A notice appeared at the bottom of my screen.
Item added to Investigations Journal: Gregory Albrecht's Diary
The diary disappeared from my hands. While the item had informed me of the plight of the Albrecht family, it did not help me in locating a way out of this room. As if reading my mind, Empyria spoke.
"Not all clues you discover will lead you directly to the solution. Most of the time the clues that you find will help add to the picture of the mystery, and over time, things will clarify. Try to find other clues."
I looked around the room and saw several other things outlined in the same purple smoke. Before turning away from the desk, I opened the two drawers and looked through them. In the bottom drawer, I found a written receipt outlined in purple smoke. I lifted it out of the drawer and inspected it.
It was a receipt for a ticket to the Forest City of Kamja. The ticket was for passage on the ship Dusk Voyager, leaving from the Port of Eldin, for two adults and a child. The ticket was a journey that left three days prior, so if everything had gone to plan, Gregory Albrecht and his family would have been long gone by now. The ticket disappeared from my hands as a notification appeared at the bottom of my view.
Item added to Investigations Journal: Dusk Voyager ticket receipt
"Now you have two clues in your Investigations Journal," Empyria said. "Why don't you take a look at both of them and see what connections you can make between them?"
"Okay," I said.
I opened to the page that showed a crude sketch of Gregory Albrecht's Diary. I touched the picture, which looked like it had been sketched with graphite pencil, and suddenly the item was in my hand. The sketch had disappeared. I touched the diary back to the surface of the page, and it disappeared back into the page as a sketch.
"Whoa. That's cool," I said.
"Your Investigations Journal is a very important item. As you and your abilities grow stronger, it can act as an arcane storage for most clues found as part of your investigations."
"Aha. Is that why my Find Clues ability says that it's a Journeyman level ability? Would my beginning ability be as effective as my current Find Clues ability?"
"No. This is to give you a taste of what playing an Investigator feels like. You will have to work hard to increase your skills. Crematoria Online is not like other games, where you can power-level skills to gain an unfair advantage over the competitors. Each skill increase is hard-won and gives a distinct increase in the effectiveness of your character."
I turned the page of my Investigations Journal and took the Dusk Voyager ticket receipt out of the sketch on the page.
"What connections can you draw from these two items?" Empyria asked.
"Well, I can see that from this hidden private study and the number of books stored here that the Albrechts are not a poor family. Plus, they could afford to buy three tickets on the Dusk Voyager just to get away from the monsters in their house, so that tells me that money was no object. They were scared. Really scared. Gregory made notes and kept them in this sealed room, so he clearly didn't trust anyone else. Plus, the tickets were for a few days ago. The Albrechts are long gone."
"Very good. Now turn back to your Investigation Summary page to view your collated notes so far."
I flicked back to before the first page of evidence and read through the summary there.
- the Albrechts were well-to-do
- Gregory Albrecht feared something he called Bone Thieves
- Dusk Voyager ticket receipt stub says they left Eldin three days ago
As I had been making mental notes in my head, somehow the game had noted them down in my Investigations Journal.
Whenever I had an idea for an app or a program back in the real world, I'd take out my dictation app on my phone and talk into it to capture any of the wandering thoughts that I had. This Investigations Journal was doing the same thing, but for my cases in the game. Incredible!
"Impressive, I know," Empyria said. "But that doesn't help us getting out of this study, does it?"
"No, I guess it doesn't," I agreed.
I had gotten so wrapped up in the story of the Albrechts, wondering about their fate, that I hadn't kept my focus on the task at hand. Getting out of this damned locked study!
My Find Clues ability was still active, so I kept an eye out for any other items wreathed in purple smoke. My eyes widened as I saw the sheer number of clues that appeared in my view. Books that lined the shelves were outlined in purple haze, as were many of the items on the table in front of the easy chair.
I worked through them one by one, and I could not discern whether any of them provided any actual information that would help the case or not. I took notes of all the book titles, the names of their authors, but couldn’t find a single common thread amongst them. I did not recognize any of the titles or the authors.
These books appeared to be created specifically for Crematoria Online, and yet leafing through the pages showed that they were complete works of fiction.
The level of detail in this game was mind-boggling.
Although, I reminded myself, I was in a specific character test instance. The actual game might not have this same level of depth.
Then, I noticed another book sitting on a shelf across the room that I had missed in my first pass. It hadn't been outlined in purple smoke like the others had been. It stood out to me this time because it sat on a shelf full of other books that had a thick film of dust in front of them on the shelves, but this book did not. It had been taken from the shelf with such regularity that the layer of dust had been wiped clean from the wooden shelf beneath.
The book's spine was old and cracked and had the lovely smell that a book got when it spent years on a shelf. The cover was a very light shade of green, like grass burned by the summer sun. The title was missing from the spine but was printed on the cover.
The Locked Room.
A book called The Locked Room inside a locked room would either be integral to solving the puzzle, or a red herring designed to throw me off.
I opened the book and found nothing but blank pages. I flicked through them, searching for something that could give me insight about what the book meant. Page after page was left blank, and it wasn't until I reached the very last page that I saw it. Scrawled in Gregory Albrecht's handwriting.
What is knowledge, really?
Speak the words.
Open the way.
Item added to Investigations Journal: The Locked Room
A strange book invites the holder to speak words aloud to open the way.
I turned to Empyria. "I feel like I'm at a bit of an impasse."
The luminous Celestial smiled at me. "You have other tools at your disposal, Lucas. Try using your Inspired Deduction ability. Keep in mind that this is a very advanced ability that will not be available to you when you start the game. You may not ever reach a level where you can use this ability. Very few Investigators possess the aptitude."
A message flashed in front of my eyes.
You have been given a temporarily boosted version of the Deduce Ability called Inspired Deduction.
Ability: Deduce
Cost: All available CP
Level: Journeyman
Activating Deduce will immediately activate your higher brain functions to cross-reference all pieces of evidence in your current case file and look for connections between them. The effectiveness of this ability scales with your remaining Concentration Points. A higher percentage of Concentration Points remaining will result in higher quality deductions being made.
"That seems incredibly powerful," I said.
"It is," Empyria agreed. "You will receive the Deduce ability upon character creation, but its full potential will not be unlocked until you have undertaken significant training. This ability uses your own intellect to work through your clues and deduce common themes, avenues for further investigations, or solutions. Deduction is part of your normal investigative repertoire and can be used without limi
t. However, you may receive more powerful abilities as you progress. Like this one."
A message appeared.
You have unlocked a new ability: Inspired Deduction!
Ability: Inspired Deduction
Cost: None
Level: Master
Requires a Genius Level Intellect
Can only be used once per case.
Use your genius to unlock the secrets hidden in the evidence that would be otherwise undetectable.
"Do you think I'm smart enough to use it? I don't think I have a genius level intellect," I said honestly.
Empyria's smile did not wane. "Only time will tell. Give Inspired Deduction a try now and see what it's like. Besides, you'll always be able to increase your Intelligence attribute once you create your character for real."
I activated the ability, and my mind expanded past the edges of what I thought was possible.
Every clue I had collected appeared around me. Thin lines connecting each item spread out with thoughts, commonalities and context displayed.
Next to the Dusk Voyager ticket receipt, it laid out everything I knew, and things that I didn't realize I didn't know.
There was a smudge of ink in the top left-hand corner of the ticket, and there was a partial fingerprint in that ink. It belonged to someone who had handled the ticket at some point, and they may have been able to give me some further information about the state Gregory Albrecht had been in when he bought the ticket.
Next to the ticket, a small map of Eldin appeared. It showed an image of the Albrecht Manor and the closest ticket offices that sold Dusk Voyager tickets. I didn't know how I knew this, but it must have been something that the game provided to me. So now I knew which offices that it was likely Gregory had purchased the ticket from, which meant that I could track down the person that sold it to him.
There was another note next to the ticket that asked a question. How was the ticket paid for? Whether it was cash, cheque, or perhaps arranged as part of some untraceable bartering might have some impact on the investigation.
The myriad of books that appeared as clues suddenly surrounded me. Lines traced from one to the other, interweaving around me like a spider's web. I saw information appear against each of these connecting lines. Names of characters, story arcs, overarching themes, similarities in style, the histories of the authors, their political alignments, and absolutely any other commonality that they shared.
My mind overflowed with information, and it worked like a supercomputer as it churned through it all, making connections and looking for avenues of investigation.
One of the threads that wove through all the books was a singular theme. The hero of every work obtained specific knowledge that they lacked at the beginning of the story and used it to defeat a great evil.
I then realized something that this theme had in common with the copy of The Locked Room I had found earlier. I did not possess the knowledge needed to speak the words, but perhaps they were exactly the words that I needed. The knowledge was what would give me power to leave this place.
I ceased using Inspired Deduction and held The Locked Room open to a blank page in front of me.
"Knowledge is power."
The candle on each arm of the candelabra was snuffed out instantaneously. The only light came from the single burning candle on the hardwood desk behind me. The mantelpiece shimmered ethereally until it phased out of existence. A blank wall was all that remained. Then, slowly, the outline of a door began to appear in the stone wall. A gold handle phased into existence. Eager to see what my successful solving of the mystery would reveal, I pulled open the door.
Gregory Albrecht was waiting for me outside the door. He wore a tailored slate-gray suit, with a black tie over a white shirt. His hands were clasped behind his back, and there was a strange look in his eye.
"You shouldn't have come snooping," Gregory said. "You know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat."
Gregory pulled a flintlock pistol from behind his back and aimed it at my head. He pulled the trigger.
Chapter Four
The Bone Thief
The powder ignited just before the game froze.
Empyria appeared behind me. "Most people in Crematoria don't like it when Investigators started digging into their secrets. You must be prepared to fight back at all times, against all types of opponents."
A new weight added to my waist. Looking down, I saw a flintlock pistol hanging from the right side of my belt, with a small pouch just in front of it, and a sword hanging from the left side. I reached for the pistol grip and drew it from its holster. There seemed to be so many different moving parts. It looked far more complicated than any other gun I'd seen in real life, and I'd seen a few. Never owned any myself, but they were always around when I was growing up.
"Flintlock pistols are powerful tools but are not a good decision when surprised. A flintlock pistol requires time to load, and in the split-second window you have to defend against Gregory's attack, attempting to load your own pistol would end in you being grievously wounded."
She was right. I had no idea how real flintlock pistols worked. I assumed that you just pointed them and pulled the trigger, like an old-timey Glock or something, but that didn't sound like the case.
"What are my options here?" I asked.
"An Investigator is not a class that can take a lot of punishment. The application of knowledge is your greatest weapon. This is applicable to combat encounters as well as non-combat encounters. One of the Investigator's signature abilities is called Expose Weakness."
A notification appeared at the bottom of my view.
You have been granted the ability Expose Weakness.
I expanded the ability nub to get further information.
Ability: Expose Weakness
Level: Journeyman
Single Target
Cost: 25% CP
Exposes any weaknesses that your enemies might possess. Weaknesses will be highlighted in a white overlay. Damage bonuses apply to all party members who attack an enemy that you have cast Expose Weakness on.
Empyria expanded on this. "Your knowledge of the weaknesses of your enemies will grow with each encounter. Through combat experimentation and mastery, your ability to pinpoint weak points will improve. Certain research that you may undertake throughout Crematoria may give you insight into all manner of foes that you can use to your advantage."
"Wow. That seems like a great ability too," I said.
"It is one of the absolute essential abilities of the Investigator class," Empyria said. "An Investigator will find many of the more powerful entities that inhabit Crematoria a challenge, but this ability will sometimes even the odds. Do not rely on it entirely, though. You will need to use a combination of combat prowess and guile to overcome some enemies."
I activated the Expose Weakness ability and felt a strange clarity and focus flood my mind. The colors seemed to bleed out of the world, while other elements shone through like beacons.
A message flashed in front of my eyes.
You have been given a temporarily boosted version of the Expose Weakness ability.
If you choose to play as an Investigator, your skill will require intense training before it reaches this level in Crematoria Online.
That was fine. I'd already experienced something very similar with Inspired Deduction, but there was one slight difference. Inspired Deduction required a genius level intellect, but Expose Weakness could be trained. I could learn how to use this ability better through repeated use.
Gregory Albrecht's body became translucent, and the silhouette of the Bone Thief that inhabited his skin became visible. It was an abominable thing, with a body structure like that of an insect. The most important element revealed by this ability was that I could now see that the monster's head was tucked under the meat of Gregory's neck, and it was wrapping tendrils around his spinal column to drive him about like a meat suit.
If I had leveled my own pistol at Gregory's h
ead, I wouldn't have neutralized the threat. The Bone Thief would have survived, leaving me open to attack. Now I knew that if I wanted to land a killing blow on the bone thief, I was better off aiming for the center of Gregory Albrecht's chest.
"Okay, I can see where I need to hit the monster now, so what are my options?" I asked. "I definitely don't have time to load my pistol. I'm going to need a lesson on how to do that."
"We can go through a practice round after this," Empyria said. "My personal recommendation would be to aim at the weak parts of Gregory's human body. It still has weak points, and the Bone Thief is currently wired into Gregory's nervous system. If you cause him pain, you cause it pain. You might be able to get the upper hand by getting in close and causing it some grievous injuries. At upper levels, the Investigator can use an ability called Split Second."
A notification appeared in my view. I opened it.
Ability: Split Second
Single Target - Current Focus
Cost: 100% Concentration Points
Utilizing all their concentration, an Investigator may slow down time long enough to consider all available options and their likely outcomes. Time is not stopped when using Split Second. The Investigator's mind simply runs so fast and predicts outcomes to quickly that it appears as though time slows. For all other players and citizens of Crematoria, time will continue to pass at the normal rate. Using probabilities, the Investigator can make a choice about how to complete the encounter.
Rise of the Crimson Order: A Crematoria Online LitRPG Novel Page 3
