by Charles Dean
The Heroic Villain 2
Written by: Charles Dean
Edited by: Joshua Swayne and Richard Haygood
Copyright © 2016-2019 by Charles Dean
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books by Charles Dean
Prologue
Thomas stared out at the serene lake in front of him. The tranquil waters were surrounded by Hesse’s famous wild blue cornflowers and the odd speckling of manually planted patches of red poppies, creating a swaying sea of red, green, and blue. The calm scenery helped still his unusually frantic heart as he took off his backpack and began searching through it.
“You sure this is the spot?” Derrick asked, and the rotund Dwarf took off his backpack as well. “I mean, it’s just a lake. The dungeon is at least half a mile southwest of us.”
“It’s the spot,” Thomas answered resolutely, looking up from his task. This was far from his first time challenging the dungeon, and although each and every trip before had ended in disaster, he knew the place by heart. Grinding his teeth together at the unwelcome memory of his previous failures when attempting to clear the dungeon, he watched the lake for just a moment longer and then went back to digging through his pack. I will kill you, Lucas.
“And you’re sure this is going to be easier than the other entrances?” Oceanus asked. “I mean, I’ve heard this dungeon is nearly impossible to begin with. I’d rather not take the hard route if we don’t have to.”
Thomas finished fishing around in his backpack and finally pulled out what he had been searching for: an herbal concoction resembling a small glass orb that was infused with pure Wind magic. The smaller-than-golf-ball-sized globes were just as smooth as the glass they resembled, which made even holding onto them rather difficult since they threatened to constantly slip out of his hand. Unlike the two Lizardmen in the group, Oceanus and Janet, neither Thomas, Derrick, nor the other Human were capable of holding their breath very long or breathing underwater, so Blue Balls were the perfect solution for what he had planned.
“It will be,” Thomas answered at last, straightening up and glancing between his companions. “Here’s y’all’s Blue Balls. You guys got your flippers?”
“Yeah, I got them,” Derrick answered. He stuffed his shoes down into his backpack and then produced a pair of rigid, thinly-scaled, webbed shoes identical to the ones that the rest of the non-Mere people were already wearing.
“Don’t need!” Janet laughed to herself as she began stripping down in front of the group, trading her thick metal chausses for a linen pair. As a member of the Lizardmen race, one of the three Mere races on Hesse, she wouldn’t need cheap devices to help her navigate or breathe underwater. Lizardmen were natural-born swimmers with long, powerful tails and webbed feet, and as long as she was able to move about freely, she would be just fine underwater.
Derrick gestured toward the pile of gear that they had left lying next to the lake. “Should we just leave our backpacks and come back to them after the waterway is clear?” he asked. Players’ personal sacks couldn’t be accessed by anyone without explicit permission, and they were essentially inventories that would teleport to the player after death or twenty-four hours. As a result, people often left them lying about whenever they were going into a sticky situation. The downside was that they wouldn’t have access to a range of equipment, potions, or gear mid-battle, but it also meant that their movements wouldn’t be restricted or hindered by the bags.
“No,” Thomas answered, shaking his head. “You’re going to be the caddy and pull them along for us. We only need three people to beat the water boss; you don’t have to fight this time. It’s the least evolved of the three bosses, and it isn’t that difficult if you know the trick.”
Janet gave Thomas a displeased look, making it obvious that she didn’t like the way he was holding information back and only trickling it out on a need-to-know basis. “Which is what?” she asked sharply.
“We’re going to net it,” Thomas explained.
“It’s a giant octopus,” Janet answered back matter-of-factly and clearly in disbelief. “Won’t it just rip right through the net?”
“No,” Thomas answered, shaking his head. “It’s going to become rather . . . flustered . . . once it’s under the net, and then we’ll be able to kill it quickly.”
“Ah!” Lilith, the other Human, exclaimed in understanding. She was a particularly quiet woman who hadn’t spoken so much as a single word after Thomas had recruited her for the quest in Borken, the town outside the dungeon. The only thing he knew about her was that she was a Rogue-type class just like he was. She carried a pair of daggers, a bow, and several more tools, but she wouldn’t ever give anyone a clear answer about what she specialized in, and she wouldn’t let anyone else see what she kept in her backpack.
“What? Don’t just ‘Ah.’ Speak up, Lilith!” Oceanus reached up to swat her on the back, but the Lizardman’s large hand whooshed past and only caught air instead.
“One of the tentacles will be different than the others, and we’ll know it, won’t we?” Lilith asked knowingly.
“Yeah,” Thomas answered, feeling a small bit of relief. He had been worried that he was going to have to carry the group through the entire dungeon on his own, but he felt a little more confidence in the strange party now that he knew that she was quick on the uptake and at least familiar with the concept. He had paid them each a full gold coin to make the run with him, and he had been afraid that it would be completely wasted. “That’s right. It’s actually more obvious than what you’d expect. As soon as the monster is trapped in the net, it’s going to try and gauge the size of the net’s pockets. Even if it’s freakishly big, has tons of different attacks, and is capable of ripping your arms off, it’s still an octopus. It’s automatically going to try and squeeze through any tight space it can just to escape. Remember: If its beak can fit through it, then it can fit through it.
Janet looked at the thick metal and hemp cords that made up the heavy net they were planning to use on the octopus monster. “But . . . uhh . . . its beak is huge compared to a normal octopus, right? There is no way it can fit through this.”
“We just need to cut off its special tentacle while it’s sneaking through,” Thomas explained, shifting uncomfortably. As a guy, it was already hard enough to think about what they were going to do to the creature, and he was glad that Lilith hadn’t bothered explaining the situation further.
“Alright, one last time: since we won’t be able to talk with the balls in our mouth, each of us is going to take hold of one end. We swim as a team. The octopus is rather arrogant, so it’s going to swim straight for us when it appears. Trap it, find the tentacle that is glowing red, and cut it off.”
“But . . . well, underwater, we won’t be able to really use magic, and . . . umm . . . it’s going to be tough to fight,” Derrick worried aloud. “Some of us aren’t really capable of attacking underwater.”
Thomas chuckled at Derrick. “That’s why you’re our caddy. We’ve already given you permission to carry the bags, so just wait here for five minutes and then swim after us. We won’t take any longer tha
n that, and we’ll wait for you on the other side.”
Derrick frowned. “I better get my fair share of loot.”
“You will,” Thomas assured him. It might have seemed like he was trying to cut a party member out of the loot for one of the easiest bosses, increasing his own chances of getting a good item, but that really wasn’t the case. For all Thomas cared, Derrick could take every single item in the dungeon. He only had one goal, one purpose, one drive to his existence these days: to find the princess and save her from her abusive captor, Lucas. He didn’t care about anything else.
That bastard of an NPC stole her from Waldberg, the Alfar capital, chained her up, dressed her like a sex slave, and then paraded her about in his dungeon for all others to see--and likely use.
Even now, he could still hear her sweet, melodic voice when he thought about the way she talked. He could recall the way she moved as if she were merely an angel gliding across the clouds. He had fallen hard. He had fallen so hard that he had almost stayed on noob island just to be with her, but as the days dragged on, that thought had died little by little.
When he had first met the princess, he had walked up to her confidently, ready to use her quest for quick experience, only to be stunned by how beautiful she was. She had only a simple task to ask of him: help the king subjugate monsters that were attacking fishermen. But the way she had asked it was beautiful. The request had flowed from her mouth as if it had been written by one of the greatest wordsmiths of all time and as if it had been sung by a siren guiding him safely across the sea.
After that, he had tried talking to her every chance he got--which was a lot. He would fall into step beside her and talk to her while she was on her way to help a villager, he would stand beside her in the square as she shopped, and he would follow along every time she sought out new adventurers for her quests, just in case she chose him again. She would spout out a line every now and then that he didn’t fully understand, but for the most part, she would glide on silently as if he wasn’t even there. Her words had been so few that he had found it easy to hold on to each one, not forgetting even a syllable. When he had asked her what she thought of the Imperium, she had placed a hand over her heart and said, “By the very fangs of malice, I am not that I play. I am no gentle lady of the house. I am truly the twisted, and on conflict do I thrive as this world I lay both sweet and cunning hands upon: thinking, you are the cruelest she alive, if you will lead these gentle graces to the grave.”
She was such a caring and innocent soul that he blamed herself for every man and woman who had fought and died for the Alfars. She carried each loss upon her back like an unyielding burden, her innocent soul struggling under the weight of responsibility. And that thought made him sick. When Thomas had realized what she was saying, he had pleaded with her. He had tried to persuade her that she was not to be blamed for Imperium’s evil doings, but she had just sighed in response and fallen silent once again.
Then, after he had finished every task and completed every question that he could find in Walberg, he had decided to confess his feelings to his angel. It wasn’t unheard of. He wasn’t the first person who had fallen in love with an NPC. They were realistic enough that some people couldn’t even tell the difference between them and players, and it was easy to be taken by their charms. Thomas hadn’t cared that she wasn’t real. He needed to tell her how much he loved her. So, he had confessed. He had poured his guts out and told her exactly how he felt. His precious angel had remained silent and unmoving as if frozen in time for what felt like an eternity and then she had smiled and said, “Good friend, your deeds have reached the summit of men within this village, and your intentions I shall keep as watchmen to my heart, to hold my feelings steady as our ways must finally part.”
So, he had confessed to her again. And again. And again. And each time, her response had been the same. The same voice, the same inflection, the same response. He was crushed. He had dreamed that he would be among the few to marry an NPC, but she had been stuck on repeat, never to generate a new line for him again. The fairy had flown out of his grasp.
And then, at last, she had generated one last quest. Just for him. This time, it was going to be different. He understood why he hadn’t been able to woo her like other NPCs before. She was part of a new storyline the game developers were working on. All he had to do was to rescue her from the vile Imperium, and she would fall in love with him. All he had to do was pry her away from the disgusting tyrant Lucas’s clutches, and she would be his forever.
She was the first and only NPC he had ever fallen in love with, and she was his first and only concern. Nothing else mattered, especially not any items that might be split up amongst the party today. That was also why he hadn’t minded spending some of his real-life money to buy in-game gold and hire crews for all the attempts that came before this one. It was also why he had willingly spent all the money hiring people to help him today.
“Okay, people, get those balls in your mouths,” Thomas ordered. “It’s time to get wet.”
Those were the last words he would be able to say before the fight since he followed his own advice and tossed a Blue Ball in his mouth while simultaneously grabbing hold of his end of the net. The device was meant to last ten minutes, and it actually had a rather simplistic, easy-to-work design. All he had to do was press the ball against the roof of his mouth with his tongue when he breathed in. Doing so would cause air to flow out of the orb, into his mouth, and allow him to breathe. Then, while exhaling, all he had to do was lessen the pressure and breathe normally. The process took a bit of concentration at first, since it was rather unnatural, but it had already become second nature after his previous fights against the octopus. The only major downside was that he had to be very careful not to get hit in the chest and have the wind knocked out of him. That had killed him once. This MMO, unlike others, treated breathing as a very serious issue. While Stamina had a little gauge, and running didn’t deplete it nearly as fast as in real life, air was still a valuable commodity. Even when running or fighting, Thomas had to be careful to regulate his breathing so that he wouldn’t wear himself out and feel fatigued.
Just after he dove into the water, Janet cast a Light spell and filled the entire lake with a bright luminescence. Thomas hated the weird feeling of water on his eyes, and he had never been the type to open them without goggles in a pool, but he put up with the sensation since he had to see. It took a few seconds, but he quickly oriented himself to the feeling and soon spotted the entrance to Lucas’s dungeon. There, he thought, pointing toward it so that the others would see where they were headed.
Oceanus and Janet nodded their understanding at him and then took off, their powerful tails swishing back and forth as they moved like eels through the water. They were the strongest swimmers and had been assigned to the front part of the net since that was likely where most of the maneuvering was going to take place, and they practically towed everyone along behind them via the net as they swam forward.
A minute later, they were inside the dungeon’s watery entrance. The massive rock cavern was dimly lit thanks to Janet’s spell, and Thomas could just make out the room’s features through the blue-tinged water. Thanks to his several visits here before, he was very familiar with the entire place. There were various-sized stalactites hanging down from the cave’s ceiling, and massive stalagmites rising up from below, protruding up through a bed of rock and sand. The octopus was the only monster in this entire area, but the problem was that the creature was completely stealthed, and its spawn point was always random. Just like the foul flying beast guarding the front door of Lucas’s manor, the octopus would wait completely hidden until it felt it had reached the most opportune moment.
Thomas glanced at his party members and saw the panicked expressions on their faces. They were obviously creeped out. Visibility was fairly low in the massive room, and the only thing clearly distinguishable was a ladder on the far side of the room, beckoning them to swim across and climb up.
The only one who didn’t seem bothered was Lilith, who appeared to be relaxed while holding onto the back-right corner of the large net.
Just then, movement down below in the murky depths caught Thomas’s attention. Before he could signal to the others, the octopus had already surged up from the floor. It shot upward faster than a bottle rocket and streaked toward Lilith. The octopus’s modus operandi was to attack the party from the back as it tried to pick off the weaker, more frail-looking members first, but Lilith was completely ready for the attack. Her arm snapped out, and a small silvery object went spinning through the water. The moment it came in contact with the octopus’s outreached tentacle, it exploded.
Although it was only a small burst, even smaller than a firecracker, the concussive blast rippled back through the water and slammed into Thomas hard enough for him to feel it deep in his chest. He automatically sucked in a deep breath and clutched at his chest, dropping his corner of the net. Thankfully, however, he caught himself before accidentally swallowing the Blue Ball he held in his mouth. He panicked when he realized what he had done and then again when he realized that Oceanus and Janet had also dropped their corners and were clearly just as stunned as he was. When he looked back toward Lilith, however, he was shocked to realize that she was furiously swimming downward toward the creature. The heavy net had begun sinking the moment they let go of it, and it had fallen almost directly on top of the momentarily stunned miniboss. Judging by her pace, Lilith was aiming to take advantage of the situation as quickly as she could.
Thomas began swimming after her, and it was then he saw exactly what he had been waiting for. The octopus’s entire body flashed white, but that one special tentacle flashed red. Even through the dim lighting and fuzzy water, their target was incredibly obvious.
The octopus recovered in the next instant and almost immediately shrank down in size as it contracted its body and began searching for a way out. It twisted about as much as it could while trapped in the net, and when it realized that it wasn’t going to escape so easily, it began lunging forward with its beak and snapping at the hemp webbing.
