted into the guild’s inner circle of leaders. All he’d had to do was provide them with potentially unlimited growth potential. He wanted to let feelings of success and accomplishment overtake him, but somehow the whole thing felt underwhelming. He’d worked many years hoping to finally get any recognition, and yet it hadn’t been any of his feats of strength or skill
, as a player, which had brought him this gain. He had only arisen through circumstances largely out of his normal skillset. He’d arisen through a bit of manipulation and political scheming; it would seem. This didn’t sit quite right with him, and he knew the struggle within him would only build.

  “Come now, my newest. Let’s see about getting you a pretty little whistle.” SaltyDawg waved for WhoDadi5O to follow.

  Pushing down his inner turmoil, he followed the guild leader. They walked out of the great hall, which had high ceilings and numerous pillars, and into a long and straight hall that seemed to have no end in sight.

  “So Eleventh,” SaltyDawg began. “You’ve achieved the rank of officer. How does it feel?”

  WhoDadi5O didn’t want to say how he really felt, but he felt that dressing it up might be the wrong move as well. “Well, Sir? It feels a little bit inevitable. I had thought a few times before that it was about to happen, but it didn’t.”

  “Oh?” SaltyDawg said with only a small hint of interest.

  “Well, I have never missed a raid night, and I helped the guild reach top five countless times. So ya, it feels like it was a long time coming.” WhoDadi5O couldn’t help but add a little sound of malcontent in his tone at the last part though he felt none of it really mattered now. Yet it must have mattered since he had said it.

  “Ah, I see. Well, we have many skilled players. Would you make every great player an officer?” SaltyDawg asked sincerely.

  “Well, I guess I would. Maybe there would be levels in the officer ranks. Well, I guess there are. I don’t know, maybe that’s a bad idea.” WhoDadi5O answered, trying to sound sure but failing to do so in the end.