“Yeah,” Komodo jumped in. “I used a portal to transport us out of there. We are at least two hours walk from where you last saw us. How did you track us?”
“Oh please young druid,” Cometfall said in a demeaning tone. “You are barely allowed to touch the surface of the magic I can use. While standing here, I have assessed your levels, seen what is in your inventories, and found your usernames. Trust me Komodo, tracking your portals destination was not difficult.”
Michael and Komodo looked at each other dumbfounded—speechless.
“It is okay,” the wizard continued. “I mean you no harm. Honestly, I want to help.”
“Help with what?” both Komodo and Michael responded at once.
“Please,” the wizard said with a sigh. “Do not insult my intelligence. “We all know what Soto Akiyama said in his interview. I designed the prize for three people. I find it hard to believe that the three of you are traveling together just by coincidence.”
“Fine,” Komodo said. “You are right; we are going on the quest to find Cerberus.”
“Thank you,” the wizard said. “I am glad that back and forth is over.”
“You mentioned that you wanted to help?” Michael asked.
“Straight to the point, huh?” The wizard asked. “Alright, well as I mentioned earlier, I have grown quite fold of my character and did not wish to take on this adventure with you, but I do want someone to rid this world of Cerberus. I have no need for the money, or desire to meet Soto Akiyama. Personally, I think he is a bit of a twat. All I want is this game back, and I need three determined players to go after the prize and succeed.”
“Okay,” Komodo said. “So, you want us to risk our players for your benefit? That sounds pretty selfish to me.”
“Yeah,” Michael agreed. “Thanks for the support, but a cheer squad isn’t going to get us very far. How exactly do you plan on helping us?”
The wizard chuckled, “Wow, you two are just as untrusting as your friend, Rampage. You will need that going forward in this quest. Nobody should be trusted except your closest allies. Many will want you to fail.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Komodo said. Michael could tell that he was getting impatience, but Michael wanted to hear what the wizard had to say.
“Cometfall, I think we understand that we shouldn’t trust anybody. How exactly do you plan on helping us though? Do you mind getting to the point?” Michael interrupted before Komodo could dismiss the wizard.
“Yes, I can,” Cometfall responded. “As I mentioned before, Cerberus has been depleting resources from anyone who wishes to challenge it, but I know a way to level up faster than using material goods. I know a secret about Archaic Venture that no one on this game will be able to tell you. I know where hordes of monsters are that you can breeze through and level u as fast as you want.”
“And what?” Komodo asked. “Are we supposed to believe that you are just going to tell us where they are?”
“Yes,” the wizard answered matter-of-factly. “I will.”
“Give me a second with my friend to discuss this,” Michael said.
“Of course,” the wizard said.
Komodo and Michael conferred with each other for a moment. At first, Komodo was hesitant to trust the wizard, but eventually, Michael convinced him that they had nothing to lose in following the wizard to this magical place of leveling up.
“Okay,” Michael eventually said to the wizard. “You show us where to level up, and we will defeat Cerberus.”
“Deal!” The wizard answered enthusiastically. “Excellent, let us go get your friend and get going immediately. There is no time to spare.”
So, the three of them—Komodo, Cometfall, and Michael—all made their way down to Raven Haven where they found Rampage bargaining with the merchant over a few hundred pieces of gold. Rampage was not easily swayed, but after much coaxing from Komodo and Michael, she eventually gave in and decided that it was a good idea to do some training before they faced Cerberus.
***
Over the next five days, Michael called in sick to work. He needed all the time he could get on Archaic Venture, and although his legs were sore every night when Michael went to bed, he knew it was worth it. The adventures that Cometfall took them on were incredible. They had started slowly. Their first battle was with a bunch of half gargoyle-half human-looking creatures in a massive building that resembled a church. The monsters were stone creatures, which meant that they had a slow reaction time, but they took a while to kill. All three of them leveled up six times in a matter of two days. Their second battle they faced a more formidable foe. They were put up against a mountain of goblins. Although they had struggled at first and had to repeat the hike of the mountain three times, it had been worth it. Once they defeated the goblin king, all three of them had leveled up six times. As much as Rampage hated to admit it, the guidance of Cometfall was paying off. But, it wasn’t until the third quest that things began to get amazing. On the third quest, they were sent into a cave of bears that stood on their hind feet and wielded battle axes. They were quite the sight to see. And, after they had made their way all the way to the other side of the cave, each character had leveled up twenty levels. The best part of the entire thing was that when Michael laid the final blow into the massive grizzly bear, the king of the bears, the bear dropped something, something of enormous importance. Michael picked up the two swords that the grizzly bear was wielding. The sword’s levels were off the chart; even Cometfall didn’t know what to say about them. They glowed with a luminescent blue and had elf carvings all over them. With these in Michael’s arsenal, he became the most influential person in the group; there was nothing that anybody could do to stop the strength and agility of the blades.
After the group ascended out of the cave and found themselves breathing clean air for the first time, they all took a look around and couldn’t believe what they saw. Each one of them was brandishing new weapons, new armor, and they had all reached at least level thirty. It was then that Cometfall started to talk, “Well, I think that you three are ready.”
“Do you think so?” Michael asked.
“Of course we are ready,” Rampage said flexing his muscles. “Look at all this strength.”
“Let the man speak,” Komodo said. Komodo had grown quite fond of Cometfall. Cometfall was very particular about how things worked and where they were going next and exactly what they were trying to accomplish.
“I don’t think that individually you are ready, but with Draynor’s new weapons and all of your accumulative abilities you can take on the future,” Cometfall said.
“So, you’re finally going to tell us where to go?” Rampage said.
“Unfortunately not, all I can relay are rumors,” Cometfall explained. “I have heard that there is a large gate boarding the northern front of the newest land. You will have to find the key before getting there. That is all that I can tell you.”
“When you say you, do you mean you are not coming with us?” Komodo said.
“Oh no my young friend, I will be leaving you now,” Cometfall said. “It is up to you to carry out the rest of your quest.”
“What!” Michael said. “How can you leave us now? We need to find that key first! And then you can leave us.”
“I am sorry Draynor, I cannot follow you on this mission. I have done my job and prepared you for the end of your journey. It is not for me to walk that path with you,” Cometfall said.
“But you have been such a great guide,” Komoda said. “Please don’t go.”
“Unfortunately, I have to. I have pressing matters to the east that I must deal with. I wish you all well,” Cometfall said as he started walking away.
Rampage stayed silent. As much as she was appreciative for all of the knowledge and guidance, she never really did trust the wizard. She always assumed that he had an ulterior motive.
“Wait!” Michael yelled after the wizard. Cometfall paused for a moment and looked over his shoulder to list
en to what Michael had to say.
“Thank you,” is all that Michael said. He said it in the most sincere voice that he could produce.
“You’re welcome,” Cometfall said. “Make me proud.”
Cometfall started to walk over the edge of a hill, and before he made it over the horizon and out of sight, he vanished out of thin air. Komodo, Rampage, and Michael all stood still, unsure of what to do next.
“I think we should head for the gate,” Rampage said. “I don’t see any reason why we should wait any longer. I mean, look at how far we have come. And, look at those blades that Draynor is wielding. There is no way that that evil spirit will be able to stand up to us.”
“But what about the key?” Komodo said. “What are we going to do when we get there?”
“Oh come on Komodo,” Rampage continued. “It is a quest; you can’t over analyze everything. That is when everything starts to go wrong. We are meant to be on this quest. And, ipso facto, the stars will align and we will find the key along the way.
“What makes you so sure?” Komodo asked.
“I have a theory,” Rampage said.
“Oh really? The all-knowing Rampage has a theory. Do tell us what your amazing theory is.”
“My theory is if one is on a mission, and they over think things, they will never get where they want to go. But, if they allow things to happen naturally, the universe will provide them with what they need to succeed.”
“If you think something, it will come true,” Komodo said sarcastically. “What a crock of shit that is.”
“The power of positivity is real,” Rampage said. “Have faith.”
“I never knew you were a religious person,” Komodo said.
“I agree with Rampage,” Michael whispered.
“This is a video game, faith has nothing to do it,” Komodo continued.
“I agree with Rampage,” Michael said louder.
“I never said that you have to have faith, Komodo. I am just saying that if we dick around for too long, someone will beat us to the punch. If we head in the right direction, with the right idea in our heads, we may just find exactly what we need,” Rampage said.
“No,” Komodo said. “I refuse to believe that this is the best course of action. We should consult the player's guide.”
“I agree with Rampage!” Michael yelled. Finally, he got their attention. “We head for the gate.”
Both Komodo and Rampage went silent. This was the first time that Michael had ever agreed with Rampage, and it caught Komodo off guard.
“We make our way to the gate. We are running out of time,” Michael muttered as he pushed passed both of them. He didn’t wait to hear them following him; he just kept walking north.
Chapter VI
Back at the Maddox household, Michael was holding up his end of the bargain. He continued to attend both of physical therapy sessions a week and performed every one of his stretches and exercises. Despite Michael’s attendance record was and his determination to accomplish everything that he told his father he would do, he was tired. Every day and night, Michael would spend at least six to eight hours playing Archaic Venture. Because of Archaic Venture’s physical element, Michael was walking, running, and swinging his arms on the regular. Walking along guard rails was not on the top of his priority list; and, after the latest meeting between Ben and the Maddox’s, this information was illuminated.
“We are wasting our money, Erica!” Mr. Maddox said to his wife while sitting at the dinner table. “We let him waste his money on that stupid machine, and now all of his energy is goes towards it.”
“What do you want me to say, Steve?” Mrs. Maddox said. “Let’s sell the damn thing, the only thing that has made our son happy in the past year?”
“Yes! That is what I want you to say.”
Michael sat quietly, listening to his parents argue about him—again. He wanted to explain to them that he feels stronger than ever, but he doubted they would even hear him out. Also, he worried that his testimonial wouldn’t mean anything to them and it would only add fuel to the fire.
“Well Steven, I am not going to say that,” Mrs. Maddox rebutted. “Didn’t you say that our son has been holding up his end of the bargain?”
“Yes, I guess he has, but it isn’t doing anything,” Mr. Maddox said. “I hate to say it, but one of them has to go. We either sell the box or stop physical therapy.”
Michael took a bite of his pork roast as quietly as he could, hoping not to get their attention. Although he appeared to calm and collected on the surface, Michael was very nervous. His group of friends had come very close over the past couple weeks, and the thought of losing them was eating him from the inside. On top of that, they had traveled all across the lands of Archaic Venture, fighting new monsters and leveling up. Their characters were strong, and they had gathered unique weapons and armor for their last battle. Not only had they seen much of the land, earlier that day they had made it to a village in the newest area of the world, and a commoner who lived in the town had mentioned a gate to the north. The group was sure that this was the entrance to Cerberus and –with excitement—they had decided to go check it out after dinner. They were so close to finishing their mission that Michael could taste it. There was a ten thousand dollar prize waiting for him, and it was just out of reach, but his father would never agree to postpone the sale of his game system just so that he could—maybe—win some money.
“Maybe, if you had gotten that promotion, perhaps we wouldn’t be having this problem right now,” Mrs. Maddox said in a know-it-all fashion.
“Oh my god, are you kidding me, Erica!” Mr. Maddox said slamming his hands on the table. “You know what? You’re right; this is entirely my fault. I don’t know how I missed that.”
“I thought it was pretty obvious,” Mrs. Maddox whispered under her breath, even though everyone at the table could hear it.
“That’s it, I am fucking out of here,” Mr. Maddox said, aggressively pushing his chair away from the table and stomping off towards the door.
“Where are you going to go, Steve? If you don’t have money for a silly gaming system, you don’t have money for a hotel!” Erica yelled at him, but it was too late. Mr. Maddox had already put on his shoes, opened the front door, and slammed it behind him.
Michael sat there, still as a board. He didn’t know what to say or how to console his mother. She had begun crying. “It’s okay mom,” Michael finally said.
“No, it's not,” she replied. Her voice quivered due to the tears. “No it is not!”
She excused herself from the table and went to her room. Her sobs were audible from the kitchen table. Michael was beside himself—he didn’t know what to do. He felt like he had to choose between the first friends he had ever had and his parents. It was a terrible situation to be in. After a few minutes of sitting at the table alone, Michael decided that there was only one thing that was within his control, one thing that he could do to correct the horrible situation he was in, Michael would log back on to Archaic Venture, and he would have to defeat Cerberus. So, Michael cleared the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and then made his way over to his television where he popped his gloves, boots, and headset on and logged into the game.
As he waited for the game to start, Michael checked the clasps on his legs, did a little warm up, and once he decided he was ready, clicked the entrance button. Soon, Michael’s motions were much more fluid considering it was his dark-elf character that was doing the moving. He was in the town of Isledorf, the same town that they had heard about the gate in. Michael went to the message board and checked whether Rampage and Komodo had logged in, they hadn’t. Luckily, the three of them had set up a location to which they would meet—the pub.
Michael walked into the bar but quickly exited. The first glimpse inside of the bar was of Kimble and his goons. He couldn’t make out what they were doing, but Michael knew better than to stick around and find out. Michael ran around the corner of the building an
d pulled up the message board again and rapidly typed, “Don’t go to the bar! Meet on the north side of town.”
A response came almost instantly, “What’s up? We are En route now.” Michael was relieved to hear that they were together and that they hadn’t made it to the bar yet. He walked up to them; they were sitting on a pair of boulders just outside town. He ran up to them, “thank god you guys didn’t make it to the bar before I could warn you.”
“What is it?” Komodo asked. “Why did we have to meet out here? I wanted to get a little more information from our guy before heading out towards the gate.”
“Yeah, I hate to tell you this, but I think he is a little busy right now,” Michael said.
“Do you mind elaborating,” Komodo said.
“You are acting strange Michael, is everything alright?” Rampage asked.
“I am fine,” Michael said. “When I walked into the pub I saw that Kimble character was talking to our guy. They must be going after the same thing we are, Cerberus. We need to hurry.”
“Oh shit!” Rampage Exclaimed.
“Not those guys again,” Komodo added.
“Yeah, so there is no time to waste,” Michael said. “The only problem is, we don’t have the key yet and we have no idea where to find it.”
“Have faith, Dray,” Rampage said. “All will be shown to us remember. We are meant to be on this quest.”
“I sure hope you’re right,” Komodo said. He was still a little skeptical about the whole thing.
“If those guys get there first, it won’t matter anyway,” Michael said. “Let’s get going.”
Komodo resigned, and the three of them started walking. They walked for what felt like miles. In between them and the gate, there were rolling hills covered in snow and a long mountain pass, but when they got to the other side, what they saw was marvelous. There was what appeared to be a wall of white. From what they could tell, the wall wasn’t made of ice, just white cloud. In the center of the wall, there was a beautiful silver gate. The silver pillars rose from the icy ground and curve at the top to connect to one another. There are beautiful carvings all along the surfaces of the gate and between the pillars was a blue liquid substance. Once they are closer, it became apparent that they could not trespass through, they would need a key. Rampage, being the ambitious one, put a hand on the liquid force field and it blew her back ten feet.
Archaic Venture_The Myth Of Cerberus Page 5
