by R J Triveri
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll make it, Dante,” she said confidently. “Out there, we won’t have rules to follow or limited space.” She gave him one last hug before pulling back and looking at the pair picking up the loot. “If you give up now, her death…”
Her words were cut off as a message popped into the party’s window, and a flash of light appeared in the air between the two groups.
Nyx Inerro has joined the party.
With an unceremonious fall, the missing Rogue-Errant landed squarely on her rear with a resounding thud. “Son of a bitch, that hurts!”
“Nyx!” Dante almost cried.
“Nyx!?” the other three half-asked, half shouted almost at the same time.
“Hey.” Sheepishly, the girl got up from her unceremonious fall and ran a hand through her galaxy-colored hair. She gave a slight wave to River then to the rest of the group.
“You’re alive?” River wasn't sure whether she was yelling or nearly crying as Dante pulled himself away and stared in disbelief, but she didn’t care about that right now. Somehow, the woman was alive.
“Seems like it,” Nyx quipped with a bit of a sly smile. “Did you miss me?”
Worried about her, yes. However, missing her was the last thing on River’s mind at that point.
“What the hell was that?” River demanded. “We thought you were dead!”
“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Her sheepish grin grew a bit more confident as she spoke.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Mac said cautiously as he checked on her integrity bar. “Was it an Exceed? What was its cost?”
Her nervous smile returned at his prodding. She shifted a bit from the balls of her feet to the heels before speaking again. “It’s an Exceed that I don’t like to show. It removes me from Incipere until I want to come back,” she answered plainly. Her mind whirled for a few moments before she continued. “And the cost is the possibility of never coming back.”
There was a moment of silence as Mac and the others considered the strange skill.
“Risky. What’s it called?” he pressed.
Again, she hesitated. “Disconnect.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” she managed with a sigh of relief. As she turned, a smile flashed for Dante, and turned to the others. The uncharacteristic fear in the woman washed away as her grin returned. “So, I guess we won?”
As if her words were the magical key, the lockout timer ended, and the gates of the SIFS were opened.
(SIFS Chat: Dante Rior) [Mod] SyLph: That was amazing!
(SIFS Chat: River Hexi) [Mod] Keyed_Fic: What a fucking show! Exceeds and a boss fight!
(SIFS Chat: River Hexi) [Mod] Bloo-haw_72: Holy shit! That was awesome!
There was nothing that could bring Dante down as a weight flew from his chest. Everyone had made it in one piece.
(SIFS Chat: Dante Rior) [Mod] SyLph: The chat wants to be unlocked, can I?
But it didn’t stop him from keeping his chat in line. His face froze as he shook his head with a hint of urgency. “Oh, god no! Don’t unlock it!”
He could practically hear the disappointment in his mod’s words as the message was posted.
(SIFS Chat: Dante Rior) [Mod] SyLph: You heard the man, sorry guys.
“What?” Allen asked as he finished collecting the loot.
“Nothing,” Dante said, shaking his head. “Just the SIFS coming back online. So, what’s the loot?”
With that, Allen reached the loot pile and broadcast it to the party before sending it all to River.
15,000 Bytes found
Party split has divided it evenly between four party members.
75x Blue Quartz
Rare Crafting Material
Rare Variant: Shatterproof
Quartz is a flexible material on its own and is used as often in magical applications as it is in mechanical ones. The impurities of titanium and iron in the crystal make it more akin to sapphire, but the magical alignment differs in that this stone is more attuned for ice-spell amplification than water. It carries an electrical charge better as well. This variant material also adds the attribute Shatterproof when used in large quantities.
Note
Class locked: Blade Dancer
This is a note. Open it to learn its contents.
Bonds of Loyalty
Level 2 Familiar’s collar
Uncommon Variant - Challenger’s Reward: Dungeon of Glass
Reward Class: Dungeon Loot
Class locked: Familiar - Small breed
Armor Class: 1 - Low
Variant Attributes:
Affection 1 - Your familiar enjoys getting presents and thanks you with just a bit more love.
Relaxation 1 - Your familiar feels more comfortable being farther away from you, knowing that it won’t be mistaken as a Wild One.
Command 3 - Three times per day, you may command your familiar to trigger an ability without regard for its cooldown. This may have negative effects if used too often or in rapid succession.
“Not too bad, but not too good either,” he answered, a little peeved. Nothing for him, and nothing really that made sense for anyone else as River triggered the distribution window. In the end, there really was no need to ask who got what. Dante got the collar, Allen and Mac split the crafting materials, and she got the note.
As the loot was dished out, he repeated his affirmation. “Nothing really all that good at all.”
Mulling over the loot, River sighed. “You can’t really expect an upgrade from a low-challenge-class dungeon, can you?”
“That sucked,” Allen replied hotly. “We wasted all that time for practically nothing!”
“Correction.” River grinned. “We learned to work together, didn’t we?”
“A bit,” Mac admitted for his friend. “But will it be enough?”
“To take out one glitch, it sure as hell better be,” came the confident response as she looked at the piece of paper. She hadn’t seen loot like this before. It was a simple, folded piece with no real creative marks, and no sealant other than the class lock stamped in wax to signify the Blade Dancer class, a sword and a ribbon. As it rested in her hands, the seal broke, the note unfolded itself, and to everyone’s surprise, the note began to speak.
The voice was a familiar one, omnipotent, powerful, and stern within the mind of each member of the group. The lines weren’t complex thankfully and scrolled in time with River as she read the royal, flowing script to herself as it read itself aloud:
My champions,
You are taking too long.
Your target is in Siris taking shelter with the Moonkin.
He is growing more powerful with each passing moment.
Your destination has been added to the archway at the resolution of this note.
Go now before it’s too late.
River couldn’t help but smirk. “Deus Ex Machina, thy name is Unum.”
“What?” Nyx asked. “Is there anything else? Show me!”
“Relax,” River said, dodging a grabby hand from the thief. “There’s nothing else here. All the note says that A…” A shock ran through her system like lightning before subsiding as she remembered the restrictions. “Fuck, Unum! They already know who he is!” Turning back to the group, she rephrased her answer with a heat only anger could forge. “It says that he’s in Siris.”
“What the Hell?” Allen asked as he took a look at the paper. “How did it know?”
“Gods in the machine, remember?” River replied as the anger began to subside. “Takes a bit of the fun out of the hunt, but it does save us from hunting him down.”
A nod of agreement followed before Nyx chimed in. Her tone was strangely serious, but still rather bubbly. “So, can I come? Did I make the cut?”
“It’s not just my decision.” Rubbing the last of her pain from her temples, River looked from the waiting Nyx to the others. “Well?”
“She’s been helpful so far,” Dante said in her defense and won a smile from the woman.
“Next,” River sighed. “Allen?”
He took a little longer to answer as he weighed their interactions over the past few hours. “She didn’t abandon us, protected herself, nearly killed herself for us, and managed to not be an irritating, insufferable child, so the more the merrier.”
She grinned at the gruff man’s beaming description of her. “Aww, I didn’t know you cared!”
River ignored the comment and turned to the last one of the group. “Mac?”
Mac’s words were simple. “I could imagine a worse partner. That Exceed isn’t going to help things, but she can look after herself just fine.”
“I guess that settles it then.” Opening her window, River extended the quest to the last member of the party. “At least I don’t have to watch my mouth as much.”
Eagerly, Nyx accepted the quest and read the requirements while Dante took a moment and transferred everything over to their fearless leader for distribution. “Woah…”
Dante, River, and the rest nodded in agreement. “It isn’t going to be easy, but with five, I think we can handle it.”
“That reward though… Wow…” Nyx grinned as her emerald eyes returned to grace her face. “I can ask for anything… literally anything?”
River nodded. “That was the deal. Anything within the god’s power.”
“So, we just need to go to the arch, and we’ll be sent there?” Nyx continued as she looked back at the blue arch for just a moment. Arches usually couldn’t take someone to an unknown location outside of its influence area, and Siris was on the other side of the continent. Then again, it was Unum they were dealing with.
“Yep.” Again, River nodded as she materialized the next lootable item, the skill book, and triggered it. The seal on it broke with a shower of pixels at the cost of some bytes, but it only made River shake her head. “Bust all around. It’s a shield skill. Anyone want Deflecting Stance?”
“Already have it,” Mac said. “Put it on the marketplace when we’re done. Someone will want it for training.”
To that, River nodded and returned the book to her inventory. “We’ll split the profits when we’re done with this.”
That seemed to satisfy the group at large. Well, most of them minus an overactive rogue.
“Who cares about a few more bytes? Come on!” The words nearly exploded from her lips as she began walking over to the arch. “We’ve got a job to do and a wish to get!”
Dante laughed at her enthusiasm, as did the rest of the group watching.
“Relax,” Dante began as he took the collar of silver and put it around Sedai’s neck. A soft bark confirmed his decision before he continued. “We’ll be there in the blink of an eye, but we need to be ready. Who knows what’s waiting for us there.”
“Another god,” Allen added as he took a few steps away from the group. “Siris is the territory of Rani of the Moonkin and her servants.”
“We can take anyone and anything in our way,” River said confidently as she tested her trusty sword against the dungeon air. With a grin, River took a step away from the group and turned to face them. The air of leadership, of authority, of excitement swirled around her as she prepared for something she’d always wanted to do: rally the troops to her cause. “Now, I’m not really one for speeches.”
“That’s a lie,” Dante chuckled as he saw his friend posture.
“It is.” As an addition to her words, she simply shrugged off his words and smiled. She really did love speeches. “But this is it guys. I know we’ve not been together long, but we’re not some scrubs in a pick-up group either.” She looked to Nyx with a sly grin as she added, “Well, most of us aren’t.”
“Nice to work with you too,” the woman replied, flipping her off.
“PUG or not, if you look at what we’ve done, who we’ve fought, and what we accomplished, I can assure you of two things. The first is a given. We’re going to fuck his shit up!” Dante and Mac joined her cheer followed closely by Nyx. Allen said nothing to it and continued to listen after flipping the three off for interrupting her and making the speech go on longer. “Thanks, Allen. The second is that we’re going to become legends.” She held her blade to the stone roof and proudly let her smile bloom to punctuate her words. “Who’s with me!”
“Of course!” Dante said, holding his focus high.
“Might as well,” Mac said as he kept his hands low.
“We’ve got nothing better to do,” Allen joked.
“And my dagger!” Nyx added, holding her unique weapon high.
“Then gear up, check your armor, and top off your health, we leave in five for Siris to complete our mission!” River cried.
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Line in the Sand
Siris’s outskirts were what anyone could expect from a booming, god-touched resort of a city, and beautiful could only go so far in describing it. What had once been an average fishing village had exploded with a trio of blessings: Rani’s influence, a region master within a hidden dungeon that tripled their natural production, and the blessing of the only safe port to and from the Shadow Lands. Where there had once been only a single fleet of ships bringing their wares into port, the ocean swelled with vessels of all shapes and colors as they tried to feel out the connection points to the newly opened continent. Where the beaches had once been left empty and untended, they were now the equal to any white-sanded ocean resort. Umbrellas and people littered the beaches nearest to the borders of the city, and the closer the beaches got, the denser those crowds grew, but all that man-made work paled compared to what they could never affect.
The sky was bluer than anything on Earth could hope for in nature. With over six thousand micromanaged hues of blue triggered by the ocean’s movement and the sun’s position, there was no match for it. Siris was so much more than a simple fishing town. It was a resort paradise waiting for anyone who needed a place to rest, relaxation, or just some simple fun.
However, as the pixels of the newly reformatted group appeared, the beach was the last thing on most of their minds. They had more pressing matters as the warmth of the coastal city hit their skin and sunk into their digitized bones.
Destination has been reached!
Outer Siris - Tourist Beaches
Warning - You are about to enter the territory of another god of Incipere while under the influence of a divine quest. As sovereign laws overlap, the dominant god’s verdict will be rendered.
Remember, all actions taken against a deity’s wishes will reduce your alignment score with them.
Negative alignments will invoke consequences. Specific actions will affect everyone under your deity’s influence in the eyes of others.
Catching the message, but at the moment not caring about their task, River took in a deep breath as the light of the portal arch faded back into the fabric of the world. “I never want to see another dungeon like that again,” River sighed happily, enjoying the sounds of the ocean as the sounds of waves washed over her ears like a sweet, soft melody. The scent of salt on the air was a welcome change after fresh air had been denied to her for what felt like ages in the simulated underground.
“For once, I completely agree. I think I might even take a little break when this is all over,” Dante said. From their position on the outskirts, he could just see the glimmering shores of the ocean no more than thirty yards away beyond those pearly white beaches. “Maybe we could all relax here for a bit,” he explained, bending down to touch the sun-warmed sand. The dry, fine grit ran from his hands like it had been made for an hourglass as he mused aloud. “I’ve never been to a beach before. It’s amazing.”
“I hear that.” Shaking off the wanderlust pull of the beach front, River looked over the area. A weight returned to her shoulders as she remembered why they were there, and the words were heavy as they came from her lips. “But we have a job to do first. Anyone see any Wild Ones?”
Nyx was halfway to the water when she turned around to answer. “Just me!” A moment and five steps later, her clothes had vanished back into her inventory, and she was plunging into the water faster than the mouths of the other party members.
“Nyx! We don’t have time for the beach right now,” River scolded as she flushed red and made her way towards the skinny dipper. “We can relax when we’re done.”
“Sorry, can’t hear you!” came the dolphin-ish response as her head popped back above water before she dove back into the crystal-clear depths.
Obviously enjoying himself, Dante grinned while River groaned and took a step into the water, soaking her armor and her feet in a way that only served to piss the woman off further, but to her credit, she did her best to control her temper and tried to rein the woman in. “The sooner we’re done, the sooner we can take a vacation. A nice, long vacation courtesy of Unum itself.” Not wanting to throw her clothes to the wind with the stream live watching, River made her case a little longer before making the same dive that Nyx had. “Hell, we could own this entire beach if that’s what we want when we’re done. Just be patient a little longer.”
Her face fell as she stayed on the surface. With forlorn eyes, she looked out further into the water at the boats floating like their own city at the horizon and beyond before looking back at River. “I hate when you use logic,” she said simply as she got out of the water and grinned a bit as Dante noticeably looked away before she reequipped. “Better?”
“Much.” River nodded, before noticing Mac’s gaze off into the distance. “See something?”
Mac seemed to be the only one to notice the buildings by every road leading into the city from the beaches and the plains. From his view, the one on their nearby, beach-side path had its occupant peeking her head out and waiting for them to approach with a rather big smile on her face. “It seems we’re expected.”
