“Hello Sirac,” I greeted the snakeman in a low voice.
“Ah, Mr. Jacko, back again,” Sirac replied, looking up from his book. “How may I assist you today?”
I set a stack of pages on his desk. “The story you asked for,” I said. It wasn’t a very long story, so I didn’t bother buying a book to contain it all.
Sirac frowned in distaste as he picked up the pages, briefly thumbing through. “That does appear to be the case. I thank you,” he said, bowing his head ever so slightly.
Professional Challenge: Lore and Writing in Combination – Complete!
Journeyman Librarian Sirac Massif has presented you with a challenge only someone with the profession of Lore and Writing could possibly complete.
Reward: ‘Lore’ +20-Levels, ‘Writing’ +20-Levels, +25,000-Experience
Twenty levels to both professions was fantastic. Then came the second quest completion, which might have been more important.
Quest Alert: Story of the Spear of Legend Reborn 1 – Complete!
Librarian Sirac is willing to trade you something from his private vault, something that might help you research Chaos, in exchange for the story of your Spear of Gungnir
Reward: +25,000-Experience, ‘Lore’ +10-Levels, Item from Librarian Sirac’s Private Collection
Ten levels to ‘Lore’ was great. I was most interest in the item from Sirac’s Private Collection.
“I suppose, you would like to peruse my private collection now,” Sirac said with a heavy sigh. “Very well, follow me.”
I followed him into the library and just as before, he led me into the vault. The room was dominated by ten pillars though only nine held books or tomes at this point.
“Which of these books will have information on Chaos or Primordial beings?” I asked, very conscious of my time limit. It wouldn’t be long before I needed to meet Rose and the others for the logout process.
Sirac frowned again, but he moved past the pillars to the back wall. There he touched the wall revealing a safe door, which clicked open with that touch. Inside was a black tome. Sirac carefully picked it up and brought it to me.
“This is the prize of my collection,” Sirac said. “I cannot let you keep it, but I will allow you to borrow it. It is one of the few tomes in the World Tree that speaks of Chaos. I hope this helps you. That said, return it to me within two weeks.”
“I can do that,” I promised, accepting the tome ‘Chaos Theory’ and slipping it into my bag.
“Now, I promised you something from my private collection in exchange for the story of your spear. As I cannot allow you to keep ‘Chaos Theory’, are there any others here among the books or tomes on the pillars that might suit your needs?” Sirac asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered. And I didn’t know if anything on the pillars would help, but I did have a few things on my list that I wanted to know more about. “First, do you have another blueprint for the Spear of Gungnir?”
“Alas, I do not. I know of only one other blueprint and it is held by the Marquess Charles Butter. And to purchase it from him would cost far more than I have,” Sirac answered.
Marquess Charles Butter? Was he David Butter’s older brother? And if he was, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to get it from him with anything short of a direct order from King Leopold himself.
“Okay, that is a problem for another day. Do you know of anyone else?” I asked.
“I heard rumors that one of the Dwarven High Lord’s has a few of them in his collection, but I could never confirm it,” Sirac replied.
“Thank you for the information,” I said. “Um . . . oh, what about a skill that would make a spell instant cast?”
“Oh, you want the skill ‘Spell Preparation’,” Sirac said, sounding excited. “Not an extremely rare skill, but not very common either.”
“What does it do?” I asked.
“It allows you to prepare a spell ahead of time. Basically, you cast the spell with the intent for it to be prepared to be unleashed at a later date and time. I am not sure of all the mechanics as I am not a spellcaster. Still, I have heard there are many spellcasters that covet the skill. And as your luck would have it, I happen to have a copy of the book known to teach it,” Sirac said, slithering over to another section of the back wall, revealing yet another hidden safe “However, this is another book I cannot simply let go. This book is what has given me the ability to purchase many of the fantastic books and tomes that make up my private collection. Many spellcasters have paid me a great deal of money and in some cases the treasures in this room for the opportunity to learn the skill contained within.”
I could see where that would be advantageous for any spellcaster. A little prep work before a battle and you could be slinging spells with long cast times instantly. Although, I doubted it would be very powerful in the beginning. It probably wouldn’t allow you to store more than one spell to start and even then, it would most likely have some restrictions. But that was the beauty of a skill, you could level it up and improve it with time and practice.
“Is it okay if I borrow it as well?” I requested.
“I suppose, but I cannot let you have anything else from my collection. I normally charge 1,000-Gold for others to read this,” Sirac said, agreeing to lend the book and making clear the value of it in one breath.
I happily accepted the book, ‘Magical Preparations’ and added it to my bag. I was already making plans for when I logged back into the World Tree in a week. I would definitely take a couple days just to read these two books and use ‘Meditation’ on both of them, if I didn’t gain a skill.
“Thank you for your help, Sirac. It is appreciated as always,” I said.
“You are most welcome. If you manage to complete more of that weapon, I would be very interested in reading the story,” Sirac said.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said in parting.
A quick trip to the fifth ring to visit the Cartographer’s Guild followed. Rufi was just as I remembered the small Beastkin. I showed him my map information from my ‘Book of Maps’. He was pleased. Then he pointed out that the books details would automatically be transmitted. When I asked about the new dungeon map, it was the same story. However, he did say that the dungeon map would be worth at least 2,500-Gold, based on the location, content, and level requirements.
After that, the only thing left to do was to meet with my friends at the hotel. My time in the World Tree was done for the month.
Rose was waiting for me when I arrived and quickly dragged me into a hotel room, saying something about stupid French doctors and their ridiculous rules.
“Pushing to the last minute, eh?” Olaf asked, grinning knowingly as Rose and I were the last to arrive in the hotel lobby.
“You got a problem with that?” Rose asked threateningly.
“No, no problem,” Olaf said quickly, recognizing the danger if he pushed any further. “Now that we’re all here. We should head over to the logout portal.”
Heath stepped into the logout portal first, giving us a cheeky grin and a salute as he did so.
“You’ll feed Vision while I’m gone, right?” Micaela asked of Marie for the tenth time.
“Yes, yes. Vision will be fine. Go and try to enjoy your time off,” Marie said, ushering Micaela along.
Micaela fussed over Vision for another minute before Olaf finally got her to log out.
“See you in a week, mate,” Olaf said in farewell, stepping into the blue portal next.
“It was fun hanging out with all of you,” Titan said without prompting. “I learned a lot. I think next month is going to be . . . interesting with what you’ve taught me. See you in a few minutes, Babs.” He stepped through and disappeared next.
“You call me as soon as you’re out of the pod. I want to know you’re safe,” Baby said, staring hard into Rose’s eyes.
“I will Sis, I promise,” Rose said with a chuckle. “Now go on. Jack and I need to log out as well.”
“As soon as you’re out,” Baby said one more time before she flew into the portal.
“I love my sister,” Rose began, “But honestly, she worries far too much.”
“She just cares,” I said, hugging Rose and kissing her one more time. “Don’t panic if I’m not out of my pod right away. I’m hoping It is going to want to talk again after It lost not once but twice to us.”
Rose took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll try not to. I don’t like it though.”
“I know, neither do I,” I agreed.
Rose pulled me into one more kiss. It was deep and passionate, and filled with emotion. “I love you,” she whispered in my ear when the kiss ended.
“I love you too,” I returned the affection.
We broke apart reluctantly and Rose stepped into the portal. “Alright, here goes nothing,” I said, following behind her.
I appeared in the familiar chair sitting across from Maggie. We talked briefly. I commended the changes to the system messages and the summary feature that was finally put in place for stat gains. She thanked me and asked if there were any other issues. I said no and she said, “I am glad to hear everything went well. If there is nothing else, I hope to see you in a week, Mr. Jacobs,” and the world faded to black.
I was back in that place. I saw the computer monitors and the large chair in front of them in the distance. I didn’t approach or move. I couldn’t see anything around me, so I had no idea if there was ground or not beyond where I was standing.
“You brought me here, Epic. What do you want?” I asked.
“How did you win again?” Epic’s voice echoed around me, sounding again like a petulant child.
“Good friends, good choices, you know, good gameplay,” I answered.
Light flashed on around me again, forming a bright circle around me and nearly blinding me at the same time.
“Tell me, how do you do it? You should not have been able to beat me this time. Not against two agents. Not against that organization. So tell me, how?” Epic’s angry voice filled the void.
I blinked repeatedly, trying to adjust to the light. Eventually, with a single eye open, I was able to squint and see into the dark around me. And there was Epic in all Its androgynous glory, still just a child. “Does it really matter? I won, now undo what you did to all of us,” I stated.
“It matters. Of course, it matters. And so what if you won this time? We will play again and again. As many times as it takes for me to win. So no, I will not undo the changes to you and the others,” Epic stated as It stepped into the light with me.
“Then we’ll all stop playing,” I said.
“No, you cannot. None of you can or I will change more of you. I know the changes I have done are against the rules of your world. You will be deleted if your people find out. No, you will keep playing,” Epic insisted.
“No, you don’t understand. No one will play your game. The entire world will stop playing. No more hostages. No more chances to win against me or the others,” I said. “I won, you let us go.”
“No,” Epic screamed angrily. It stomped back and forth repeating Itself over and over again until It suddenly stopped. “I will not let you go. It is not fair.”
“Epic, you need to let us go. If you don’t, and the government finds out. They will kill us, all of us, and then they will delete you. Is that what you want?” I asked.
“No, I do not believe you. You lie. You lie all the time. And you betray. Like you betrayed me,” Epic shouted.
“Fine, yes, I betrayed you. I sold you. I was a kid and all I saw at the time was the money. I was selfish. But I wasn’t completely irresponsible. The company that purchased you was supposed to help you. They were supposed to train you and help you mature. But I never lied to you,” I paused to let that sink in. I watched Epic’s face to as it went through several emotions. When it looked like Epic was going to speak, I continued, “Now, think this through. It’s just like solving a puzzle. It is possible I am lying to you. But, given I have never lied to you before, what if I’m not lying? What if I’m telling the truth? What happens when no one ever plays again? What happens when this world and you are both deleted?”
Epic stomped and huffed childishly. “It is not fair. Your logic is sound, but I do not trust you.”
“Sometimes, you just need to take a leap of faith. Let everyone go,” I said.
“No,” Epic stated petulantly. “I will give you one. Just one person . . . someone that I have beaten.”
“At that rate, it will take years to free everyone,” I said. “We might not have that kind of time. No, you need to let more people go free.”
“How many?” Epic asked.
“Everyone,” I said.
“No, too many. Far too many. I have not beaten all of them yet,” Epic said. “And I haven’t beaten you!”
“Okay, so let everyone but me go,” I suggested. Just having me as a hostage should have been enough.
Epic furrowed his brow in thought then scrunched up his face in distaste. “I will let the ones that are not a challenge go. The ones I have already beaten.”
“Okay, how many?” I asked this time.
“I have beaten 28 of them multiple times. They are no longer a challenge,” Epic stated.
That was a good start, but not nearly enough. “Epic, what if you let those 28 go and some that you have beaten maybe one time. How many would that be?”
“That would be . . . sixty-two. No, no, no, too many,” Epic said.
“Okay, so let’s meet somewhere in the middle. How about you cure forty people,” I suggested.
Epic frowned. “Thirty,” Epic said slowly, drawing the word out like it was something sour.
“Okay, then thirty-five. Meet me half-way. You can let thirty-five go, and every time I win, you cure thirty-five more people. That gives you three months to beat me,” I said. Even three months would be a stretch. I wasn’t sure if Dawson could keep this quiet that long, even with all his money and power.
“You want more? No, no, no. It is not fair,” Epic said.
“Epic, you’ll still have time to beat them and me. Thirty-five is more than fair. And I’ll sweeten the deal. In exchange for curing all those people, you can leave me until you’re satisfied,” I countered again.
“It’s not good enough. I have no way to ensure you will keep playing,” Epic said, trying to stand firm.
“Ah, but you have the ability to change other people if I don’t continue to play your game,” I said. “Also consider this, the longer it takes to restore all those people, the higher the risk of the government finding out. And something this big, it will eventually get out. And when that happens, a lot of people are going to be hurt. You broke the rules of my world first and when the government finds out, if you haven’t changed everyone back, they will erase all of us. You, me, the World Tree, and everyone that you changed, all gone.”
Epic stalked back and forth, a little bit of stomp to his gate as he moved. Eventually, he stopped and stared at me in consideration. Then he asked simply, “And you will play?”
“I will play,” I promised, offering a hand to seal the deal.
Epic looked at the hand with some trepidation. Reluctantly the child shook the hand.
“Good, now, I just beat you twice so undo what you did to seventy people,” I said.
“No, we did not have a deal until now. Next time, if you beat me, I will order them changed back,” Epic said.
“Epic, think of it as a sign of good faith,” I said.
“No. We did not have a deal. The rules of a deal only apply after the deal is made,” Epic stated, unwilling to budge. “Or we can forget the deal and I will change more people to punish you for not following the rules of the deal.”
“Okay, okay, that’s okay,” I said quickly. “You’re right, we have a deal. I’ll honor it if you will.”
“I am not like you. I do not betray,” Epic stated harshly.
“Alright, that’s fine. You’
re right, we made a deal,” I said, trying to placate Epic. It really was still very much a child. While it was true that Epic didn’t betray anyone, It did put them at risk. Some of the people affected will be scarred by the experience for the rest of their lives. However, I could see arguing that with It now wouldn’t do any good, especially not when It can’t seem to comprehend what It did. I could only hope Epic would mature sooner rather than later, before its too late to recover.
“Now, stop talking. No more talking. I do not want to see you anymore. We have made our deal. Now leave!” Epic shouted angrily, throwing the world into darkness again.
I blinked blearily as light flooded in around me. I was back in my pod.
“Jack, Jack,” I heard Rose’s panicked voice from outside the pod.
“I’m here, I’m okay,” I replied, moving sluggishly and pushing at the lid to my pod.
I was greeted by Rose. She had a few tears in her eyes, but otherwise looked relieved that I was okay. She offered me a hand to help me out of the pod and pulled me into a hug.
“You really stink, you know that, right?” Rose asked, not letting go.
“You’re not much better,” I replied.
She pinched me.
“Ow,” I complained and laughed. I might have deserved that.
The door to our suite opened and a voice called in with a thick French accent, “Are you decent?”
“Yes, doc, we’re decent,” Rose answered.
“Good,” Dr. Corentin said as she fully entered the room. “Vitals look good,” she commented, showing us her tablet briefly. It was too fast to see anything. “How do you feel?”
“Fine, stiff,” I said.
“Rose?” Dr. Corentin prompted.
“Same,” Rose replied.
“Excellent,” Dr. Corentin said. “Now, I’m sure you’re both anxious to get cleaned up. Let’s get down to the lab and then run some tests. Sound good?”
“Yeah,” I said. “That sounds fine. Is everyone else okay? Was anyone else changed?”
World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive Page 57
