Lydia- Awakening

by Grey Arney

  >>Arcturus: Hey, can you see this?

  “Hey!” said Fish, “I saw your message!”

  “Try to reply.” said Arcturus.

  >>Arcturus: Can you respond?

  >>Fish: Yes!

  “This skill was once available to all players in Lydia,” said the Keeper. “As an Original, you can still use it. Thanatos will monitor the reintroduction of Messaging, and will not intervene—for now. This gives you a big advantage over the Mudluck goblins, as you can now coordinate players effectively. I’m sure you would like to get back to the surface so you can continue your quest.”

  “Yes, but I have so many questions still,” objected Arcturus.

  “I am able to receive messages as well, so we can maintain contact that way. Please follow me.”

  The Keeper of Thanatos led the pair up a series of meandering caves for a time and took a sudden turn down a windy tunnel. The tunnel ended with a precipitous drop that seemed to fall many fathoms down into the distance. But looking up, high above, there was a glimmer of dim blue light. The wind was bursting forth from the chasm, and their clothing whipped around violently.

  “This is the way out,” shouted the Keeper, barely able to speak over the sound of the wind. “Jump here, and you will find the surface. However, you will need to either fly or swim to safety.”

  Arcturus expended the 50 mana needed to transform Fish into the Golden Eagle, and then took the form himself. The two hopped into the chasm, where a powerful blast of wind pushed them upwards, sending them to dizzying heights at incredible speeds.

  They continued to accelerate under the force of the gale, and burst forth through a spray of thick azure foam. The air around them grew thick and warm, the force behind them stopped, and they were spinning around in the sky over the lake to the east of Arcturus’ camp. Recognizing where they were, they spread their wings and caught a small amount of the remaining updraft. After stabilizing themselves, they flew back towards his camp.

  CHAPTER 11

  After taking to the skies, the first thing Arcturus did was send a message to Lily.

  >>Arcturus: Hi.

  After a predictable delay, the answer came.

  >>Lily: How did you do that? Messaging has been turned off for as long as I can remember.

  >>Arcturus: Long story.

  >>Lily: I have time.

  >>Arcturus: I met an apocalyptic demon responsible for destroying the world if it gets too out of hand. He taught me how to use Messaging.

  >>Lily: Are you talking about Thanatos?

  >>Arcturus: Yes, that’s the one.

  >>Lily: How did you meet Thanatos?

  >>Arcturus: Long story.

  >>Lily: I’ll wait.

  >>Arcturus: I got kidnapped by a sadistic goblin king, he locked me in jail, and I drilled a hole to escape, into the stomach of a massive creature. That was Thanatos. Thanatos is not happy about recent goblin activity.

  >>Lily: Anything else?

  >>Arcturus: No, that’s about it. Well, I have to stop the goblin invasion and probably kill that Badger guy. Want to help?

  >>Lily: You can count me in, but believe me, it’s not for the taste of goblin. I wouldn’t want to see Thanatos get upset again. Last time, he wiped out everyone on Lydia.

  >>Arcturus: You saw it?

  >>Lily: You could say that.

  >>Arcturus: Did you die?

  >>Lily: No, some players who were not technically living at the time were able to escape judgment.

  >>Arcturus: Okay, well I’ll be back at the campsite soon. Want to come over?

  >>Lily: Sure. See you in a while.

  Arcturus was looking forward to seeing Lyle when he landed, but he was not expecting the reception that he got when he arrived. As he approached from the skies, he saw many humanoid figures gathered around the campfire. As they saw him alight, some of them recognized him and let out a cheer. Then they threw their fists in the air, and parted for him as he landed among them. They laughed and hollered and gave him a true hero’s welcome. He smiled weakly, and his heart shuddered at the unexpected honor.

  Switching back to his human shape, Arcturus greeted a small crowd of mostly unfamiliar faces. Immediately upon escaping the Mudluck goblin camp, the former prisoners had received a quest to exact revenge on the goblins. They had followed the quest marker, flying directly into his camp. The goblins had come along, too, although nobody knew why. Constructs don’t do quests. They had all waited there, helping with the construction or the preparation of the evening meal, which was already underway.

  First and foremost, there was somebody very happy to see Arcturus. Immediately upon his arrival, Lyle had darted out from the wolf den, and begun to run around in circles, jumping and leaping as if it were the start of the world’s greatest party. When he had worked out some of his excitement, he approached Arcturus and lowered his head, his tail smacking around like a helicopter blade.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t take you with me, Lyle. It was too dangerous.”

  The prisoners lined up and came to greet him one-by-one.

  “Without yer help, I would have died, brother. I owe you a great debt,” said a dwarf who wore his grey beard in a plethora of tiny curls.

  “We are thankful for your help,” said an earnest elven man, accompanied by several others. “The elders of our village will know of this.”

  “Nyack, nyack nyack,” said one of the goblins, approaching with his sister, who was surprisingly comely. “Nyack nyack.”

  The former prisoners were able to share more intel on Badger. He tried to make sense of all of the accounts, comparing it to what he had discovered himself. According to the rumors, Badger was a user of a rare skill called Flesh Magic, which could be used to create diseases, mutate animals and humanoids, and more. That explained the wave of nausea Arcturus felt when Badger had subdued him.

  The dwarf said that the captive players were not used only as food, but for the working of Flesh Magic, as several had witnessed Badger come by and select prisoners from the cages. In one case, Badger had approached a male prisoner, placing his hands on the captive’s stomach. Over that night, the captive’s gut swelled larger and larger, and the next day he exploded into a pile of viscera, from which emerged many tiny goblins that crawled around in the cage like spiders before they were gathered up and taken away.

  One of the humans claimed that the Mudluck goblins were reproducing at an unbelievable rate, with new adults appearing every day. And another described goblins with mutations. Some were alleged to have super strength. One was seen climbing walls with his bare hands. In particular, those with strange colors were rumored to have unusual abilities. But nobody had seen a goblin, except for Fish, who was a living example.

  “Fish, what abilities do you have, exactly?” asked Arcturus.

  “After I started my character, I noticed my blue skin right away. I thought it was great, actually. But my Character Display lists me as a 'River Goblin,’ and mentions water breathing. It also hints at other abilities that I haven’t found yet.”

  After he was done receiving his adulations, Jerek approached to update him. “If everybody pitches in to do the work around here, we will be able to build much faster. We could probably finish tomorrow or the day after. Now that we’ve got the foundation square and level, and we’ve framed it, it’s just manpower that’s stopping us.”

  “That is good,” said Arcturus, “because anybody staying here will need a place to sleep.”

  During this whole time, Arcturus had been carefully considering how to establish his authority here and make sure the whole thing didn’t spin out of his control.

  “Everybody, please listen,” he raised his voice to address the crowd. “Some of you have received a quest to stop Badger, which is exactly what I’m working on. I invite you to work with me. But staying here means following my rules.

  “First, all who stay here are to be treated equally. Man, goblin, dwarf, or elf.

  “Second, you may neither cheat, n
or steal, nor assault, nor kill anybody under my protection, except acting in self-defense.

  “Third, none may make changes to the campsite nor reveal its location without my permission.

  “Fourth, I will assign work to all based on their skills. If you want to stay, you must contribute.

  “It is not my intention to start a town, but I will gladly accept your help. Other than what I’ve outlined here, you are free to do as you please with your spare time, and you may leave whenever you want.”

  All of those whom he addressed received a contract prompt like the one he had signed with Fish, and all of them signed it.

  After they signed the contract, the goblins, who were both constructs, straightened up, became more attentive, and examined their surroundings in earnest.

  “What’s up with them?” he asked Fish, the resident goblin expert.

  “They’re constructs, but you’ve changed their role. They probably have higher intelligence now.” He gestured for them to come.

  “Can you speak Common?” Arcturus asked the goblins.

  “We can speak,” said the lanky and androgynous male, “We help you.”

  “We do anything you want,” said the female, batting her eyelashes.

  “That’s wonderful. What’s your name?” he asked, ignoring the flirtatious tone.

  “I’m Kitty.”

  “Well, Kitty, why did you two come here?”

  “We don’t want to go back home. We follow others here.”

  “What can you tell me about Badger?”

  “Badger very bad. Control all of us, and make us do anything!” the goblin girl seemed on the verge of tears.

  “Don’t worry, Kitty. That won’t happen while you’re here. You can relax because you’re safe now. Please wait with the others for now.”

  As the two goblins left, Arcturus said to Fish, “The girl is cute, what do you think?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” he replied. He sounded distracted by something.

  “Oh, come on. Don’t leave me out on a limb. Now I sound like a pervert. She’s pretty good-looking, right? Hey, maybe you would like to make friends with her.”

  “Boss, I don’t really like girls,” Fish began awkwardly.

  “No way!” said Arcturus. “All we’ve been through together, and now is the first time you’re telling me that you’re not just a little goblin, but you’re actually a gay little goblin?”

  Fish didn’t seem to mind the teasing, but he also didn’t say much more. And that was the last time the topic came up, for a long while.

  That night, the companions ate together. It was a simple meal, but nobody complained. The elves had even come up with a confection made from ground acorns, blackberries and honey. Arcturus got a message from Lily.

  >>Lily: I see you. Are you almost done with dinner? I can meet you at the usual place, up on the cliffs.

  >>Arcturus: Up on the rocks? Why don’t you come down here?

  >>Lily: It might startle some of your new friends to see the Queen of Vampires, don’t you think?

  >>Arcturus: I guess so.

  >>Lily: There are many reasons someone might want to harm me. Rare quests, alchemical ingredients, the like. I avoid being seen.

  >>Arcturus: Okay, I’ll meet you there in a minute.

  Arcturus stood up, thanked everybody, and told them to get some sleep. He also appointed Fish as his deputy, telling everyone that the goblin would be in charge in the event of his absence. Many seemed uneasy to hear this, especially Fish, who was not expecting to have so much responsibility fall in his lap.

  Arcturus slipped away, transforming into the Golden Hawk and taking to the skies. It took about one minute for him to arrive at the rock alcove, where Lily was waiting. He detailed his most recent adventures to her.

  “Well, you are one little puppy that is just full of surprises!” she said. “Rare magical abilities, unusual quests—and now you’ve met one of the moderators.”

  “I have other problems to worry about right now. What should I do about the Mudluck goblins?”

  “Have you made progress on the earth elementals?”

  Arcturus hadn’t. There hadn’t been much time, really. “No, I am still not sure how to go about that.”

  “Creating an elemental should be simple enough. I could probably help you to figure it out. Would you like to try?”

  “Of course. What do I do?”

  “First, you must use your Earth Magic to form a humanoid shape. I know of two types of earth-based elementals. There are golems, which are made of sand, stone and clay, and sprites, which are made of plants. After creating the shape, you imbue it with a consciousness and bind it to you. Unlike your animal friends, which have their own consciousness, you must summon a spirit to inhabit the elemental, which you dominate in order to keep it in your service. Therefore, the number you can control at once is limited by your intelligence and your wisdom.”

  “How would I know what that limit is?”

  “When they all turn on you and try to tear you apart, you’ll know you’ve summoned one too many.”

  “This doesn’t sound very appealing.”

  “There’s a reason why there are not many conjurers in this world, but after raising an army of the undead, it’s the second-best way to create soldiers out of thin air.”

  “Okay, well why don’t we start small? Can I create one of any size?”

  “Theoretically, yes. Would you like to try creating a golem or a sprite?”

  “How about a golem?”

  “Very well, see if you can use your Earth Magic to create a humanoid shape.”

  Arcturus gathered several small pebbles and concentrated on projecting his Earth Magic towards them. A tremor went through them but they didn’t lift off of the ground. He then picked them up and attempted to arrange them into a humanoid shape with his hands. This time, when he poured his mana in, they held together for a moment before falling apart.

  “It doesn’t seem to be working. I don’t know how to bond them together.”

  “The bond itself is not actually magical. How would you normally get these stones to stick together? Imagine you’re creating a doll.”

  Arcturus dug some clay out of the soil and used it to press the stones together. Then he used his Earth Magic to drain the moisture from the clay, bonding the stones together.

  “Well, it’s certainly not pretty, but that might work. Now try animating it.”

  Once again, Arcturus repeated the attempt to create the golem. It shuddered. Its head twisted about, and it lifted a leg, attempting a step forward before it crumbled. It lay on the ground, thrashing its arms around.

  You have learned a new spell: Create Golem (Elemental).

  At your current level, you may control earth golems up to 22.5 times your own mass.

  You have improved Earth Magic (Level 46)

  Your Earth Magic is now stronger.

  “It looks like I did it, because I saw the notification for learning the spell, but it fell apart in just seconds. I don’t understand it.”

  “Think logically. Why did it fall apart?”

  “I guess the clay had hardened and when it took a step, the clay ruptured.”

  “So how could you design a golem that could walk further than one step before falling apart?”

  “I’d have to either create one made out of interlocking, moving parts, like some sort of machine… or maybe I could use magnetism?

  “Maybe. Don’t look at me. I’m not the Earth mage.”

  The next step took longer. Arcturus was able to fashion a golem from clay, which he formed into independent orbs, creating something that looked like a snowman. Using his mana to reach into the clay, he was able to find ferrous particles inside, and spread them to the upper and lower parts. He found he could spin the ions of the ferrous particles, creating a weak magnetism which could then be used to hold the golem together. He cast Create Golem again, and this time he had a useless golem made from three levitating orbs.

&
nbsp; The elemental stood motionless, waiting for his orders. He instructed it to move back, then forward, then turn around. It complied.

  “Okay, I have a design for a golem but it’s totally useless and doesn’t even have arms. This is very complicated and involves science and engineering.” he complained.

  “Well, what did you expect? That you could just say, 'abra cadabra’?” Lily asked.

  “Maybe I can find some better materials later to build a bigger one. For now, I don’t think this is going to work.”

  “I honestly had no idea. But golems are infamously difficult to destroy. They’re invulnerable to almost every kind of damage. So it’s no surprise that they’re also difficult to create.”

  “How about a sprite elemental?”

  “We could give it a try. Now that you’ve made a golem, do you have a basic understanding of how you might create a sprite?”

  “I think so. I have a few ideas at least.”

  Building the sprite turned out to be much easier. Starting from an uprooted sapling, Arcturus poured mana into it, bidding its roots to braid together into a pair of legs. Then, setting it on the ground, he grew the sapling, shaping it into an anthropomorphic form. It had a bulky torso, spindly arms, and a blocky head with no face at all. When he was ready, he attempted to animate it. As he did so, nearly 100 mana was drained from him instantly. He felt lightheaded and nearly lost his balance.

  You have learned a new spell: Create Sprite (Elemental).

  At your current level, you may control Earth sprites up to 11.5 times your own mass. Cost: 1 mana per pound of animated mass.

  As he saw the notification, the abominable tree before him began to change. It dithered in place, and the legs, arms, and face seemed to become soft. Not as soft as flesh, but soft enough to move around. Then, two creepy green holes opened on the sprite’s face, and it watched him. Finally, a tiny, crooked mouth formed. The damned thing was smiling at him. Repeating the same exercise as he had with the failed golem, he determined that the sprite was under his control and appeared to be reliable.

  “It would seem you have been successful this time,” said Lily.

  “The prompt says I can control 11.5 times my own mass. Lower than the golem.”