by Mars Dorian
“I’m trying.”
The Thornbasher shielded every assault and changed its pattern. It moved into attack mode and jabbed my armor with its fast claws. The durability cracked under the volley of incoming leg attacks. I could feel each vibration on my gloves. I stepped back a few meters and encircled the creature. Its rear lacked protection and begged to be battered, but every time I tried to run around the creature, it matched my speed, keeping its front leveled to mine.
“Try attacking it from behind,” the girl said, sounding like annoying game guide all of a sudden.
“What do you think I’m doing?”
“Well, do more.”
Jeez, this girl. “Watch out.”
One second of distraction because of the girl, and the Thornbasher roared at me with a stampede attack, knocking me off the ground and slamming me against the decorated walls of the main chapel. My health reduced to 77 percent. I needed a plan ASAP or else—
“Let me distract the creature for you,” the pilgrim girl said.
“No, stay where you are.”
She didn’t. This one was a feisty NPC. The girl yelled and waved at the Thornbasher and managed to catch its attention. The creature turned its head toward the girl, exposing its butt to me.
“Do something, it’s coming for me.”
“You don’t say?”
I used the breach move and attacked the exposed rear. It was refreshing to land every single hit. Even better, the attacks caused 150% damage thanks to the weak spot. However, the joy died soon enough. The creature swung around and screeched twice as loud. I had managed to cut down around 85 HP before the Thornbasher went full berserk at me again.
I should have teamed up with another player—this wasn’t working out at all. I had to keep the creature from moving and stay on the spot when I remembered my equipment layout.
Spike mines.
Of course.
I hated to use the girl as a bait, but with no co-player by my side, I needed teamwork. So while the girl distracted the basher, I planted a charge on the ground which took me around five seconds.
The creature switched back to me and prepared for another ram attack when its front legs stepped onto my two mines. The spikes extracted and pierced the claws of the front legs, pinning the Thornbasher down and temporarily preventing it from moving. The ‘staggered’ update circled around health status of the creature. I dashed around the creature and blasted a fresh rifle shot into the rear, which pulverized a solid 23 HP. I then unleashed my own volley of jabs. The five slashes cracked the crystalline rear. Shards splintered. Almost 50% of the creature’s health had been lowered when the staggered status vanished. The Thornbasher released its front legs from my spiked mines and changed its attack pattern yet again. This time, the creature crawled up the decorated walls and reached the ceiling. It screeched, directed its abdomen toward us on the ground, and shot thorns from its crystalline back. One, two, three, six, eight shards rained down on us.
“Take cover.”
The kids shouted. I bent over their backs and shielded them from the spikes. Two pierced my back armor and broke its durability. My health dropped to 53%. Every damage from now on would directly impact my life points. Very bad.
I looked up at the ceiling where the Thornbasher unleashed another ear-scratching screech. I wanted to throw an exploda and blast that beast into particles when I remembered that I had sacrificed my last unit to the stupid altar to access the cloister. Talking about karma.
Meanwhile, the Thornbasher readied its back for another spike volley which I couldn’t counter. I lacked a shield, a co-player, and more importantly, any armor plating to mitigate the thorn’s piercing attacks.
I was…
“Please do something,” the girl said. Tears ran down her cheeks, but I failed to give her solace her and ran out of options.
“I—“
—stopped before I could mutter another excuse. A quick glance at my inventory showed me the Harpoon gun glove which I had bought from Moola. I activated this new secondary weapon and aimed my left gloved hand at the rear of the Thornbasher glued to the ceiling like a mutated Spiderman. I released the switch and unleashed the harpoon chain that whooshed through the air. Its edge penetrated the crystalline rear like a grappling hook. The chain tightened between the Thornbasher and my left-hand.
This was actually working.
I turned the switch back on and rolled in the chained harpoon again, pulling the creature from the ceiling. The creature slammed into the ground with a hard clonk and received another temporary stagger effect.
“No way,” the boy said.
“My way,” I said before I rushed around the stunned monster and unleashed another volley of slashes against its unprotected rear. The health points downed to zero. The Thornbasher unleashed a last, hurtful groan before its armored body slumped to the ground, never to rise again.
I kept my gunblade ready and waited for one last surprise attack but the Thornbasher stayed down.
No twitch, no leg movement.
The confirmation message updated on my HUD and showered me with experience points. I upgraded to the next level and rolled my shoulders. The adrenaline still flushed through my real veins as the realization dawned on me: I just had single-handedly survived my toughest boss battle.
50
I grabbed the items the creature had dropped. The boy unwrapped his arms and crawled away from the corner. Together with the girl, he nudged the corpse of the creature with his shoes. His body shivered, eyes electrified by the sight. “Is it really dead?”
“Deader than the grim reaper in the phantom zone.”
Both pilgrims needed a couple of seconds to cope with the fight that probably had been the most devastating experience of their NPC life. The boy stepped back, but the girl bowed over one of the many broken limbs with the curiosity of a scientist. She poked the chitin pieces and even picked one up. “How did you know where its weaknesses were? You seemed to know exactly where to strike.”
Analyzer, of course. The number one tool for every player trying to understand their enemies. I formulated the fact into the game’s narrative. “My eyes are blessed with a gift that allows me to detect the enemy’s weak points.”
The boy shared her curiosity. “Did you learn that at the Academy?”
“You could say that.”
I approached the half-eaten corpse of the missing high priest. The blood had dried into a dark crust, but it was the claw bites riddled throughout his body that really made my stomach turn. The graphical depiction was almost too gruesome for this type of game. I tried to shield the children’s attention away from the horrific sight.
“Sorry about your high priest. Maybe he gets re-spawned in the afterlife.”
The girl regained her posture. Calmness leveled her voice. “We’ll hold a ceremony later this afternoon and prepare his ghost for the spirit lane.”
“Good idea.”
I had no idea what she meant, but if it helped her deal with death, why not? To each their own.
“I need a trophy for my leader. You might want to look away.”
They motioned to turn around when they saw me unsheathing my gunblade. I pointed the sharp edge at the neck of the creature and separated the triangular head from the armored body. The bulk fit into my inventory and weighed less than anticipated.
“This chamber is purged. Time to return outside.”
The two nodded and joined me back outside, where hundreds of pilgrims and curious tourists gathered around the entrance like true fans greeting their star. They cheered when they saw me and the children stepping out in one piece.
I showed the trophy head to the curious bystanders and earned twice the applause. For the first time, I felt like a true hero actually saving the day, even though this cloister purge ranked as a lower quest. The situation called for an appropriate line. “The cloister is free of evil.”
I could have bathed in the applause for hours but I needed to move on. After al
l, this quest was just a means to prove my loyalty to the Blue Flame.
I pushed myself through the cheering crowds and watched the kids talking to their superiors and fellow followers. They thanked me in silence. Every NPC and tourist around me smiled brighter than Fourlando’s sun.
The updates rained down on me.
You’re affiliation with the Pilgrims of Aeon has increased.
Local merchants around the Holiplaze have decreased their product costs by 15% as a thank you.
You receive a free lifetime-pass for the Cloister of Trials
Granted, the bonuses didn’t blow me away, and the Holiplaze counted as a minor spot in the mainland, but I still made progress. I had forged new allies and new affiliations that hopefully could lead to something grander. Who knew which quest I was going to solve here later on. I spent the new skill point on my Chainlink ability and reduced the cooldown to 20 seconds while increasing its firing range to 7.5 meters.
Before I left the area, the two pilgrim children caught up with me. Eyes filled with admiration. “When are you going to come back, Dash?”
Whenever another useful quest wanted to be beaten, I thought. “We’ll see what destiny has in place. I’m pretty sure we’ll work together again.”
I looked at the faraway entrance gate to the cloister. The first group of followers and tourists treaded inside with careful steps.
“What about all the damage? The cloister’s still a mess.”
“We’ll start rebuilding it today. With so many skilled pilgrims and donors around, we’ll find a way.”
“We’re used to building things up again,” the boy said. He finally gained some color and stopped twisting his head from side to side. Maybe hope really loomed on the horizon. The two kids bowed in unison. “May the Aeons bless your path.”
“By the way, what are you names?”
“I’m Celeste, he’s Caspian.”
“Fitting.”
“We’ll remember your deeds, Dash.”
To be frank, I would have loved to hang around here. Sweet people, lots of digital food and items—now fifteen percent cheaper, and a sunny landscape made for a pleasant strolling spot. However, the quest menu told me to return to Balzac for my rewards. The game did a hell of a good job firing up curiosity. With so many millions of combinations and unique items floating in the world of Fourlando, even seasoned players didn’t know what to get.
I fed fresh fyrekraut to my fowl, increased its stamina by 17% for fifteen minutes and mounted the useful creature. The fowl squealed and welcomed back its rider. Even though I couldn’t verbally speak to the fowl, I felt kinship.
I galloped away from the canyon site and rocketed over the Great Plains. The journey back to the mountain village flew by. I couldn’t wait to receive my mid-rare item and see what grand mission Balzac had in store for me.
51
Thankfully, I didn’t need to solve another spiritual question to enter Balzac’s observatory tower. After parking my fowl in the village stable, I rushed toward his tower and jetted up the snaky stairways. Balzac was sitting hunched over his wooden work table fidgeting with drawing tools and a magnifying glass. Balzac must have had the sixth sense; his back was turned to me, but he noticed my presence. “I’m glad your mission turned out to be successful, Dash. The pilgrims are raving about you as much as their belief allows them to express excessive emotions.”
How in the world did he know about the pilgrims’ reactions? Either it was by game design or Balzac had sent some kind of sentinel to observe my progress. I did see birds—which turned out to be griffins—circulating over the Great Plains and the Holiplaze.
“Celeste and Caspian were the sweetest folks I’ve ever met. A bunch of kids and elderly pilgrims just wanting to be left alone. I can’t believe Sunbleeders were pushing them around.”
“The Syndicate doesn’t allow for ideologies other than their own. These Sunbleeders not only want to dominate over every part of Fourlando, they also want to rule people’s minds.”
“Total control.”
Balzac nodded. “The way of the tyrants.”
His curious glance traveled around my armor and stopped at my gear pack. “Do you have an accessory from the culprit?”
I took the creature’s head from my inventory and presented the bony trophy. Balzac swiveled around his chair and eyed the finding like an anthropologist. “Another monster infestation?”
“The creature somehow snuck into the cloister and killed the high priest, devouring most of his body. Freaky.”
Balzac put his gloves on before taking head and placing it into a special glass container which he sealed shut with a switch mechanism. Another prize for his ever-growing freak collection.
“Traces of Reepo crystals,” he said with concern.
“The crystals were intertwined with the monster’s body,” I said. “They glued the abomination together or powered up its strength. A terrible sight.”
Apparently not for Balzac. Although he seemed to detest the Reepo on an intellectual level, he had a natural curiosity for it.
“Those crystals have a devastating effect on life forms, Dash. Like cancer, they corrupt the organism and morph it into something sinister.”
He placed the sealed head on top of his shelves and turned his full attention toward me. “I knew you were going to be successful. There’s something special about you, Dash; an aura that doesn’t seem to come from this world.”
If only he knew the truth. Maybe one day I’d talk to him about real life and go full meta. I got the feeling that Balzac would understand, or at least ponder my stories from the physical world.
“Now it’s time to fulfill my part of the deal.”
He handed me over the rewards for the mission.
Congratulations. You have solved the litmus test by the leader of the Blue Flame.
You received 1000 credits.
You received new experience.
You received a mid-rare mechanized light armor: Blackrock LowShell armor suit.
Bonus: your affiliation with the Blue Flame has increased.
Item: Blackrock LowShell
Armor: Light medium
Quality: Very Good
Function: Protects against long-range projectiles and light melee sharp weaponry
Ability: Nullifies 5% of projectile weapons
Ignores 8% of light melee jabs
I wanted a new mech weapon but, hey, the mechanical light armor looked pretty cool too. Not to mention, its additional effects outranked my low-grade armor from the field mission.
Balzac beamed and used his fatherly-type voice. “Dash, let me be clear. You will never get rich by joining our crusade, but you will collect valuable experience and receive machinery beyond your wildest dreams. Our gear smiths are working hard to upgrade our equipment and infrastructure.”
The latter caught my curiosity. As a WarTech, I needed mechanized tools and weapons more than any other class, but I was still interested in making in-game money. I could always smuggle valuable items on the side or join other story arks if the Blue Flame’s fight for liberty became stale and fruitless. Of course, I would never mouth that opportunity in front of Balzac—especially after all the trouble I went through to earn his trust. He stepped closer to me and looked down. In real life, I would have smelled his warm breath.
“Quite a few capable cadets from the Academy have joined our cause, although their true commitment will show only over time.”
His eyes seemed to eat through my avatar. “Unfortunately, some have relented to the corruption and joined the Syndicate.”
Was that a warning to attest my loyalty? A frosty shiver tinkled down my spine.
I said, “Some folks choose greed over the good.”
“But good is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? One group’s hero is another group’s terrorist.”
He pulled another test question but my body was too tired to follow his line of thought.
“I just try to do whatever I t
hink is right at any given moment. Right now, I worry about surviving my next mission.”
Balzac chuckled. “Of course. Always focusing on the task at hand, tackling fate one bite at a time. It’s a sound approach.”
I looked at my real life clock and realized I neared the six hour range again. Damn immersion always pulverized my concept of time. My body had tired over the last hour and my concentration was gone.
“Sir, if it’s fine by you, I’d like to take a rest now before we move on.”
“Do that, Dash. And when you have thoroughly recovered from your mission, be sure to find me. Something big is approaching, and our movement needs every capable warrior.”
Damn teasing. I wanted to find out what grandiose mission he was talking about, but my mental capacity had dropped like a poisoned fowl. Before I stepped down the stairs, I noticed something from the corner of my left eye. Balzac winked at me, as if he had shared a secret only the two of us knew about. I took that as his character’s trait and left his little kingdom.
52
I quit my stream and noticed a spike in viewership. It had almost tripled since I left the Academy and would probably only grow from now on. To be honest, I had barely paid attention to the views since the game world demanded every ounce of attention, but it was encouraging to see the stats going up.
I needed all the help I could get upgrading my character and attracting attention. But now, I made another safety backup before my tired body broke down in bed. As always, the night passed in a blitz, and when my eyelids shot up around noon the next day, I saw the impossible. The computer was missing from my table, and with it, my VR game set. I rolled out of my bed and strolled toward the table to make sure I wasn't imagining things. I looked underneath the table, checked my shelves, my closet, and every other damn space. Zilch. Someone took my VR set, and I had an idea who.
I stomped out my room, straight into the living room where the entire crew awaited me.
