Endless Online: Oblivion's Blade

by M. H. Johnson

  "But he's not even human! Look at his flesh. No sign of injury or abrasion, and we saw traces of his blood on several crystal shards that had been wedged inside him! He's violated so many treaties it defies belief with that hideous display of destruction. The Elementium and Silbion he wasted was worth a fortune! We almost got shredded by crystal shards when this fool actually manipulated catalyzations while we were in the middle of our retreat! He can cast flame magics out of the blue, after seeing only a handful of castings? It's absurd, Captain, and it puts all of our tech at risk! He's a menace to our safety, and to our operation. Personally, I vote we leave him here. He's just too dangerous to have around."

  "In case you forgot, Gregor, we charged right into that specter ambush," Halvar said. "Valor did his damnedest to account for that on the fly in ways not even my charts could have predicted, able to strike our foes in such a way that both the chasing specters and the Horror waiting for our desperate retreat were both impaled by Elementium laced shards, even as we were protected in the shadow of that monstrosity, too bulky for the fragments to burst through."

  Gregor swallowed, taking breath as if to respond, blinking and scowling in frustration, realizing there was nothing he could say.

  Elise nodded. "I heard you call for Valor to come. You did little to cloak yourself. I fear, my friend, that it was you that compromised us, not Val at all."

  "Well, of course I didn't take it seriously," Gregor huffed. "That nightmare Val declared lurking to get us made no sense! A specter, maybe. And Val was playing with Exothermics! It's why the captain went ahead, searching for another route, right? No reason to try to chase Val down until after we had found it, and Val had hopefully gotten rid of his volatiles, leaving us all safer. And with the new route found, Val would have no choice but to follow immediately, and any possible confrontation with a violent hothead that could blow us all to smears would be avoided!" He scowled, turning to Sten. "Admit it, Captain. You didn't really believe there was any creature there anyway, did you? We all agreed within seconds that it was just the wind! We only allowed Val his delusion so he would get rid of those perilous vials!"

  Val smirked at the dark glares his companions sent Gregor's way, the increasingly defensive man revealing things that perhaps everyone thought better left unsaid.

  Val flashed the captain a rueful grin. "No worries, sir. You let me entertain myself while at the same time making sure I was no risk to your crew, and you took the initiative to look for an alternate route out." He bowed his head. "Signs of a captain that cares about his crew."

  Sten's scowl turned into an equally rueful smile. "I think living in the real world agrees with you, Val. Already you seem hardly half the idiot you were just a day back."

  Val chuckled softly. "With my awful first impression, the only way I could go was up, right Captain?"

  Sten shrugged, the mood lightening. "And it turns out there is something to our newest member, after all. Literate or not, you have a knack for the unorthodox. An extremely useful knack for anyone, especially explorers like us. You made a good call, your traps worked, and we are all here to tell the tale."

  Halvar nodded. "You're a sound tactician, and you haven't mastered a single chart. You could go far, boy, with the right teachers." A powerful hand squeezed Val's shoulder. Val tried not to wince. "Thank you, lad. I have no doubt that you saved our lives, and that's not something I'm going to forget."

  Elise and Sten nodded their agreement and Val bowed his head, strangely humbled. "Thank you, guys. I'm just happy to help the team." He gazed up at Halvar. "It's what soldiers do. Brothers on the battlefield."

  "True," the giant said, solemnly handing Val some soft putty-like food that was both sweet and salty. Standard rations, Val was given to understand, trying to choke it down, though the extra sips of water certainly helped.

  "But you're no soldier, just a deluded simulation," Gregor insisted.

  Val shrugged, deciding not to pay attention to the scowling gnome. "So what's our next step, Captain?"

  Sten smiled, his handsome face smudged with dirt and multiple abrasions treated with a white paste Val thought might be the equivalent of an antibiotic cream. He noted that none of his companions appeared completely free of injury or abrasion. Only him, and he the most poorly equipped of all.

  Gregor's glare was almost accusing. "Not a scratch on you," the shorter man said.

  Val met his gaze. It was Gregor who swallowed and looked away. "Exactly. I think I heal when I level up, my soul's new sense of self over-writing who I was before, including previous injuries gained."

  Halvar chuckled softly. "What an interesting trick. It's a pity that only magically forged creations have this knack, but assuming you won't discorporate into a pile of quivering jelly when we leave Jordia, you'd make a damn fine addition to any army."

  Val blinked and swallowed. "Discorporate into a pile of quivering jelly?"

  "Yes," Gregor said, eyes positively glinting as he smiled. "If you really are just a magically forged creation, well, to leave this planet is death. Jordian spells, potent as they are, only work on Jordia. Only magic artifacts that directly tap into a user's arcane or psionic potential, like Elise's sword, or technology that uses the mana-field itself, which is most, can be used universally. Of course technology can be rendered inert by the careless misuse of magic and the resulting wild surges. No doubt the forceshields and Psiblades we found were prizes that wizard had seized from a Highlord or two he had managed to take down before dying himself."

  Elise nodded. "Save for the fact that Psiblades are more arcane artifact than technological wonder, Halvar is correct. Though perhaps the deadliest of all weapons, the Psiblade is as vulnerable to magical surges as any piece of technology. And in truth, we have no idea regarding the history of the clan that had those relics. For all we know, the wizard had taken a Psionicist for a lover. Perhaps as husband or wife, the parents hoping to forge a child gifted in both potencies. Not so uncommon, once upon a time."

  Sten sighed. "Of course as tech advanced, space travel became both possible then exceedingly cheap with the jump gates. Psion masters went from land-bound barons to the powerful collection of Houses we now call Highlords, uniting their clans to hold sway over dozens of worlds. Those rare individuals gifted with both mental powers and elemental magics became less of a priority when magic disciplines have to be mastered separately for each world you step upon, and worse, are likely to blow out vital support systems and strand your ship, if you dare to use them in space."

  Elise dipped her head in acknowledgment, though her eyes never left Val's. "Still, once upon a time, a scion gifted in both Psionic and Arcane disciplines would have been a force to be reckoned with. And what better prize for a ruling House to put in suspended animation, or attempt to revive, depending on the fortunes of their clan?"

  "Brought back a millennium past its prime," Gregor scoffed, "when such a mutant is all but worthless, and any clan whose children lacked the neuro-nodes to master the tomes of wisdom that grandfathered all technical disciplines quickly faded into obscurity and irrelevance."

  Val sighed, gazing at the scowling gnome. "So, whether I'm an arcane simulacrum, the remnant of an artificial reality, or the resurrection of a long-dead scion to an ancient magical clan, you'll hate me no matter what. I got it, Gregor. So feel free to fuck off and leave me alone from here on out." Val flashed as cold a smile as he could and turned away from the spluttering man before turning to Elise, who was doing her best not to grin.

  "So, Elise, what do you think the chances are of my turning to goop if I dare to leave this planet, Jordia?"

  Her smile turned sad. "Higher than zero, Val. I'd like to think you're as real as flesh and blood could be, but the fates rarely flow the way our wishes do, or we'd all be living vastly happier lives." She shrugged. "I really don't know." She gazed thoughtfully at the captain. "We could take a sample of his blood and hair. If it maintains integrity with our next jump, well, at least we would know that our Val is
more than a simulacrum, and depending on the readings, he might just turn out to be as human as the rest of us."

  Sten smirked. "Somehow I doubt he's anything like us, but as long as he comprehends honor, integrity, and can get along with our crew, I'm open to the experiment, for curiosity's sake if nothing else."

  Gregor spluttered, eyes widening. "You can't seriously be thinking of bringing this thing along, can you?"

  Sten shrugged, his gaze measuring Val. "That depends an awful lot on him. But he's found treasure and trouble both, helping us gather one and prepare for the other. That means something, even if he does have the social graces of a mule, and gets under your craw."

  Sten's gaze hardened. "Val, show Gregor the same respect you would Halvar. Gregor? Whether he's human or simulation, get over it. It doesn't matter. Elise has vouched for his integrity, and any sentient creature is capable of loyalty. Besides, if you haven't forgotten, he saved you from being devoured by a Dark Summons. And that, my friend, would have been a hard death indeed."

  Val dipped his head as Gregor scowled and looked away.

  Sten nodded. "Come this way, Val, there is something I want you to see."

  Within moments they were back in the central chamber once more, having carefully stepped over any number of jagged sharp crystals, almost all of them glowing with flecks of Elementium.

  Val whistled. "There has to be a fortune in ore trapped in here!"

  Sten nodded solemnly. "And it's a damn shame that the odds are against us pushing a claim of this magnitude through the right channels without hungry bureaucrats sensing an easy kill, carting us off for crimes committed worlds away so they can feed upon our spoils now."

  Val smirked. "Politics the universe over. It's amazing how often incredible technology or precious property rights are sold for a song from the poor and desperate, only to make billions for the rich and well-connected."

  Sten chuckled. "I see some things truly are universal. Now, look at the heart of our prize."

  Gingerly climbing through the jagged shards of crystal, Val amazed once more at how well the wraps around his feet held up, they came at last to the heart of the detonations, right where the Abomination had perished, an area curiously free of the massive amount of shattered stone covering the rest of the chamber. Instead lay the still bubbling remains of the horror they had faced, just a couple fading wisps of semi-sentient fog trying to form a pathetic semblance of the creature it had once been before being helplessly pulled apart by the tiniest of eddies, at last fading to nothing even as Val watched, blinking in surprise as the wisps seemed to flow against his skin with increasing rapidity before fading altogether.

  Everyone gazed at Val in shock. No one said a word.

  Val blinked, gazing at his wrapped feet, not even admitting to himself the fierce tingle of pleasure he felt, as if his very soul was feeding upon the last shreds of his foe.

  "Level up indeed," Halvar mused at last, breaking the awful suspense with a smile, clapping Val's shoulder. "He hid nothing. He told us he had fed on that beast, somehow, with no more shame than a wolf feeding on his kill. This is Val. He is part of our team, and he has done us no harm. Far better that whatever traces remain of that foul magic end up in the craw of our would-be wizard, than haunting what is, after all, our mine still."

  Sten frowned before nodding his head curtly. "Fair points, Halvar." He shook away his scowl, face bland as he bent down, showing Val his find. "Do you see that large crystal glittering with crimson fire, where perhaps the beast's heart once lay?"

  Still shaking off the fear he was about to be a called witch and burned at the stake, Val smiled, all too eager to lose himself in conversation with the captain. His contrived interest instantly became genuine as he gazed upon the trio of brilliantly sparkling jewels in awe.

  "That one there is a ruby, I think. A massive, perfectly cut ruby."

  Sten frowned. "Your word isn't translating, Val. It is, however, extremely valuable."

  Elise nodded. "Ideally used for the harnessing Psion-Valorium synergized resonances in nul space."

  Val blinked, and couldn't help grinning, for all that he was taking a wild guess. "They are what allows Psiblades to cut through reality itself, right?"

  Elise blinked, nodding thoughtfully. "To simplify things horribly, yes. That, alongside Valorium, Elementium, Silbion, and a grandmaster's skill, are what's needed to forge a Psiblade."

  Gregor scowled. "The gems are worth a fortune, yes, but if we could get the Psiblades themselves working, then we'd truly be swimming in wealth and a Highlord's favors! They might not feel quite the need to make drones of us with a peace offering like this."

  Sten scowled. "The Valorium itself was rendered out of sync, thanks to the arcane fluxes it suffered. You yourself made the diagnosis. No one save a True Artificer could fix it."

  Gregor sighed. "True, Captain. But costly as it is, the Highlords have access to True Artificers. We do not. They will get them working again. Even damaged, they should at least be worth our lives."

  Elise gazed at the glittering gems with a professional eye. "I wouldn't be surprised if they netted us several hundred thousand credits, at the very least."

  Val blinked as Elise turned to gaze at him. "That's a lot, Val, in case you didn't know."

  Val nodded. "So I'd gathered."

  Elise smirked. "And credit goes to you. It was your... artistic use of the tools at hand that facilitated this remarkable discovery. So it's only fair that you get a cut of this haul."

  Val nodded solemnly. "Thank you. I get the feeling that would help out a lot, being as I am utterly clueless as to my place in this world."

  Elise's gaze turned soft. "We won't leave you stranded, easy prey for the wolves, Val, I promise you that."

  "Of course not," Sten concurred. "We'll set up an account with a factor and assure he has lodging and stipend if his destiny is to stay here, particularly if he is, in fact, unable to survive leaving the arcane fields surrounding this planet."

  "Better use a law-scribe," Gregor grumbled. "That way if the state claims him, no ward can claim his fortune as their own."

  Sten's eyes widened, he nodded. "Well said, Gregor, though of course we would pay for private care, if it came to that."

  "Why, that comment was downright helpful," Halvar teased.

  Gregor kicked a crystal. "No reason not to be. I didn't let his feet get cut up either, did I? Just because he gets on my nerves, just because I don't think he's real, doesn't mean I want to see him suffer."

  Val blinked, not knowing what to say.

  "If only he wasn't so annoying!" The gnomish man grumbled, striding some feet away.

  Sten grinned. "He's a good sort, as are you, I think, Val." The captain adjusted his armored jacket, taking in the room entire with an almost maudlin sigh. "These jewels are a prize well worth our efforts. But the real prize is the obsidian-gold fire all around us. A marvel of Elementium, locked in this cavern of crystal. It'd be worth a damn fortune, but we'd need considerable time and resources to process it, and that's too damned risky right now. The same damn bureaucrats that sold us all rights to this mine would try to seize it right back, vulnerable as we are, and a steel cage is all we'd get for our efforts if we actually set up a profitable mining operation."

  Val swallowed, heart starting to race as he gazed at the brilliant sparkling stalactites and stalagmites all around. The fortune in shattered crystal at their feet. He knew it was a bad idea. He knew he was a fool to show his trump card, but loyalty meant something to him, and Sten and his crew seemed to genuinely care.

  "If I try something, if I share something with you, can you all promise me it goes no further than the five of us?"

  Sten's gaze was completely beyond Val's ability to read. Slowly, he nodded, as did every crew member in turn. "As long as it won't endanger us, by all means, Val."

  Val swallowed, gazing at the closest crystal before him, entranced by the ebony gold fire blazing within, feeling himself somehow resonate
with the incredibly complex connections bonding that arcane element to the more inert substances all around. He closed his eyes and imagined pulling the bonds apart, wincing as he felt sudden heat, quickly easing his mental grip on the crystal.

  "What is he doing?" An impatient Gregor asked.

  "Hush," Elise said.

  Taking a deep breath, Val felt his psyche flow into the crystal once more, this time imagining himself gently sliding the Elementium free of the bonds of the surrounding matrix, somehow enticing different components to flow in its place, catalyzing reactions he didn't understand so much as feel, the crystal warming only faintly as he felt the priceless, precious substance flow, ever so slowly, from the crystal to the palm of his hand.

  "Ancestor's mercy, what did he do?" Gregor's voice was more awed than critical, Halvar whistling in amazement. Val peered deeper into himself, looking at the checkerboard matrix he thought of as quantizing what arcane or psionically anchored treasures he could tie off in the grid of his pocket realm. He was surprised and pleased to see that the checkerboard matrix had grown. Now he had 133 boxes, the exact same amount as his Mana and Psion reserves. He noted that his personal Silbion had fallen to 36,054mL, the crew's Silbion exactly ten gallons as his had originally been, for all that no one had been inside the other sarcophagus. His Elementium reserves had fallen to 5326g. He imagined selecting another square where he would put this Elementium, separate from the others. He sensed slightly more than 55 grams filling that fresh square, another point of available mana locked into holding that treasure in place. He nodded in satisfaction, eyes still closed.

  "Where did it go?" Gregor whispered. "He made it disappear!"

  "Shush."

  Val opened his eyes and smiled. "Perhaps we don't have to worry about mining permits after all."

  Sten gazed at Val for long seconds. "How long would it take you to gather the Elementium locked in these crystals?"

  Val shrugged. "Honestly? I have no idea."

  Sten nodded. "And you said you sensed water below?"