Battle Avatars

by Ed White

  We’re surrounded by thick jungle canopy, the type jungle lords roam, full of mystery and adventure. Huge trees, dozens of feet across at the base, rise up from dense green undergrowth, hiding any number of dangers just waiting to give up XP. And talking of experience, this game is intense. The scent of flowers, rotten leaves, water, and damp soil assaults me. The humidity clings and messes with your breathing the way it should. Sweat builds under my clothing and insects buzz all around. That itch that builds as you think about bugs starts and I rub the back of my neck.

  After a short walk, members from Jonesy’s gamer group join us outside of a place known as the Labyrinth of Quad, a dungeon in the literal and gaming sense, and a good place to help me gain some experience playing the game.

  “Everyone, this is David.”

  There are a number of greetings and smiles from the six members. A tall woman in silver armor, with an ornate helmet, steps forward as her faceplate opens. “Hi, David. Guess you haven’t chosen an avatar or a handle yet?”

  “My in-game name is Greywaters.”

  “Mine is Lia, and my real name is Lisa.”

  After a round of introductions and an explanation of my borrowed avatar, I learn Jonesy goes by the tag Shadow Fox. Of course he does.

  One of the players, a Stellar Knight wearing heavy armor under a blue cloak, shakes my hand with vigor. “Hey, David, do you remember me? Paul?”

  Paul, Jonesy’s roommate from college, I sure do. Strange fella. The three of us got lost in video games so much we missed classes. “Damn, man, it’s been a spell.”

  “Hasn’t it? Why haven’t you come around?”

  That old chestnut, damn. “Work. It never ends, and I get sick a lot now.”

  “Jonesy said, yeah. But that shouldn’t stop you from playing online.”

  Yeah, they never understand how sick I get, what sick means. Everyone goes through spells of illness, the flu, measles, chickenpox, but only those suffering from diseases can begin to understand, just as I can’t understand what they go through. At least I’m only sick sometimes, usually due to stress or something I eat.

  The long answer. I give him the short answer. “The struggle is real.”

  He nods and I decide to change the subject.

  “What happened while we fast traveled? I feel a sense of déjà vu.”

  “Well, like I said, fast travel is used on quests. But new players, they tend to want to level up so they can get into the game, you know?”

  “Isn’t the point to explore?”

  “Yeah, once you’ve played a while. Anyhow, Way of the Walk doubles as a sort of cut-scene, where we train and gain knowledge about the places we pass on the way to a destination. If you pass a place and return to it later, you have some knowledge of the location, in a vague way, but more than actual déjà vu. The cut-scene aspects familiarize a player with the skills required on a quest. Players are further advised and tested by beings assigned to them known as imps. We are truly tested during a quest—we learn by doing. That’s why you need to enter the labyrinth.”

  “That makes sense. Are we all going into the labyrinth?”

  “No.” Placing his hand on my shoulder, Jonesy tosses his thumb over his shoulder. “Our levels are too high—we can’t enter with you. So the group and I are going to complete our own quest. But, we should be done by the time you beat this thing and we’ll meet back up.”

  I’m confused. “So why meet here?”

  “We play the dungeon from time to time to gather more gold to spend. Besides, it’s time you met everyone. Two birds with one stone.”

  Another member of the group, a tall muscle bound warrior named Granger, steps forward. “You got this, David, it is EZ.” He leans with one arm slung over an enormous ornate war hammer.

  Lisa separates from the group. “Actually, I’m going to wait here with David. Something’s come up that I’ve got to deal with at home. It’s safe enough here outside the labyrinth to leave my avatar while I deal with it.”

  Winking, Jonesy claps my shoulder. “You can enter the group chat and holler if you need us or have any questions.” I know what he’s suggesting by that wink.

  “Yeah, that’s cool.” I turn to Lisa. “Thank you. Is everything okay?”

  Distracted, she hesitates. “I’m cool, I’m going to switch focus back to RL, but like Jonesy said, if you send an alert text, I’ll hear it.”

  With that, her avatar’s eyes glaze over and I’m alone as the last of the group fast travel back to their quest point. I turn back to the vine-covered, aged, and weathered black stones hidden beneath the thick jungle canopy. The labyrinth is square, maybe two hundred feet across and some forty feet high, with four, round, sixty foot towers at each side. The ten foot high, five foot wide entrance is at the corner facing me, making the dungeon a diamond from my vantage. Despite the various hints of technology in-game, the architecture looks ancient. Constructed of mammoth ten foot blackened blocks, the labyrinth consists only of four layers of stone, with enormous ceiling stones peeking out from a thick layer of vines, saplings, moss, and leaves.

  As I stare, a HUD pops up.

  Encounter: Wilds Wraiths

  Location: Labyrinth of Quad

  Challenge: Dungeon. Find the items of power to help defeat the Wilds Wraiths and win the treasure at the center of the labyrinth.

  Constructed in ages long forgotten, the chronicler Norash described the labyrinth as a relic of the time of the Great Tamers, before Atlantis rose to prominence. Will you brave its depths?

  Reward: 75 XP and 500 GP.

  Options replace the text.

  Y/N

  Grasping my thunder stick, I choose to enter. “Yes.”

  The darkness consumes me within twenty feet of the yawning entrance, the walls of the passageways as black as the stygian depths of the dungeon. Cold and damp, I’m surprised by the continuing immersion of the senses. Lenscape is crazy real. Dream-like. I’m not entirely sure what to do, what to use as my light source.

  Engage your Thunder Lance and harness the power of the written thunder.

  If only the damned HUD was a hologram and provided a light source. Squeezing the grip around my Lance I feel for a trigger, or button, anything to turn it on. The hell is “written thunder” anyway?

  Lightning arcs from the Thunder Lance.

  Thunder Lance unlocked.

  “That explains that.”

  My foot kicks something, I misstep and stop. Glints of light, warm reflections on gold, catch my eye.

  Loot.

  Looking down, I see gold coins trailing down the passage. GP just waiting for me. A trap? I wait. Silence.

  “Hmmm.” Kneeling, I collect the coins and that’s when I hear it, the ungodly screech.

  Challenge: Wilds Wraith.

  Should have followed my first mind. “It’s a trap!”

  ***

  For the seventh time I respawn beside Lisa and hope she isn’t seeing me fail. Each time I enter, a Wilds Wraith chases me through the labyrinth, soon followed by three more as I lose my bearings and time passes. Lost and backed into a corner. One of the wraiths descends on me, ripping my soul out. Then I’m looking at my dead avatar with an option to respawn or return to Haven.

  What have I learned? Well, Jonesy’s pulling a prank on me—this damned dungeon crawl is friggin’ Pac-Man. There are four wraiths that protect the treasure hidden at the center of the ancient labyrinth. When I enter, the passage leads directly to the center of the labyrinth, and a blank wall, before branching. At this point, the first wraith leaves the room somewhere on the other side and hunts me down. If I manage to avoid it, the second wraith joins the chase. Once I leave the treasure room, each of the four wraiths haunts one of the four quarters of the place. They don’t pass through the walls, but know the routes through the circuits. If I last long enough, they return to and remain in their quarter of the labyrinth unless I start to collect the gold strewn through the labyrinth. If I try to defend myself or attack, my Thunde
r Lance doesn’t hurt the wraiths, but does respawn with me.

  On my third entry, I decided to blast the wall and enter the treasure room. I respawned after the blowback killed me.

  I glance at Lisa. Like Jonesy, it’s probably an idealized version of what she really looks like, but damn, she’s stunning. And what’s far more attractive to me? She’s friendly. I didn’t really get that from most of their group. Jonesy always did have a habit of hanging with those sorts, people more into themselves, while the outsider in me clawed at my brain.

  Crossing the threshold for the eighth time, I walk with caution into the dank dungeon, past the center intersection, turning to and fro, deeper, waiting for the screech of the first wraith to echo down the twisting passages of this crucible of anxiety. Do I avoid the gold? Only the wraiths count toward XP—the whole point of being here. The gold is a definite trigger, drawing the wraiths to me. Best leave the gold coins this time. I turn to search the first quarter of the labyrinth.

  Unlocked: General Skill: Insight.

  Could it be that easy? If so, the developers have a retro sense of humor.

  Two, almost three, minutes pass before I find it, a brightly glowing orb that I hear long before I see its glow around the final corner of passageway. Entering the first tower, the two foot diameter orb hovers at chest height as I reach out for it.

  Touch the orb and gain HP against the Wilds Wraiths. Watch them scatter and run, or pursue and destroy them.

  Duration: Four minutes.

  Not bad. That was one minute per wraith. One problem, no wraiths. My head drops forward. It took me almost three minutes from the entrance to this corner of the labyrinth. The center must be one minute away in a straight line from the tower, two if I managed to find the correct route. There’s no way to know the exact route. The gold trail is too obvious, being scattered at random anyway. Looking up I search for stairs or windows. Nothing. The ceiling is hidden in darkness and the walls are bare of scaffolding. No stairs, stone or wood, the towers house the orb and nothing more.

  “The maze isn’t open anyhow, no way to see it from above, tower or no tower.” I crack my knuckles. Whoa, I cracked my knuckles—this place is too real. Fortunately, the wraiths tore my soul out several times without pain. Only sadists play a game with realistic pain settings.

  What do I do? A couple of choice curses and a whole lot of effs escape me.

  It is possible to beat this dungeon. It is. And I’m going to do it.

  Touching the orb releases an immense flash of light and a shower of sparks. As the light fades I run deeper into the maze.

  ***

  This dungeon is a pain in my ass. EZ? I don’t think so. How the hell is one person able to make it through the maze to the center?

  I’ve respawned outside the labyrinth.

  Again.

  The first wraith tried to run and I went after it. Killed it too, and the second, but I didn’t take into account the distance around the entire maze takes four times as long, about two minutes for each quarter zone, if I choose the right path without reaching dead ends or doubling back. Or both. I’ve not gotten that far, so I will get lost.

  Beside me, Lisa’s avatar remains unresponsive. Asking her for advice is downright embarrassing. Not right to interrupt her family business or whatever it was. It sounded important. Hoping she’s alright, I turn away and focus on the entrance for a ninth time. The usual information displays and fades as I enter.

  “The problem is, I’m rushing this.”

  Turning down the five foot wide passageways, I reach the first tower and its orb. I activate my four minutes of glory and head off for the next tower. There is no screech or wailing from any wraiths, but I don’t dare give in to the temptation to book for the central treasure room. The path, literally littered with gold, gives me an idea. Picking up several coins, I wait.

  Nothing.

  They wait for the orb’s effect to end.

  Insight: Success!

  “Okay, you bastards. I gotcha.”

  Over a minute later, I enter the second tower, reaching out to the second orb. Poke. Poke. I palm the orb and nothing happens. It doesn’t extend the effect, not while the first orb is active, so I wait.

  A few minutes later I hear the screams. Bitches be coming for me.

  I let the wraiths close in.

  Each time I’ve entered, they exited the treasure room one by one, hunting me, and given time, separating to haunt their quarter of the maze.

  Right now, they are heading toward me with a hunger for my soul. I stand facing the entrance to the tower with my hand held above the orb, ready to slap it like I mean it, at the first wraith’s entry into the tower.

  The howls grow louder. The golden glow of the orb pulses behind me and a red nimbus, the aggro aura of the wraiths, forms around me once again.

  “Come get some.”

  Chapter Three

  The first wraith makes a beeline toward me, clothed in rags, all aglow with a silver light, its face a contorted mask of hate, its tangled mass of hair writhing with its own aggression. The screams deafening in the confined space. The second wraith follows, cutting off any chance of escape.

  “I ain’t going anywhere.”

  Palming the orb like Michael Jordan, the orb light flashes and the red nimbus around me is gone, as I lunge for both specters, firing lightning from the Thunder Lance into the first wraith while the second turns pale yellow.

  As the second wraith turns for the entrance, lightning from my lance arcs from the first wraith into the second, before the first explodes in a flash of light.

  Critical hit.

  Raising the Thunder Lance to shoulder height, I adjust my aim onto the second wraith.

  Critical hit.

  Flash, boom, two down, but I’ve done this before, can’t get cocky. The last two, wraiths three and four, scattered to their corners of the labyrinth the moment I touched the orb. I’ve two minutes to reach the next tower.

  Dead-ending twice, I retrace my steps and lose valuable time as the orb’s effect wears off. What’s it called, its ‘buff’? I’m sure that’s not what buff used to mean in gaming.

  The wailing cuts off my confusion over video games and MMORPGs. The red nimbus blazes around me. It’s on—the wraiths want my soul. The third wraith will reach me before I get to the tower, and the fourth will be on its way.

  The screech of the wraith increases, the specter only seconds away. Which way do I go?

  I turn a corner at another dead end, with the wraith close behind. No turning back—looks like I’ll be seeing Lisa again. Maybe this game isn’t for me. If the medical benefits of the game work, then a SIM would suit me just fine. If my day to day job isn’t a grind, a SIM is better than this type of grinding. Monotony day-to-day, week-to-week, is far better than repeating things every ten minutes.

  Reversing along the passage I turn a corner, my ears ringing from the assault of the wraith’s anguished howl, and it stops. The wraith hovers, its cry silenced. We stare at each other and for the first time, a description of the wraith scrolls across my eyes and fills my mind.

  Encounter: Wilds Wraith.

  Believed to be the souls of those who perished in the battle that raged around the fallen Citadel Crystalline, long before the founding of the Haven.

  Reward: 8 XP

  As my eyes refocus, the text gone, so too is the wraith.

  “Well damn, what the hell?”

  Taking care not to disturb the gold coins along my path, I find my way through the circuits of the maze to the third tower, and the wraith.

  Pausing at the entrance, I watch the wraith circle the orb. Now, with the information learned, this makes some sense. There was anguish in those howls. Maybe this game possesses a greater depth to it? Did the wraith want me to destroy it?

  Insight: Success!

  To hell with a SIM, this just got interesting.

  Each wraith is different. Each has a distinct personality. The first was pissed off that it was d
ead—this one not so much.

  “Alright then, if you want me to off you.”

  Yeah, typical, I went and spoke.

  The wraith screeches and charges at me, fulfilling its purpose guarding the labyrinth. Twisting, I skid along the floor of the passage into the tower, almost under the orb. The wraith spins, face etched with rage. Thought it might be an expression of relief, maybe gratitude. Rolling into a lunge, my hand misses the orb and I face-plant.

  The wraith is in the room, my anxiety shoots up to that dangerous place you get when mistakes happen. So close, too close to go through all this again. I leap to the side, letting myself fall hard to the ground as the wraith rips past and my HP bar flashes in my face at seventy-five percent. Each touch is at least twenty-five. I fire my Thunder Lance to little effect. The wraith knows it won’t do a damned thing. All that works is the orb, now nine feet away. At seven feet in length plus the length of my arm, I swing my lance and strike the orb.

  Nope.

  The wraith swoops in, so I roll. It isn’t fast enough, now I’m at fifty percent health. The wraith whirls in a steep curve as I push up from a squat, smacking face, neck and chest right into the underside of the orb and that blinding power-up.

  “Aw yeah!” My ass hits the ground in a jarring jolt before I swing the Thunder Lance up to fire on the fleeing wraith. Lightning scours the lintel of the tower entrance and external passage wall.

  The thing escaped.

  I’m on my feet and running after the creature before I think about what I’m doing. The wraiths award XP, but only at the successful conclusion of the dungeon challenge. I skid to a stop. Less than four minutes to get to the final tower. The game is baiting me. The wraith is luring me away. Lenscape tests people differently, here in these testing grounds around the Haven, before we can pass through the Grand Gate. For a group, defeating the labyrinth is different than tackling it solo. This is about strategy, patience—brains over brawn.