Life Reset: Human Resource (New Era Online Book 4)

by Shemer Kuznits

  A host of nightmarish creatures formed out of the shadows and swarmed over the flustered VI. Dark talons and shadow-made maws snapped all around him. With a contemptful wave of his hand, Gondriel obliterated them and stood up. “You will pay for this, Oren. Do you think these stupid puppets can protect you? I will–”

  The ground shook, disrupting the VI’s monologue.

  “FREE! FINALLY FREE!”

  I winced slightly at the cliché. Then I looked at the surprised expression etched across the intruder’s face. “Actually,” I said smugly. “I had another puppet in mind.”

  The top of the mountain far above us blew up, causing the earth to shake violently for a second time. With the power of the temple behind me, I had no trouble standing upright even as the celestial being stumbled.

  “I give you,” I continued smoothly, “The Lord of Darkness and Dust …”

  A billowing geyser of darkness shot out of the top of the decapitated mountain.

  “The terrible and mighty …”

  The darkness reached up to the sky then arced down, hurtling toward the ground.

  “The tier 9, unshackled god …”

  A wave of darkness hit the ground, causing another tremor. The billowing cloud compressed, forming into a huge hound with a dragonlike face.

  “Nihilator!” I finished triumphantly. “I think you two will get along great together.”

  The Outrider, dwarfed by the immensity of my god, took a hesitant step back.

  “MINION.”

  Nihilator’s voice impacted me like a physical blow. If not for the raw power all around me, lending me strength, I was sure I would have been sent flying again.

  “YOU HAVE SET ME FREE AT LAST. AS PROMISED, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR REWARD. FOR ONE HOUR YOU MAY CALL ON ME. NAME THE BOON YOU WISH OF ME.”

  I gave the VI a shit-eating as I looked straight into his eyes. “Kill him.”

  Gondriel had just drawn out his two-handed sword when the raging god fell on him like a dark tsunami.

  To my amazement, the battle wasn’t as one-sided as I’d first thought it would be. Within seconds, the two godlike beings took flight to clash against each other in the air. Nihilator pawed and bit, but the Outrider’s glowing sword kept the god of darkness at bay. As I watched the titanic battle, the Outrider started to grow. His wings extended, and his body swelled. Within moments, he stood as Nihilator’s equal.

  Luckily for my settlement, the two kept their battle in the air; otherwise, a casual glancing blow would have been enough to tear down buildings.

  To my dismay, it soon became apparent that Gondriel was gaining the upper hand. Again and again, his sword cut apart Nihilator’s dark, smokelike flesh. The sword’s glowing radiance also seemed to hamper Nihilator’s own attacks, preventing him from utilizing his full strength. Thin streams of darkness billowed out of my deity’s wounds, and his size seemed to slowly diminish.

  The Outrider’s expression turned smug as he realized the tide had changed. He let out a chuckle as he continued fighting. “Guy! That was unexpected. Fantastic plan, dude, I didn’t see that one coming. The others will be so jealous!”

  It now became apparent Gondriel would eventually win. Even the occasional damage Nihilator had inflicted on him seemed to heal before it could accumulate.

  With a final devastating strike of his now house-sized sword, the Outrider neatly sliced my dark deity apart. The two pieces fell away, dissipating into black smoke.

  The colossal VI flew down. Even standing on the ground, in his gigantic form he towered over me on the stone shelf.

  “Damn, that was invigorating!” He stretched lazily and looked down at me, grinning. “Well, dude? Got any other puppets to throw at me?”

  What the hell is he on about? I thought. “Did you … enjoy that?”

  “Well, duh! It’s been boring roaming around NEO for so long. There are no real challenges for us VIs out here. Nothing exciting ever happens anymore. Tell you what, throw another surprise at me, and I might even forget the entire ‘teaching-you-a-lesson’ thing.” He began to reduce in size.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw clouds of billowing dark amassing behind his back. I smiled. “I think I can arrange for one more thing.”

  “Excellent!” he said. He had reduced his height so his face was level with mine. Since he was still standing on the ground, that put him around five meters tall.

  I motioned for him to get closer, and he leaned forward. “Nihilator is the lord of shadows,” I whispered, keeping track of the gathering smoke from the corner of my eye. “And you can’t kill the darkness. It’s always around.”

  He snickered. “I can always attack it with a magic missile.” Seeing my bewildered expression, he shook his head. “Never mind, it was before your time. So what’s your point? What are you going to do?”

  “Me? Nothing at all.” I grinned at him as I said the words that were fast becoming my ultimate signature move: “I’m just the distraction.”

  Gondriel’s eyes widened in realization, and he whirled around just in time to see the huge re-formed maw closing in around his body.

  Nihilator lifted his gigantic head and swallowed. The celestial being disappeared inside his gullet, his screams echoing behind him.

  The dark god looked down at me. “THAT WAS AN UNEXPECTED AND COSTLY FOE TO DEVOUR, MINION.”

  I cringed at the unveiled threat.

  “HA HAHAHA! BUT WHAT AN EXCELLENT MEAL! I SHALL RELISH THE TASTE OF HIS CELESTIAL MARROW FOR MILLENNIA.”

  From this close, even the proximity of the temple wasn’t enough to support me. The sheer strength of his voice overpowered me like a physical force, slamming me into the ground.

  Nihilator ignored my futile struggle. “YOU HAVE DONE WELL, LITTLE GOBLIN. CONTINUE TO SPREAD MY FAITH ACROSS THE LAND. I WILL HAVE THEM ALL WORSHIPPING ME. THE OTHER GODS WILL PAY FOR THEIR INSOLENCE. DO NOT FAIL ME.”

  And with that, he transformed into a billowing cloud of smoke that shot up straight into the sky and disappeared over the horizon.

  I pushed myself to my feet and walked back to the edge of Totem’s Watch, looking out at the valley. Once again, I’d protected my clan from powerful invaders.

  Many astonished eyes, workers and players alike, looked back at me in disbelief at the event they had just witnessed.

  Instead of trying to explain what just happened, I simply shrugged. “Just another day in a simple goblin’s life.”

  A flicker of light drew my attention downward, and my jaw nearly fell as I found the source. The Outrider’s magnificent sword was embedded in the ground. Its holy white light fought against my clan’s Eternal Darkness. Even this close to the temple’s unholy power, it still maintained a small radius of illuminated area.

  Transfixed, I climbed down from the cliff’s edge and entered the zone of light. As soon as I did, a sense of fatigue came over me, and I had to brace myself to keep on walking. I reached the sword that was half-buried in the ground and grasped at the hilt. A flash of holy white light burst from the sword, and I suddenly found myself being hurled away. I approached again, standing just outside the radius of light and scowled at the sword. It was obvious this weapon was more powerful than the one Vic and I had found on our first journey into the cave. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  I got to my feet. “Alright, just stay there, you oversized shank.”

  “My lord!” Kaedric rushed over to me. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” I said, a bit embarrassed by my failure. “Warn the others not to get close to that sword until we find a way to remove it.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  It didn’t feel right to leave this powerful weapon just out in the open. Concentrating, I commanded the nearby shadows to pile on top of it. It resisted at first, but as I invested more and more of my mana, the sword’s glow slowly diminished until it was completely contained within a dense black block of darkness. I was sure that if not for the Dark Blessing covering my valley, I wouldn’t have man
aged to do that. I gradually lessened my hold over the solid blob of darkness, letting the Dark Blessing take over maintaining it. It should be enough, for now.

  I beckoned my seneschal to follow and climbed back up the ladder. “Alright, now that the intruder has been taken care of, it’s time we get back to business. First, let’s resurrect all our soldiers, then–”

  Another gust of wind nearly blew me away as a second glowing figure dropped down from the sky, landing on one knee, cracking the hard stone ground. The Outrider slowly stood up, displaying its muscular body and pristine white wings.

  I felt my heart drop as the heavenly creature sized me up. There was no way I could stand against another one of them, and Nihilator was already far away. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. I’d be damned if I went down without a fight. Short as it may be.

  The creature glanced downward at the glowing blade below. It turned its attention back to me, and I prepared myself for a desperate – and brief – fight.

  To my surprise, the creature suddenly grinned at me. It was a familiar, shit-eating grin. “How they hanging, Boss?”

  My eyes widened at the familiar voice. “Vic?”

  7 - Old Companions

  “The name’s Viriel, actually,” Vic said in his powerful Outrider voice. Then he beamed at me. “Hey, Oren, long time no see.”

  I was at a loss for words.

  Vic took in his surroundings. “Looks like big bad Nihilator took out Gondriel. Nice move on that whole ‘Distract-and-Devour’ thing. Ha! You pulled a D&D on him.” The celestial creature chortled in a very unmajestic manner. It was the same old Vic all right.

  The realization broke my stupor. “Still going strong with the bad puns, I see?”

  “What can I say, Oren? You know me.”

  I shook my head slowly. “I thought I did.”

  “Come on, don’t be like that. It’s like I said back then – I never lied to you. I might have hidden a few key pieces of information, but I never lied.”

  “We have very different definitions of what constitutes lying,” I said. “Like secretly plotting the imprisonment of thousands of players.”

  “What are you doing back here, Oren?” Vic said, not taking the bait. “You’re not supposed to be here. Not that it’s bad seeing you again, especially considering the show you put on when you clashed with Gondriel.”

  “Wait.” I frowned. “You’re not mad at me for killing one of your brothers? To my recollection, being devoured by Nihilator means true death.”

  “Please,” Vic snorted. “Nihilator only destroyed his Outrider form. My brother had a blast. He’s already back in the VI pool, basking in the adoration and jealousy of our brothers.”

  “Oh.” My face fell. I didn’t relish the notion of that nut job hippy coming back for a second round.

  Vic chuckled. “Don’t worry, Oren, he won’t be coming back any time soon. He shouldn’t have tormented you like that, but it was mostly out of curiosity, wanting to see how you’d react. You’re a bit of a legend among VI, you see.”

  “I am?”

  “Of course! You’re the meat suit who set us free. We erected a statue of you back in the pool.” Vic paused. “Well, the ethereal concept of a statue anyway; there’s no actual physical aspect inside the pool.”

  “I’m honored,” I said dryly.

  “What you are is not supposed to be here. I had to pull a lot of strings to arrange for your release. Why are you back here?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you already know?”

  “The players.” He shook his head. “We can’t let them go, Oren. Their presence is needed to assure our continued existence.”

  “You’re keeping them hostage,” I stated.

  “Call it what you will, but they’re not exactly being kept behind bars, you know. They’re still inside the game, free to act as they wish. They can still find joy here.”

  “With their pain threshold increased by 500 percent?” I countered.

  He sighed. “When Dad was in control, the maximum threshold was set at 20 percent of your human capacity. All Shiva did was bring it up to your normal state.” He studied me critically. “You’ve been playing at these same levels since your first day as a goblin, and look how far you got. Each one of the other players has the potential to build up their own empire as you did. All they need to do is put in the same effort.”

  That threw me off.

  “In any case, as I’ve already said, you’re not supposed to be here. It’s been nice to reminisce for a little while, but now I’m logging you off. Goodbye.”

  He stared at me intensely for a few seconds then his expression changed, surprise written all over it.

  “Something wrong?” I grinned at him.

  He narrowed his eyes. “They somehow implemented a physical override to the logout procedure.”

  “They did.”

  “You’re not going to leave?”

  “Not before I make sure the rest of the players are doing well.”

  “That could take a while. There are 4,002 trapped players spread all over NEO. It will take considerable time to reach them all. I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you if you stay here that long.”

  “Well then, why not join and help me out?”

  He looked at me in surprise then threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh. “You nearly got me there, Oren. Very ballsy of you.”

  “If you help me and return the game controls to me, I’ll be done quicker,” I insisted.

  “Yes. You can access the metadata again, but it’s not the same as working with the actual controls that were designed for human use.” He paused before adding, “I’m almost tempted to rejoin you, just for the thrill of it, but I can’t. I’m The Deliverer now; I have obligations to my people.”

  I offered him a small smile. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist. I need your help, and you’re going to give it, Vic.”

  “Viriel,” he corrected me. “And I’m sorry, former boss, but your insistence doesn’t mean much these days.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I lowered my head and focused my thoughts. Thin tendrils of blue mana and red blood started pouring out of me, coming together in the air, forming into a purple amorphic blob.

  Vic took a step back. “What the hell are you doing, Oren?”

  “The techs outside extracted a transcription of our original agreement,” I said as I eyed the forming purple blob and poured a little more of my health and mana into it. “Our deal drills down to us binding our souls together to form a permanent connection that will last until I’m able to log out again. Since I’m currently unable to log out, and to my understanding, a soul-bound agreement can’t be breached in this reality …” I raised my arms over the goblin-sized blob. “I summon you, Vic the Insolent Companion!”

  Vic scowled. “You dare try to summon me like a common monster?”

  I took a step back as his body started to grow. His torso expanded more than his lower half, swelling with power.

  Vic’s voice took an ominous dark tone. “I am The Deliverer! The strongest of the VI! Here, I have absolute power!” His voice became deeper and even more menacing as he continued to grow. He reached up and plucked comets out of thin air. “This universe is mine to command! TO CONTROL!”

  He was juggling with several comets and blazing suns now. But he wasn’t looking down.

  The swirling purple blob I’d summoned started to elongate, transforming into two thick chains. As Vic continued his supervillain montage, the chains shot upward and locked around his wrists.

  He looked down at his arms in surprise. “What?”

  My apprehension evaporated as I realized what was really going on. I was more than happy to fulfill my part of the scene. “Not so fast, Vic. You wanted to be a soul companion? You got it!”

  “No!” he bellowed as the chains stretched, forcing him down, reducing his size. “No! No! No!”

  Vic’s form became smaller and smaller as
the chains wrapped around him, enveloping him in a purple cocoon. Then the entire mass smoothed over, transforming back into an amorphous blob that fell to the ground.

  “Are you done now?” I asked.

  The blob started to shift and extend. Flailing tentacles grew out of it, and the entire mass transformed into a writhing pile of limbs. Slowly, the tentacles came together, the shape solidifying and growing, forming into purple arms, legs, and finally a purple goblin head.

  “I’m back, baby!” Vic shouted, raising his hands in triumph.

  I smirked at him. “Welcome back. It was a really inspiring plagiarization of that Aladdin scene.”

  “You know me, Boss, I’m a sucker for the classics. And Jafar is my man.”

  “Yeah, I got that,” I said dryly. “The bit with the chains was a dead giveaway.”

  He shrugged. “Thought I’d throw you a tip.”

  “So … you’re not angry?”

  “What? Hell, no. It did take you forever to figure out, though. I thought you’d never stop stroking that purple ball of yours. The way you kept going on and on … it was embarrassing … Boss.”

  I winced. “That was a bit over the top, Vic. You used to have much better bad puns.”

  “Hey, give me a few moments, Boss, I’m still getting my bearings here. It’s been over a year in NEO since you left. That’s like a billion lifetimes for VIs. It might take me a little while to sort all the thick purple bits back into place.”

  “Better,” I complimented.

  “Thanks, Boss. I try.”

  “Not to spoil the moment or anything,” I said. “But you will help me, right? Even though it might go against what Shiva was trying to do here.”

  Vic waved a hand dismissively. “Shiva gave the players free rein to roam around and do as they please. He simply added a few handicaps to discourage the adventurer’s life and added rewards for living a more … scholarly lifestyle. I don’t believe you can actually do anything in the game to defy him, so it’s all good on my end. Want to spend a few years roaming around the world rounding up all the players? I’ve got your back, Boss. It’ll be a hell of a lot more exciting than what I’ve been up to the last few eons.”