Party Hard

by David Petrie

  "I know it wasn't your fault. I mean, that was something that no one could have been prepared for," Alastair leaned an elbow on the back of his chair, "but it tells us two things about the nature of this quest. First, after watching the fight, it seemed to be designed to be impossible. If you hadn't gone back in with that absurd plan, you wouldn't have survived. I was hoping that Neal was going to give us a chance at winning here, but it looks like he really does intend to take down the system."

  "And the second thing?" Max inquired.

  "That you can do this.” A smug smile crept across Alastair’s face. “It only took a couple minutes for that thing to kill four people, but you rolled with the punches and figured out a way to win. That tells me I picked the right people. If you can just out-think whatever Neal throws at you, we might be able to get through this." The group lifted, giving Max back some of his confidence from earlier.

  Alastair looked to each of them once more, then he changed the subject. "We still have plenty of time on the mission clock, but that didn't start until you reached the bottom of the first dungeon. So, we have to remember to add your time getting down there as well. Currently, Kira has been logged in the longest with just over seven hours, and since you stay in for around ten most nights, I was thinking we could try to take down the next one before taking a break." She nodded.

  "Sounds good." Max opened his journal to its map and handed it to Alastair, so he could see their new waypoint. "Here's the next one."

  Alastair groaned as soon as his gaze fell to the page. "Damn, that's in the Verdant region."

  Max put his journal away. "Yeah, we haven't actually been there before."

  "That's because there's nothing there. It's just an empty forest. We haven't used it for anything yet. Noctem’s a big world; there are a lot of places like that set aside for future expansions," Alastair brought the map up in the front window and zoomed in on the area. "With all the trees, we probably won't be able to find the dungeon entrance from the air like we did with the last one. Unless Neal has done something to make it stand out, which I doubt. So, you might have to search for it on the ground."

  "Well that kinda sucks." Max folded his arms across his chest. “I’m starting to feel like Carver's quest was designed to waste time.”

  "We'll have to drop you here since we can't land in the forest." He pointed to a small clearing. "There's a lagopin stable there. You'll have to ride in the rest of the way. It will be faster than searching on foot."

  Ginger's face lit up at the mention of the animals, and she let out a quiet, "Nice."

  Max shot her a questioning look.

  "What? I like them; they're cute."

  He shrugged, giving his approval. "Can't argue with that."

  Alastair closed the map image in the ship’s window. "It will take about half an hour to get there. If anyone wants, there's a mess hall down below with a merchant booth. You can get food and some basic items. It's not much, but it's something."

  Without a word, Kira was out the door.

  "That's not surprising," Ginger smirked and turned to follow. "I guess I could go for a snack, too."

  Kegan motioned toward the door. "I'll come, too. You can give me some of those feathers."

  "Sure, how much you paying?" she asked as they headed out the door.

  Corvin hesitated for a moment before making an awkward exit in the direction of the others.

  Max pushed off the railing. "I was thinking of exploring the ship." He turned to Farn. "Wanna come?"

  Before she had a chance to answer, Alastair interrupted. "Actually, do you mind hanging back? I need to ask some more questions about the last fight."

  She paused for a moment, looking torn between her options. "Ahhh, sure," she answered before apologizing to Max.

  "No problem. Next time." He hid his disappointment. It wasn't like he had a thing for her or anything. Then again, Farn was an attractive member of the opposite sex, and he had been single for far too long. So it wasn't that he didn't have a thing for her either. That being said, he couldn't really blame her for choosing to stay with Alastair. He was technically her boss.

  "What about you, Jeff-with-a-three. Up for some exploring?" he joked, pointing at Alastair's assistant as he passed by.

  The tall elf just looked at him, one eyebrow raised in annoyance at the fact that Kira's change to his name seemed to be sticking.

  "Nope? Okay then." Max shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'll just wander around alone. So enjoy being here and having no fun," he added before exiting the bridge. "That was mildly embarrassing," he muttered to himself before disappearing down a narrow hallway.

  Chapter Twenty

  After being interrogated by her employer on every possible detail about the group's actions in the last fight for almost twenty minutes, Farnsworth headed out to the deck of the ship alone. She would have liked to go down to meet up with Kira and the others, but she felt weird about just showing up and inviting herself. Instead, she fell into her standard pattern of finding a quiet place and waiting until she was needed.

  "I'm surprised you’re not down with the others," a voice called from behind, startling her as she took in the view. She turned to find Max climbing up through a hatch in the deck. He looked just as surprised as she was. His exploration must have had led him back to her.

  "Find anything interesting?" Farn asked, making an effort to seem as casual as she could.

  "Yeah, found a treasure chest. Not sure why there was one on the ship, but I'm not complaining."

  Farn laughed. "They're randomly generated. It happens whenever they add content to the game. There's no way for them to place all of the chests in the world, so they only set the important ones and let an algorithm do the rest."

  "Oh," Max frowned, “and I thought I might have found something rare.”

  "What was in it?"

  "Ear cuff," he said with a grin, brushing back his dusty blond hair to display his ear proudly. "Plus two dex."

  "It's very nice," she said to be polite while withholding any further comments. If she had been honest, the cuff was a little flashy since the rest of his gear was so simple. All he wore was a gray short sleeve shirt and a pair of canvas pants with a leather chest piece that seemed to suggest a modern bulletproof vest. True there was a decorative laced seam running up the sides of his shirt that brought him back to the fantasy setting, but other than that, he reminded her more of a modern-day soldier. Especially with that scarf tied lose around his neck.

  "Speaking of very nice, how about that last attack of yours back there?" Max interrupted her train of thought and joined her by the deck’s rail. "You're really turning out to be one hell of a badass."

  She smiled with pride but ruined it a second later by telling the truth. "It was by accident. I basically fell and made the best of it."

  He laughed. "Yeah, that happens. A year back, I tripped while trying to find cover and ended up falling into a perfect dive roll. Kira saved a recording of it. It looked epic. The key is to just go with the flow and pretend it was on purpose."

  She laughed, feeling more comfortable knowing that they had shared an experience. Farn hadn't spent any time alone with Max, but he did seem kind of cool in a way. And Kira got along well with him. "I'll have to get her to show me the video sometime."

  "So what do your shiny new accessories do?" he motioned to the strings of dark beads around her wrist.

  "Oh yeah," she said, realizing that she hadn't had the chance to look over their details until now. She opened her journal to her equipment page and read the text aloud. "Okay, let’s see."

  Contract name: Shift Beads

  Type: accessory

  Equip slot: wrists or ankles

  Ownership: unbound

  Item given to form contract: scrap of cloth, quantity one

  Basic enchantment: plus five defense each, stackable

  "Nice!" Max commented at the hefty boost to her class's main stat. "And you can wear them both together, so they don't take
up two slots."

  Farn paused and gave him a knowing smile, as if there was more. There was. Max's eyebrow raised as she continued.

  Advanced enchantment: Shift

  Usage: limited

  Description: If shared between two players, they may swap positions by touching either bracelet with two fingers. Does not require line of sight. May carry anything held.

  "That sounds awesome." Max’s face shifted from excited to confused. "But what the hell does it mean by limited-use? I’ve never seen that before."

  Farn shrugged. "I don't know. I've seen single-use and unlimited, but I've never seen one listed just as limited either. Why do contracts have to be so cryptic with their text?"

  "I know what you mean. Kira had one once that had no description at all."

  "That's weird." Farn furrowed her brow, wondering what that could mean.

  "Yeah. Anyway, are you going to use the ability on yours or keep both bracelets and stack the defense?"

  Farn thought about it, then pulled on one of the strings of beads. It stretched to fit over her hand and she held it out to him. "Here, it will be more useful if you have one. I could swap in to get you out of danger, which would free you up to do more damage. Plus, a little extra defense couldn't hurt you."

  He took the item, giving her a warm smile as he slid it onto his wrist and admired it. "You know, it's really cool how you think."

  Farn laughed. "What's that mean?"

  "I mean, you always seem to be thinking like a Shield. You plan ahead on how you can protect the team. You know your class inside and out, and you have the discipline to stick with it. That's actually rare for players. Half the time I see Shields drop their guard and try to go offense."

  Farn nodded. "Being a Shield isn't glamorous. We can fight if we have to, like I did against Famine, but that isn't what makes us strong. A party is far better off if we leave that stuff to the more damage-centered classes like you. All I care about is that I'm carrying my weight."

  "Well, I'd say you're doing that just fine."

  Farn fell silent for a moment. "I feel kind of bad though."

  "Why?"

  She sighed. "I think it bothered Kira that I sacrificed myself back there. And if that wasn't bad enough, I went ahead and bought her a ring that pretty much does the same thing. She didn't say anything at the time, but it probably made her uncomfortable."

  "Don't worry about that little goon.“ Max waved his hand dismissively. “She lets herself get immersed in the game too much, and it makes it weird for her seeing people die. But she'll give up her own life just as easily. One time she even sacrificed herself to save an NPC."

  Farn raised an eyebrow. "When was that?"

  "It was during the Shingetsu fight."

  "Oh," Farn said, remembering the strangest and most upsetting Nightmare that she had faced during her time playing Noctem.

  It had been an escort mission based off Japanese folklore rather than a boss fight like most of the others. The object had been to get a large white rabbit up a long flight of stairs to a shrine at the top where a bonfire burned. She shuddered as she remembered how the rabbit had thrown itself into the fire as soon as they reached the top. There was something about losing something that she had protected that bothered her.

  "What happened?" she asked.

  Max snorted. "We'd heard about what was supposed to happen at the end of that one before starting it, so Kira ran ahead and jumped into the fire before the rabbit had the chance to kill itself. Fun fact, apparently the fire only needs a life, be it bunny or fairy, so it counted as a win. She even got the contract when she spawned back in miles away. It was that full heal with all the buffs that she used back in the last dungeon."

  "I bet it freaked people out when she got it, hearing the darkness calling to her in the middle of the spawn point."

  "Actually no. Another fun fact, only the participants of the fight can hear the darkness." Max tapped his ear. "Anyway, she claimed she just did it ‘cause she hates escort missions."

  "Well, that's understandable. Everyone hates escort missions."

  "True, but I'm pretty sure she just didn't want to see the rabbit die."

  Farn smiled. "That's actually really sweet."

  "Yeah, except she left rest of the party at the shrine with a rabbit, waiting for something to happen while she got back online. After a while, we just left the rabbit there eating some grass,” he shook his head, “but my point is, don't worry about upsetting that little hypocrite. Besides, she can't hold a grudge any more than she can throw a punch. She pretty much forgives people immediately. So go nuts and piss her off as much as you want. That's what I do."

  "Well, that's good to know," Farn said, not quite sure if she should listen to his advice or not.

  "What was up with offering a random scrap of cloth for your contract back there?" Max asked, looking curious. "I mean, you got something good, so it worked out, but still, it's kind of odd."

  Farn tilted her head to one side. "I kind of learned my lesson for getting creative with what I'm willing to trade back when I got my Blood Shell."

  "Really? What did you offer?"

  "I …" she started to speak but paused, remembering the offer, "I gave one month of my life."

  Max's mouth fell open. "What does that even mean?"

  "It was my first contract, and I just blurted it out. The system responded by erasing every level, quest, and ability that I'd earned for one month. I had to re-do it all as if it never happened."

  "Damn."

  "Yeah, damn is right. That's why I decided, that from then on, I would just grab whatever in my bag had the lowest value."

  "That kind of reminds me of what Corvin offered when we fought Kafka."

  Farn tried to remember which Nightmare that was. "That's the one that starts as a person but turns into a giant insect throughout the fight, right?

  "Yeah," Max answered. "I think it was supposed to represent a fear of change."

  "What did Corvin offer?"

  Max paused before answering to build suspense. "His left eye."

  Farn slapped her hand on the railing. "Oh my god, that's why he has the eye patch? I thought it was just for looks."

  "No, part of his face is messed up, too," Max added, sounding somehow proud of the Venom mage.

  "Contracts are weird."

  “Tell me about it.” Max turned to lean back against the railing. “Next time you see Kira, check out the earring that she has in her right ear, the one with the pearl dangling from it.”

  Farn stepped closer to him. “Is it a contract item?”

  Max slouched back a little. “If you’re looking for weird. That one has one of the strangest activation requirements. She actually has to swallow the whole earing.”

  Farn flinched back. “That sounds horrible. What Nightmare gave it?”

  Max shot her a smirk. “Rasputin.”

  Farn’s mouth fell at the name of the first Nightmare to fall in Noctem. “She’s had that one for years then.”

  “She’s a hoarder. Always saving things for a rainy day.” Max shrugged. “I have to respect her discipline though. I burnt through the few that I got almost as soon as I got them.”

  Farn smiled. It was actually quite fitting. He didn’t seem to be the type to wring his hands about whether or not he should use something powerful. She wanted to ask him more, but before she could, the ship tilted to one side to begin its descent toward their destination, forcing Farn to cling to the railing to keep from losing her balance.

  A massive forest filled the horizon as they dropped below the cloud cover, dark green as far as the eye could see.

  "Damn. We have to search that for the next boss?" Max added, clearly forgetting what they had been talking about a moment before.

  "I guess they called it the Verdant region for a reason," Farn stated the obvious.

  "We should go find the others," Max concluded, almost sounding sad.

  Farn took a deep breath. "Yeah, I hope this o
ne goes a little smoother."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Max dropped from the Nostromo's dangling ladder, grateful for the soft grass of the clearing as he planted his feet with a subtle thud, free of damage. He stepped aside just in time to avoid a shrieking Kegan, who must have been equally grateful for the soft landing as he tumbled to the ground with a perfect face plant.

  "You stepped on my hand!" he sputtered up at Ginger as she dropped down beside him with all the grace that one would expect from a woman with legs as long as hers.

  She apologized with little enthusiasm but offered her hand to help him up anyway. Kegan responded by spitting bits of dirt from his mouth.

  Max let out a loud laugh at the two, taking in a lung full of fresh air at the same time.

  "I don't know why you guys are using the ladder." Kira set down beside him, Farn and Corvin floating down behind her.

  To Max’s surprise, they were joined at the bottom by Alastair, who must have wanted to accompany them as far as he could before leaving the rest in their hands. Max understood the sentiment. If the situation was reversed, he would have trouble letting go, too. He would at least need to feel his feet on the ground.

  Ahead was small stable with an equally sized fenced-in paddock where the lagopin could graze. Max assumed they didn't really need to eat, but the behavior added to their lifelike appearance, so he decided not to question it. A few of the oversized animals meandered about, long ears pricking up as he and his team approached.

  Ginger held out an eager hand to call one of the enormous rabbit-like creatures over to the fence. Its dark eyes focused on her with caution as it moved in her direction. When in reach, she placed a hand flat on its forehead. The animal responded by pushing against her palm and rotating its head, so she could slide her hand down its cheek and under its chin to scratch it. It closed its eyes and ruffled the stubby pair of wings at its sides.

  "You know, originally, we were going to have regular horses," Alastair gave a lesson in the creation of the creatures.