The Monolith

by Stephen Roark

  The things on her kimono!

  They scurried back and hid as I approached, and I felt a smile cross my lips.

  Yup. You were right.

  I slashed Boucher’s axe with both hands, driving it into the trunk of the tree with every bit of my strength. Black slime spit out and behind me, the Yama-Uba roared.

  155

  A health bar appeared above the tree. My first blow had done enough to be noticeable, far more than it would have done to the giant woman. Channeling my despair and feelings of helplessness, I hacked away like a crazed lumberjack, tearing chunks of the tree away. With every blow, the tiny white creatures exploded into the air as I hacked away at their home. These, the tree, all of it, were the source of her power. If I killed it, I might be able to kill her.

  But the Yama-Uba had no intention of letting that happen. I felt the ground shake as she raced toward me, and remembering the speed with which she’d leapt at Gerrard earlier, I threw myself out of the way in anticipation of her jumping attack.

  Just in time, I smiled as she slammed down behind me, sending countless thousands of burnt autumn leaves into the air. They fell around me like a thick snow, and the terrible hag cried out as she realized her mistake. The blanket of foliage concealed me, hid me like an island at the center of a terrible, impassable hurricane. I drove my axe into the tree, again and again—

  145, 155, 154, 156

  My Rally meter blossomed like a rose in spring.

  RALLY!

  That same red burst and swirled around the head of my axe, and I felt my soul cry out to the heavens as I cleaved at the source of the Yama-Uba’s strength.

  170, 175, 187

  The tree’s health plummeted, falling quickly below half as the woman screeched in pain. I saw her health dropping too, an equivalent amount peeling off her bar.

  Where’s Gerrard? I thought, angry for a moment that the little thief wasn’t helping me out, but as another thick spray of black sludge and white little men burst from the trunk of the tree, splashing me with its disgusting ink, I realized something—

  I don’t care.

  This was my fight, and I was going to end it.

  Stone slabs exploded behind me as the Yama-Uba cast another of her curses.

  “Too late, bitch!” I screamed, borrowing from Gerrard’s vernacular. I also couldn’t help but feel it would be the same thing Rey would have said if she were with me.

  Leaves swirled in a deadly arrow as she cast again, trying to pelt me down with the same spell she’d used against Altarus. But I was still hidden beneath the falling leaves and she had to fire aimlessly. Despite that, she actually came pretty close to hitting me. But a simple sidestep to the left was all it took to get out of the way. I didn’t even have to interrupt my swings

  181, 185, 177

  The tree’s health was almost gone, and in an act of desperation, in the voice a mother might use when despairing for the health of her child, the Yama-Uba howled.

  “PLEASE, NO!” Her voice was like out of tune strings. “NOT MY LIFE’S BLOOD! PLEASE!”

  But no amount of pleading was going to get through to me. This thing was pure evil and not only was responsible for the death of my friends, but was standing in the way of my quest. I hacked again and again—

  185, 178

  And the tree’s health vanished.

  “NOOOOOOOO!”

  The Yama-Uba clutched her head, twisted her fingers in the dense carpet of hair that hung from her skull, and tore.

  Chunks of scalp and flesh came with the hair, as though she was trying to pull a pain from her mind. The tree died, withering in seconds. Every leaf fell instantly, almost drowning me in their skeletal corpses. 80% of the remaining health on the hideous hag vanished instantly and she collapsed to her knees. The tiny white creatures on the ground beneath the leaves screamed in unison as I Shadowstepped behind her and stared down at her exposed back. Without waiting another second, I raised up my axe and brought it down with everything I had.

  MASSIVE!

  355

  The Yama-Uba’s defenses were gone. The tree had indeed been her “life’s blood” and without it, she was nothing more than a fatty old body on its way to becoming a corpse.

  “Yes!” shrieked Gerrard. “Get the bitch!”

  “You shut up!” I hollered as I slashed again and again, with full Rally, each blow scoring a Massive attack on her vulnerable back.

  366, 377, 385

  A sliver remained, and I heard the Yama-Uba’s cries as I raised my blade for the final, executioner’s blow.

  “My babies…” she moaned. “Will—will I be reborn as well?”

  I had no time for riddles. I sank my Shovel Axe into the flesh of her shoulder. Blood sprang forth like a vomiting beast and the Yama-Uba’s health disappeared. Her body collapsed forward, shaking the ground, and then vanished.

  45

  The Thief’s Next Surprise

  “How many men does it take to catch a single cutpurse?! Perhaps my twenty lashes were not enough! An execution will take place tonight if my musket and silver are not found. Mark my words—an execution will take place tonight!”

  —Full Colonel Engelbert Brass after the “fifth incident”

  I heard the sound of so many level ups I lost count, and the swirl of Quintessence that climbed my body was so thick I was blinded by its brilliance. I stood for a moment, watching as the remaining leaves fell down upon me, each of them tiny pearls of the soul of the defeated boss that I’d just slain. Behind me, I was half aware of Gerrard’s gleeful cackle and knew he was racing up to meet me, and probably snatch up whatever loot the Yama-Uba had dropped. I mean—he was a cutpurse. That was what he was after.

  Without even looking, I snatched up the gleaming items from the ground and heard the satisfying ding as they entered my inventory.

  “Young sir!” Gerrard said quickly as he stopped at my side, prancing so eagerly he was practically jumping up and down. “Young sir! Did she—did she drop any Kidney Stones? DO YOU SEE ANY STONES?!”

  “Shut the fuck up, Gerrard,” I hissed, turning to him, suddenly unafraid. He was still higher level than I, but now, I was holding all the power. As far as I knew, NPCs couldn’t loot you, even if they decided to fight and kill you. So even if he did attack me now, he wouldn’t get what he wanted.

  “Young—young sir?” he whispered, his eyes moving quickly as he calculated a new means of approach. I opened my character slot, and did nothing but smile when I saw my level.

  Shit…

  The amount of unassigned Quintessence had my head spinning, but I wasted no time spending it.

  Rand—Level 18

  Vitality: 28 HP = 705

  Toughness: 26

  Strength: 33

  Skill: 5

  Viletaint: 22

  Intellect: 5

  I immediately went to my skills and learned Disembowel as well, adding it to my Blunted Strike and Crippling Blow.

  Disembowel: 10 second cooldown. Deal 150% damage and apply Bleeding Debuff: 15% weapon DPS for 5 seconds.

  Gerrard’s buff was gone, unfortunately, but that didn’t matter. I’d just leapt 6 levels in one fight—probably the hardest fight of my gaming career—but a single fight nonetheless. I heard the cutpurse’s whispers and pleading but ignored them as I went through the loot the old woman had dropped.

  Mortal Chunk (2)—Use to Obtain 5,000 Quintessence

  Kidney Stone (3)

  There was a chunk of stone made from the same material of the eyes of the bizarre creatures that had inhabited the Yama-Uba’s tree.

  Rune of the Yama-Uba—A rune of the old woman of Mount Jadanus. A strange feeling of madness and the lust for flesh emanates from within.

  +15% Toughness

  +7% Intellect

  Use and consume the rune to fully restore the health of a fallen companion.

  “Kidney Stones?” Gerrard’s voice again. I ignored him as I removed my Rune of Beast Protection and replaced it with th
e new one. I didn’t need the Intellect bonus of course, but the Toughness was a welcome bonus. I wasn’t too keen on consuming it just yet, as both of my friends had died and bringing only one of them back now felt not only unfair but also unneeded. I was going to the Fortune Teller on Rathborne’s advice. Whatever she had to say was for me, not them. However, it looked as though the hag had dropped a gun, and one that Altarus would be quite pleased with.

  Musket of the Mountain:

  Ranged Attack: Battle Worn but still sturdy and functional. Strange figures have been carved into the dark metal surrounding the action. Favored by old gunslingers for its speed and accuracy.

  Ranged Attack: 96

  Attribute Bonus:

  Viletaint: B

  The last thing on the corpse of the old hag was something I’d never seen before—an oblong circular stone with a spotted surface. It seemed as though it had been made from ash or dirt that had been compressed by hand and was on the verge of falling apart. Two circular lines ringed the stone near its edges with an orange glow that seemed to emanate from the inside.

  Stone of the Beast Hunter—Incredibly rare stone, prized among the Seekers, almost legendary in its rareness.

  Use to upgrade a weapon’s scaling by one letter rank.

  Just the item description—“legendary in its rareness”—had the gamer in me practically salivating. And did it really mean what it said it did? Upgrade a weapon’s scaling by one letter rank? Of course, I still had no real concept of the difference between C scaling and B scaling, but the way this item was describing just how rare and powerful it was, I had to believe it would be a substantial difference.

  “Kidney Stones, Seeker?!” Gerrard’s voice was a gnat buzzing around somewhere miles away, or even in another world. I already knew its stats, but I inspected my axe again.

  Boucher’s Shovel Axe: Meat belongs beneath the ground. Use this to put it there!

  Physical Attack: 145

  Attribute Bonus:

  Strength: C

  Skill: E

  I doubted the stone would upgrade both the Skill and Strength scaling, which was fine, as I hadn’t put a single whisper of Quintessence into my Skill since I entered the world. All I cared about was Strength, which meant I had to be extra careful when I used the stone and make sure not to assign it incorrectly. I hovered two fingers over the stone’s icon, but hesitated.

  Should I wait for a better weapon? I thought. Then I realized how stupid of a thought that was. There was no time to waste and who the Hell knew when I’d find another axe anyway? All I could do was worry about right now, and right now I had to find the Fortune Teller and get shit done. I pressed the icon for the stone and saw the letters on my axe begin to glow. Very precisely I pressed the C next to strength. It shifted, became a B. Smiling, I pressed down hard, solidifying the decision.

  My inventory collapsed in on itself automatically and my eyes instinctively went to my axe. That same orange glow that had pulsed from inside the stone swept over the handle and blade. The edge gleamed more deadly, reflecting the faint orange glow of the sky and shifted slightly, as though the hand of some unseen blacksmith was shaping the steel into something much more deadly. It shone with a keen lethality that had my heart racing as the sound of steel slicing old steel rang out through the glade that had once belonged to the Yama-Uba.

  The Shovel Axe felt lighter in my hand, with more weight at the head as though the blade itself was crying out to be swung, to find flesh, to cut, chop and hack the Quintessence from the very bowels of this world. I swung it twice, slicing diagonals in both directions, testing its new feel.

  “Was that—was that a Beast Stone?” Gerrard asked, his voice finally penetrating the wrappings of my excitement.

  “Oh, you’ve heard of them?” I asked. “I thought you only cared about Kidney Stones.”

  “Fetch a mighty price from any Blood Merchant,” Gerrard explained. “Had you kept it of course.”

  I scoffed and turned to face him. “No. Like you, Gerrard, sometimes it’s not always about Quintessence. Sometimes you need to take care of your blade.”

  “But—but did she drop any stones—?”

  “Yes, Gerrard,” I finally gave in. “Yes, she did. Do you want them?”

  The cutpurse did a backflip and landed nimbly, clapping his hands. “Yes, yes, yes! I certainly do!”

  “Well, tough shit,” I told him, turning my back on him and marching up the slope toward the edge of the glade.

  “What?!” Gerrard scampered in front of me like a venomous spider doing its best impression of a friendly house pet. “But why? Yer not interested in them!”

  “I’m also not interested in helping those who betray me.”

  His reply choked and gurgled in his throat as I stepped past him and continued my way up the slope toward the burnt orange broccoli forest that blanketed the base of the mountain. I had no idea where I’d find the Fortune Teller, but the only way was up.

  “Apologies, apologies!” Gerrard cried out as he scuttled in front of me again. His sickle dangled from his waist, and I kept my eyes on his hands, wondering whether he’d choose (or was able) to attack me if I didn’t hand over his precious Kidney Stones. He was still level 32, and despite my meteoric rise and weapon upgrade, there was no doubt he could take me with ease.

  “Save it, thief,” I growled. “You won’t get them, no matter what you say. I’m on my way to see the Fortune Teller, and you’ve made my journey much more difficult. Thanks to you, my friends are dead and I have to make my way up the mountain on my own.”

  “You could wait for them!”

  “There’s no time,” I snapped, thinking of Rey, thinking of my mother. “So, unless you know a real shortcut to the Fortune Teller, and are going to take me, you and I are done. In fact, if you can’t help me get up there, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to take these Kidney Stones down to the river near the Weeping Hills, and throw them into the water. How about that?”

  If I could have seen Gerrard’s eyes, I knew they would have been bugging out of his head. The poor bastard was crooked right down to his soul, and had obviously had a successful life of conning people and then playing on their sense of pity and fairness, but after the way this world had systematically chewed up and spit out my friends and me, I wasn’t falling for it.

  “So, if you can get out of my way?” I asked him as he crouched before me. He didn’t move. Instead, he cocked his head to the side, then back again, and using a long middle finger, scratched beneath his chin again.

  “There—there is a way,” he muttered, almost to himself. “But…he won’t be happy with me…”

  “He?”

  “How many stones?!” he roared.

  “What?”

  “How many stones did you get from her?!”

  “Oh.” I smiled as I realized his desperation. “Five.” I lied.

  “FIVE?!” Gerrard shouted, almost doing another flip. He fought to calm himself and whispered again, as though speaking to someone else I could not see. “He won’t be pleased, no, no, he won’t…”

  “Who won’t be pleased, Gerrard?” I asked.

  “What?” he asked, his head snapping back up to mine with concern as though I’d just caught him in the middle of a crime. “Oh, nothing—no one! Doesn’t matter. Yes, yes, yes, I will take you. Come, come, come.”

  I waited and watched as Gerrard scampered across the glade, kicking up gusts of fallen leaves as he went, scurrying like a strange spider, his sickle dangling from his side. But I wasn’t about to follow him—not immediately at least. I didn’t think NPCs could loot you, so him killing me would serve no real purpose other than spite, which made me think I could actually trust him now, but I still wasn’t in the mood to take any big risks. He reached the edge of the clearing where the leaves were piled thick and high like walls and began swinging wildly, whipping them high into the air. I crossed my arms and watched.

  “Gerrard, my boy,” I chuckled. “I think you
’ve lost it.”

  “Nay, nay, it’s this way!” he replied, hacking away. “I just have to find the spot…”

  Slowly, I began to walk over to him, glancing up at the tree line where I’d been headed, then back to the tiny man who had picked a fight with a hedge of dead leaves.

  You could wait for them, I thought, but quickly shook my head. There’s no time.

  I could see the hourglass symbolizing my goals in this world and with each grain of sand that fell, it was like I was growing farther and farther away from my final destination. The monolith. And if the journey had to be made alone—if that was what it took to find Rey—then I would make it alone.

  Shaking my head, I turned away from Gerrard to head back up the slope beyond where the Yama-Uba’s tree had once stood, but as I did, I heard the little thief cry in delight.

  “Found it! Found it!” he called. “Over this way, buddy!”

  Buddy?

  He sure was laying it on thick, but when I turned back to face him, I saw the source of his glee.

  46

  The Cable Car

  “I’ve always wanted to see the top of the mountain, but my mom says it’s too dangerous and will not let me. Little Johnny says he knows a secret way that only a few people know about, and will show me if I trade him half of my marbles. Sounds like a good deal to me! After all, Mom will always buy me more marbles.”

  —Elias of Ebonmire, aged 11

  Concealed beneath the mountains of dead foliage was a black wooden box, a carriage with two tiny windows of fogged glass and a double door on the side facing us. Attached to the sides that led up and down the mountain was a thick metal rope that quickly disappeared into the trees. I realized instantly what it was: a cable car.