Sigil Online: Paragons

by Jeff Sproul

  Riley walked through the hall, glancing down to the new pin he’d acquired. He’d have to keep a close eye on how many stacks he was able to build with it. If it turned out to be a detriment to him, he’d return it to Carla so they could try and sell it.

  He entered into the stairwell and slowly ascended it. It had only been about thirty minutes ago that he’d seen Aaron and spoke to him about his new powers and what all had happened. Now, he needed to find out who of his friends were still alive from the PKer fight. He reached the top of the stairwell and reached a door. He opened the door and immediately, the sound of rock music assailed his ears. He could smell a new fragrance in the air. He breathed in slowly, his nostrils acquiring the faint smell of chocolate and what he imagined might be strawberries, or some type of berry.

  He looked over and saw Marcella behind the counter. Even in the corner of his eye, her bright purple hair was unmistakeable. She usually worked at the bunker in the early part of the day, and then went on monster hunts in the latter half.

  She was fixing up a drink for one of the people at the bar. A man Riley recognized as having been there before, but he’d never spoken to him.

  Riley made his way over and sat two-seats over from the man with black hair and a bushy beard. It was then that a new icon appeared in his vision. He noticed it in the corner of his eye and then watched as it slowly faded. Perplexed, he brought up his stats and saw under his ‘buffs’ section, a new buff called ‘Chocolate Strawberry Incense.’ It had a countdown for four hours. He then tapped the word and noticed that it was giving him a ten percent boost across all his stats and a solid 5 points to his stamina.

  “What’s this Marcella?” he spoke up. “This chocolate buff thing?”

  Marcella turned around and spotted him sitting there. She flashed him a smirk and then pointed over to the center of the room. “The owners are investing in weekly buffs,” she said. “All you gotta do is own a room here at the bunker and then breathe in the main room for ten seconds. That’s how you get the buff. It’ll last for four hours. The owners are going to try and do it every Thursday to help you guys out.”

  “Is that expensive to do?” asked Riley, as his arms came to rest against the counter.

  “I imagine it is, since they’re not doing it every day,” said Marcella. “They didn’t tell me how much it costs to make or anything, but I bet it’s a little pricey. They want to get more people in here, so they’re willing to invest a bit more into the benefits of owning rooms. Cool, huh?”

  “It’s a pretty nice buff,” Riley admitted. He stared at it, seeing it there beside his rested buff. Combined, his stats had a nice little boost to them.

  “How long’s it last?” asked the bearded man a couple seats over.

  Marcella finished making the dark glittering brown ochre drink and brought it over to him. She set it in front of him and said, “It lasts all day. You can renew the buff just by stopping back in here. And if you’re in here at midnight, you can catch the buff still so that it’ll last four hours into Friday morning. So if you really want to min-max the benefits, pop in at midnight.”

  “Well, you know me,” the bearded man chuckled as he picked up the drink and took a sip.

  “You came back every hour when they bought that replenishing cake a couple months ago,” Marcella laughed. “James was joking about that for days,” she said with a shake of her head. She then seemed to lower her voice, mimicking James—one of her coworkers at the bunker, “ol Barry’s back again!’ she laughed at her own teasing.

  Barry, the man with the burly beard, chuckled. “Ah, well, It was such a good buff, it was hard to pass up!” He shook his head and smiled, which was hard to see due to his moustache and beard. He brought his drink back up to his lips and slowly but surely gulped the rest of it down and set the glass back on the counter. “Appreciate it, Marcella,” he said and stood up from the stool he’d been seated on. He gave Riley a nod, which he returned. Then, Barry turned and headed out of Bunker 7.

  “So what’s that guy do?” Riley asked after Barry had left.

  Marcella stood there, glancing around at all the other patrons in the room with a soft smile on her lips. She looked back to Riley. “He’s actually a healer,” she said. “He doesn’t look it though, does he?”

  Riley’s eyebrows lifted. “Really?” he asked. He thought about the older man with the burly beard.

  “Yeah, he’s got this ability which lets him break-down material around him. Like dirt, stone, metal. He then pulls it into a condensed ball between his hands and then he shoots it out in burst of concentrated light. It’s just a quick flash. But it heals and gives a temporary buff based on whatever he’s dematerializing. It’s pretty cool to watch.”

  “Huh,” Riley mused. “That does sound pretty awesome.”

  “So, can I get you anything, or are you here to chat me up?” Marcella asked with that usual smile.

  “Oh, I was actually wondering if you’d seen Seth and the others?” Riley asked.

  Marcella quirked her lips to the side and thought for a moment. “I usually would’ve seen Seth by this time,” she said. “But I haven’t seen any of em. Only Seth and Brenda stay here. The other two...um...Todd and Erica both have rooms a few blocks away at Garden Haven, but they haven’t stopped in either. Why do you ask? Shouldn’t you know where your mates are?” Marcela teased.

  Riley sunk a little on his seat. “I see,” he said. “We got attacked yesterday in the amber caves. Seth was killed, and I don’t know what happened to the others.”

  “Are you talking crap about me already?” came an unfamiliar voice from over Riley’s shoulder.

  Riley turned around and Marcella looked over to the figure standing there. He had short white hair, brown eyes, and wore a short-sleeved white shirt with a pair of gray denim pants. He shook his head, with his arms crossed on his chest. “I run into a tiny snag, and already you’re talking ill of the dead!”

  Riley blinked a few times. If it wasn’t for the white hair, he might not have made the connection. “Seth?” he asked.

  “That’s right!” he said and stepped forward, taking the seat beside Riley with a slap onto his back.

  “Wait a minute,” said Marcella. “You came in like, twenty minutes ago and have been sitting over there on the couch the entire time. You didn’t say anything until now?” she asked.

  Seth’s lips curled. “What? I thought it’d be cooler if I waited for someone to talk about me, so I could perfectly time my intro. You don’t get a chance to do that very often!”

  Marcella shook her head. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

  “Ah, but you love me! Even if I don’t look as cool as I used to,” said Seth with a big grin.

  Riley was still staring at the ‘new’ Seth, giving him an almost blank expression. “So you made it back here? Did...you hear anything about the others?” asked Riley.

  “Well I know them in real life, so yeah I heard about what all went down,” said Seth. He then turned on his seat and narrowed his eyes, staring right into Riley’s. “I heard how you were nowhere to be found after they were attacked.”

  Riley’s eyes widened as Seth stared into his. “I...I’m sorry! I didn’t know what to do, I panicked!”

  Seth’s gaze bored into Riley’s eyes for several long seconds. His arm came out and smacked Riley’s shoulder. A wide grin curled Seth’s lips. “I’m just screwin with ya!” he said with a laugh. “They told me what happened. We fell into that trap with those cloaked guys and it was down to Erica and Todd. They kept the three of those cloaked guys engaged until the frost wore off on Brenda. Once she got back up, she threw out some heals and the fight became a stalemate for a little while until the PKers fled deeper into the caverns. Todd said they decided not to chase after em. Then, by the time they remembered to look for you, you were nowhere to be found. They figured you were dead! I told em you probably ran, cause that was the smart thing to do.”

  Riley was on an emotional roller coas
ter as he sat there listening to Seth’s side of the story and the events that had transpired. “You’re...not mad?”

  Seth eased back in his seat and shook his head. “Mad? No, I was just joking about being pissed. You did the right thing. You didn’t have anything on you to help Brenda when she got frozen. Unless you bought something and didn’t tell us about it?” he asked.

  Riley shook his head. “No, I didn’t have anything but the stuff I’ve gotten with you guys in the last month.”

  “See!” said Seth, giving his arm another slap. “You wouldn’t have made a bit of difference in that fight. You did the smart thing and got the hell outa there.”

  Riley took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Thanks, that means a lot. I was really worried you were all upset at me,” he said. “I um...actually, I tried to run but it didn’t work out as I intended.”

  Seth’s head tilted to the side. “What do you mean?”

  Riley lifted his hands up, with his palms out to Seth. “Well, first…I got eaten by some rare monster when I turned around to run. It carried me around in its stomach for a while until some rare spawn hunters found it, killed it, and freed me from its belly. When I got out, I found these marks on my hands. And...now I have powers.”

  Seth’s eyes widened and his lips parted to show his pearly white teeth. “No way! You got powers from being eaten by a monster?”

  Riley couldn’t help but smile as well by Seth’s enthusiasm.

  “Damn, I’ve never heard of that happening,” Marcella spoke up.

  Riley looked between Seth and Marcella.

  “So spill it!” Seth prompted. “What the hell can you do?”

  “I’m a hybrid support and healer,” said Riley. “I shoot a spike out of my right hand, and I can absorb a monster...and maybe even a player’s powers. But only in a limited capacity. So far, I’ve only been able to resist special attacks and certain damage and buff others to cause extra damage, related to what a monster has. But if I want, I can shoot a spike out of my left hand and give that stolen power to someone else. I can empower a whole party to resist damage, or cause more damage, depending on what their powers are.”

  “Holy crap,” Seth said, still wearing a big grin. “That’s awesome!”

  “That does sound pretty legit,” said Marcella. “I’d love to see that in action, but sadly, I can’t take a lot of time to go out hunting.”

  “Yeah, I’m not very effective on my own, but I can really beef-up a group,” said Riley. “Those rare spawn hunters I found, were really cool. I teamed up with them immediately after they saved me.”

  “Rare spawn hunters…” Seth mused for a moment. “You talking about Laura and her friends?”

  “Yeah, actually,” said Riley. “They let me stick with them in case those PKers were still roaming around. I was able to see what my powers could do, and we took down a rare after travelling a couple chambers. You know Laura?”

  Seth shrugged. “I’ve heard of her. She’s popped in here a couple times. Like you said, they’re rare spawn hunters. I think I’ve mentioned them before, but I forget. Anyway, they’ll try and grab up whatever information they can. If we spot a rare in our hunting grounds and it hasn’t been killed, we usually tell Laura and her friends about it. Usually those monsters are pretty tough but her group is able to deal with just about anything. They’re higher level too. I’m surprised she isn’t tier two yet.”

  “Is there a big gap between you...I mean, well, where you were and where Laura is in levels?” asked Riley.

  “Hmm,” Seth murmured. “I think she might be a good thirty levels above where I was. Not entirely sure. Haven’t asked. She could be in the hundreds for all I know.”

  Riley thought for a moment and then spoke up again, “So the others are ok?” he asked, as if it was too good to be true. He’d only caught some of the fight, and even at that time, Erica and Todd had been holding their own.

  Seth nodded. “Yeah, they’re on their way here. I spoke to them yesterday afternoon, out of game.” He then eyed Riley up. “So now that you have powers, you leaving us?” he asked.

  Riley’s lips parted, but he found the words slow to grasp at. He swallowed and looked away. “I think I’m going to test what I can do with other groups,” he said. He glanced back to Seth. “But if you’ll let me and want me, I’ll help you guys out, for all you did for me.”

  Seth smiled a little more and reached out, squeezing Riley’s shoulder. “We’d be happy to have you! I hear my group is a man down, you know.” His smile became a smirk as he chuckled to himself and leaned back. “I’d love to see your powers in action, and I appreciate your loyalty to us and wanting to help us out. It’d be great if you stick with us for a while, if your powers synergize with ours. But I do understand wanting to pair your powers with other groups. From what you said, it sounds like you’d really benefit a large number of players, or even raid teams.”

  “I’ve thought about that,” said Riley. “For now, I just want to get used to being tier-one again. I gotta find my limits and now that I have my powers, I still need to collect some gear.”

  “Yeah, absolutely,” said Seth. “I guess now it’s my turn to be the tier-zero and do the grunt work. The others said they’d pitch in to get me a couple items to help my stats and make me damage capable. That way I can increase my experience gains as opposed to scavenging like you did. In the short-term, I’m going to have to pick up a few more hours at my part-time job. I live with a couple roommates, so my expenses aren’t too bad, but like you know, it’ll take a bit to get back up to where I was.”

  “Well if you’re going to stick to frequent hunts like we’ve been doing, I can boost you up even further with my powers,” said Riley. “I think I can really help boost our group so that we can kill stronger enemies. Hopefully that’ll help get you back to where you were, faster. You going with a ranged weapon of some sort?”

  Seth nodded. “Yeah. If you’re cool with it, we were going to head out to the market to check the vendors. You’re welcome to come with us, obviously.”

  Riley’s lips parted. “Well, how about I catch up with you at the market? But don’t buy a weapon yet, ok?”

  Seth blinked. “Um, ok. You’re going to meet us at the market? Where you running off to?”

  Riley smiled and looked over to the door. “Nowhere in particular. I’m going to cash-in a small debt, is all.”

  Chapter 13: Rook Den

  Riley queued up a taxi from a display kiosk inside Bunker 7. He turned and waved to Seth, before making his way out to the street. He waited roughly a minute before a white and black checkered vehicle pulled up nearby. The LED sign on the top of the sedan read ‘R - Colossal City - Rook Den.’ He walked up to the sedan and opened the passenger side door. A man with pale skin and red hair sat behind the wheel. He looked over as Riley got inside the vehicle.

  “You ‘R’?” the man asked.

  “Yeah,” Riley said. “That’s me.” It was common for players to use an abbreviated name when queuing taxies or other services. You never knew who might be out to get you, and this was a habit Riley had picked up early-on when he was Radiance.

  “To the Rook Den,” the man said as he checked his mirrors and then pulled away.

  Riley was pretty sure the red-haired man was an NPC, but he didn’t feel curious enough to converse with him to try and find out for sure.

  He stared out the window, watching pedestrians and structures pass by. He didn’t ‘want’ to pay for the cab fare, but he felt that he owed it to Seth to make this trip. He’d considered making it for the past couple weeks. He wasn’t sure if she’d still be at the Rook Den. He hadn’t seen her since the fight with the White Weevil. Hopefully she hadn’t been killed after surviving that fight.

  The drive took roughly thirty minutes as he traveled by car through Gargantuan City and into Colossal City. Both were very large, and the drive itself felt longer than the actual time it took. He’d spotted several small-scale conflicts between players
on the drive. One had been between three players and a monster. Another was between two groups of players, duking it out near a fountain. Then, after getting into Colossal City itself, he’d watched three players running down two others who seemed to be trying to get away.

  From a distance, it was hard to see who was in the right or the wrong. Was there even a right or wrong in a game like Sigil Online? Why were they fighting? Was it for greed? To see if the other players would drop their items? Was it for respect? Or had someone offended someone else? There was no way to tell, from the outside looking in.

  Eventually, the taxi pulled up beside a structure made of stone. It had four castle-like towers and a square-like center. The door looked to be made of wood and had a series of stone steps leading up to it.

  “Thanks,” Riley said as he exited the vehicle. He’d already paid his fair before the car had even arrived. He didn’t enjoy the idea of paying another hundred SC to get back to Gargantuan city. It sucked being poor.

  He looked up the stairs, spotting a couple players, or possibly NPCs. They were milling about, talking to each other. There was a group of three near the street and a pair further up near the door. Above the door itself, was a wooden sign that read ‘Rook Den.’

  Riley ascended the stone steps, his sights on the door. When he got to the top and reached out for the door, one of the people nearby seized his hand.

  “What’s your business?” the guy asked. He was slightly taller than Riley. He had tanned skin and seemingly strong arms. He had green hair with red frosted tips. There was no way for Riley to know what tier he was, or even what level.

  Riley’s eyes lifted, not expecting to be challenged at the door. The Rook Den was a meetup place, just like Bunker 7.

  “I um...was going to see if my friend was here,” said Riley.

  “What friend?” asked the guy with green hair. “You don’t look familiar. What’re you doing here?”