Ring of Promise: A LitRPG novel (Elements of Wrath Online Book 1)

by J. A. Cipriano

  “They’re back,” he shouted. “The Firsters are back!”

  His announcement got the entire crowd’s attention while simultaneously making our group stop in confusion. What the heck was this guy going on about? What even was a ‘Firster’? Unless … were they talking about us?

  The entire waiting gaggle burst into cheers and applause. The Shadow was whooping himself as he made his way to where the throng was starting to close together, blocking the exit to the Hall. “Come on, guys, we can’t block their way! They’re still in the lead!”

  I glanced back at the others incredulously. Okay, so being ahead of the pack was something I thought was cool but did these people really think it was that big of a deal? I mean, it wouldn’t get us into Crystalfire ahead of the dungeon launch, and we’d already seen that K-Pat and the dev team had put in time breaks in between the quests. Being ahead right now was good for my self-esteem and nothing more.

  Crysta was only half-paying attention, eyes filled with that distant ‘I’m-getting-direct-messaged’ look, and almost bumped into Kayla, who was looking as unbelieving as I was. Burndall, to his credit, smiled shamelessly.

  “Come on, guys, we’re famous!” He laughed and took the lead, soaking in the attention. “Thanks for seeing us come in, folks!”

  Kayla and I exchanged shrugs and followed in his wake, Kayla taking Crysta by one arm so she wouldn’t bump into anyone else. Most of the lower-level members of the crowd seemed to be filled with honest admiration, and I’d be a liar if it didn’t puff my ego a little. It felt good to be cheered and complimented, after all.

  The raid folks, well, I wasn’t sure about them. Burndall strutted for the crowd and bantered back and forth with easy charm as we moved toward the plaza and the raiders stared at us the whole time, evaluating more than applauding. Now I could see that they were all from one guild, Elementalis Reclaimed, the raid guild. The oldest, the largest, and in the eyes of many the best. It was an uncomfortable bit of attention, at least to me, but there was a part of me that wondered if maybe they weren’t evaluating those of us that weren’t members of a guild to be invited.

  I had to remember that I needed a guild, a great one, to have a chance at winning that prize money. Forcing myself to look centered and throw off my nervousness, I nodded to them as we passed, acknowledging their attention with my own. They replied with short nods of their own but otherwise said nothing.

  Then we were out into the plaza, our new fans following along like ducklings as I took up the lead again. I flicked my Herald to the private group channel as we beelined for Champions’ Hall.

  Shale: This is really, really weird.

  Kayla: I agree. I’m used to some attention from Arena groupies, but this is nuts.

  Crysta: Sorry, guys, getting some alerts from messages waiting up above. It might be news about Vanni.

  Burndall: Don’t you guys sweat it! I know how to handle people; I’ll handle these guys, no sweat.

  Shale: Do you want us to wait on this turn-in, Crys? We can let you go and catch up for the turn-in later.

  Kayla: Thanks, Burndall, and yes, Crys. You need to take care of what’s important.

  Crysta: Thanks, Mom and Dad. :P It’s okay, I can linger for the turn-in and then head back up. After all that work, I need to see this through, right?

  Kayla grumbled below her breath as she replied to Crysta with an out-of-channel nod.

  Shale: Okay, we’ll make it fast then.

  Our little extended entourage swept into Champion’s Hall, a place that had returned to a frantic den of activity. Once we had brought the princess out into the game, we must have relit the fire under everyone’s butts. Still, the crowd ahead parted for us, spurred out of the way by our chattering followers if nothing else. Making our way down towards Copperholt’s desk, I could see the princess of the Ocean Kingdom standing with all her royal grace beside his desk, solemnly awaiting our return.

  There was no way I was going to keep Crysta for any longer than I had to. The moment I was in range, I dove into the NPC speech UI with Kallisandre. Our ‘fan club’ fell out of focus along with the rest of the room as per normal, letting us concentrate on the princess.

  “Champions, you bring me nothing but pleasure to see your safe return from the Dominions,” she said with measured tones. “Tell me, were the legends true? Was there Light to be found within the Needle?”

  “Yes, your Highness,” I replied as group leader. “We were put through a trial by an ancient Elohjin Guardian and then given this to bring back to you.”

  Slowly, I opened my hands to let forth the full radiance of the piece we had recovered. It brought a smile back to my lips, one shared by our entire group, even Crysta, and Kallisandre’s eyes widened at the sight of it.

  The princess opened her hands reverently and reached forward. “Warlord Shale, please hand the artifact to me. The brightest scholars in the Earth and Ocean Kingdoms are waiting to decipher its secrets, to wield this Light against the Flames of Conflict.”

  Without hesitation, I handed over the Light to her. She cradled it in her palms, entranced by its pure brilliance for a long moment, before finally cupping her hands around it.

  “Champions, you have once again proven your worth and your purity. For now, I offer you what rewards I can on behalf of our two kingdoms, but it pales in comparison to your deeds.”

  Quest ‘A Light in the Needle’ concluded!

  Quest successful!

  50% Experience awarded!

  Grade S Light Element Gem awarded!

  Congratulations! You have gained a level and are now a level 41 Warlord!

  Strength increases by 1 to 172!

  Infusion increases by 2 to 320!

  Vitality increases by 2 to 321!

  Health Points increases by 20 to 3300!

  Elemental Power increases by 20 to 2520!

  I wasn’t alone in the flare of light that signified leveling up. Both Burndall and Kayla both dinged a level a piece. For me, though, while the level was nice, the Light Element Gem was the real prize. Even a Grade C Gem was a small fortune but to be handed a Grade S? I mean, I knew that was the quest reward but some things you just couldn't believe until you saw it enter your inventory.

  The princess didn’t acknowledge the light show or my shock at the reality of the reward as she continued. “I will summon a Water Sprite to ferry this to the Mountain King immediately. It may be a day or more before we have made any breakthroughs, but I will have messages sent to you all when more secrets have been discovered.” She gestured to Sir Copperholt. “If you have any questions or discover any new information about the activities of the Flames or any new outbreaks of corruption before then, do not hesitate to come to Sir Copperholt or myself.”

  I knelt before the princess, an action matched by curtseys from Kayla and Crysta and a quick bow from the kid. “Understood, Princess Kallisandre. Thank you!”

  Now, as the UI shifted from the Quest dialogue to the more general interaction interface, Kallisandre and Copperholt were both included, with a variety of general dialogue options listed for both. I turned towards the group and put my hands on my hips.

  “I think that does it for the moment,” I sighed. “Do we want to try to meet up next login cycle? Maybe we can even find a connected quest or something that’s hidden out in the world.”

  Kayla nodded. “Maybe we can track down those raiders that attacked the royal caravan. I still think they’re connected to all of this!”

  “I’d be down with that, but I really have got some stuff to do upside,” Burndall said, shaking his head. “I’ll catch you guys tomorrow, same time as this session, yeah?”

  Crysta was looking up more than ahead now. “Yeah, I’ll be here tomorrow, definitely, but I don’t know what’s going on up there.” Her brow was contorted with worry even as she gave us all an apologetic frown. “I’m really sorry I might not be back on later today. It’s just …”

  Kayla beat me to saying, “Crys, you don’t
have to apologize. Go. It’s important!”

  “You took the words out of my mouth.” Kayla flashed me a smile of thanks that I truly appreciated. “We’ll be here, Crysta, don’t worry about that.”

  Even the kid nodded and flashed her a thumbs-up. “I bet it’s good news, anyway! It’ll be okay!”

  Crysta gave us all a thankful smile as I closed out the NPC UI. Before I knew what was what, she gave us each a quick, fervent hug. My response was vague discomfort and surprise while Kayla returned it earnestly and Burndall just grinned like an idiot. I was about to say something else when she blipped out of existence, traveling back up to the real world that always hung over us.

  Synthetic proteins and nutrients are perfectly healthy for human ingestion. That’s never been the issue over the past thirty years since their international approval. It comes down to basic human decency. We can produce enough natural foods to feed the world with all our scientific advances; we simply refuse to because synth-foods are cheaper to produce and sell to the working masses.

  Anita Cho, researcher, World Poverty Council, 2217

  While the Fontaine Institute continues to do its best to provide for those children suffering from severe medical conditions, we must sadly announce the closing of four of our campuses across the United States. Between less than expected charitable donations, the shift in government policy away from non-profit medical research, and the increasing costs of now-privatized medical technology, the institute has no other choice.

  Dr. Jack Endo, Fontaine Institute spokesman, at a recent press conference

  14

  I rubbed my temples as I willed the budgeting spreadsheet to bend to my will. Despite unleashing the full powers of my mind on it, the numbers didn’t change, and the bank balance didn’t magically balloon. So much for the power of positive thinking, I guess.

  I’d been out of the dive for an hour or so now, trying to get my thoughts away from the game for a bit and stare reality full in the face. Processing Burndall’s continued payments helped me feel like I was adulting fairly well for a change, but that feeling was fleeting. All it took was the sobering realization that it still wouldn’t be enough, not to bring any real change to my situation and most especially Chrissy’s.

  Flexing my ravaged right hand instinctively, I told myself that everything would be okay. As long as nothing worse than the usual happened before Crystalfire opened, I could make things stretch. Everything would be a gamble until then, but maybe for once luck would give us a break.

  A figurative break, though. We’d had enough literal ones for a dozen lifetimes.

  I just had to find something else to make things stretch more until then. Maybe EO could help more than it had been. I couldn’t stop thinking about the new-found ‘groupies’ we had acquired. Not the raid guys, no, I was focused on the normal players. As silly as it seemed to me, our success had caught their attention.

  The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Even with the way the world worked in the Three-and-Twenty, everyone still loved a Cinderella story. To see some relative unknowns on our regional server hit the cutting edge of the big rush to Crystalfire made them think that anyone might be the next lucky one to be, well, first. Following our next steps was a way to experience it all vicariously. And if they were willing to do that, they might just watch a stream…

  Game streaming was a whole different ball of wax than it was even a decade ago. When everything was still on more traditional systems and VR interfaces, normal internet services were fine. With the rise of NSAF games, the Filter came into play. You couldn’t simply stream deep-dive sessions straight up through any medium outside the NSAF networks … but there were plenty of venues down in the dive where avatars congregated to experience gameplay in the most direct way possible.

  These ‘Stream Theaters’ let other divers piggy-back on the streamer’s feed, experiencing all the same sensory inputs as the actual player. There were safeguards, of course. The Filter did its magic as always and the watchers didn’t get any of the direct neural inputs. All the same, it was even better than video streaming, and there was an entire subculture of deep divers who never played a game but experienced them all the same through the eyes of the streamers.

  It wouldn’t be that hard to set up a stream. There were a hundred easy-to-setup apps for my hardware, and then all I would have to do was get the word out. I didn’t catch the name of the Ember who seemed to be leading the pack of fans, but I was sure they would be watching for us. I could arrange the thing easy enough and who knows how much extra income it could bring in.

  The soft beeping of my tablet alarm managed to creep into my thoughts. Lunchtime, apparently, but I hadn’t actually heard that alarm for, well, years. Roxanne would always beat the clock by a reliable ten minutes. The only thing that ran more regularly than Roxanne was, well, nothing. That had me worried. It simply wasn't natural for her to be late!

  With a deft spin of my wheelchair controls, I directed myself right for the door to the main room of the house, trying to think of whether I had missed something, if Roxanne had said something to me yesterday about some errand.

  I know, it was stupid to be worried just because Roxanne hadn’t been her usual super punctual self. That was me, though. If you had gone through what I had, you’d probably understand. At least my old therapist sympathized with me on that point. The autodoor swooshed open as I rolled into the main room, hopefully unfounded worry gnawing at me.

  The table wasn’t set, only scattered with more of the paperwork that had been Roxanne’s sole occupation for the past few days, and the TriVid droned on with the GNN news feed, babbling about some celebrity scandal. Full-on panic would have set in if I didn’t hear Roxanne’s voice on the other side of the room, off in the kitchenette. Her back was to the room as she leaned heavily against the cabinets over the counter, forehead resting on a forearm with her five-year-old phone held to her ear.

  “Look, I understand, director, but you know the situation as well as I do,” she said in an urgent-if-polite tone. “There has to be something –”

  I wasn’t an idiot. There was only one person who could be on the other end of the phone and that was Roxanne’s mother, Rosemary Fontaine, head of the Fontaine Institute. I know it sounds crazy that the daughter of a famous researcher, the one who created NSAF technology, would now be a live-in nurse for a couple of poor kids but it makes perfect sense if you knew Roxanne and you knew Dr. Fontaine.

  The hand Roxanne had rested on the cabinet tightened into a fist as her entire posture tensed. Gingerly, I eased my wheelchair up to the table and glanced over the paperwork, shifting the angle on the seat so I could read the top pages without messing any of it up.

  “Yes, I know,” Roxanne replied tersely. “I do know how things like money and finances work. I also know how thin the Kincaids’ coverage is and how much they rely on institute support.”

  She wasn’t the only one who knew that. The paperwork seemed to be divided into a few general stacks, but they all revolved around requests for money. Oh, not in such a crass, direct fashion, several of them bore the letterheads of West Coast universities and looked to be grant requests for research. Another set looked like Fontaine Institute aid assistance papers, and the last was the same directed straight to the U.S. government. Yeah, that wasn’t likely to get anywhere. We were already getting as much aid as the government was willing to shell out.

  Dr. Fontaine must have said something Roxanne didn’t agree with (she often did) based on how she thumped the cabinet with her fist. “Yes, I know better than anyone about ethics, Mother. I know you have to make hard choices, but we are talking about a thirteen-year-old girl, one that we’ve known since she was a child. Doesn’t the memory of Brad and Rachel mean anything to you?”

  Hearing Mom and Dad’s names sent a shudder through me. It was reopening old wounds. No matter how much I tried to put it behind me, hearing their names always brought me right back to the accident. Even worse, my rational mi
nd was already starting to put together the puzzle pieces. There could only be one reason for all this paperwork and this fighting on the phone.

  Roxanne was only with us by her mother’s grace, paid for by the Fontaine Institute along with a fair bit of our sundry medical expenses. The support payments had gotten leaner over time, yes, but we still relied on it to maintain my chair and Chrissy’s prosthetics. After all, the Fontaine Institute had revolutionized neural connection technology of all kinds, not just the NSAF helmets. We were, essentially, paid guinea pigs for research, at least that was the intention. Roxanne never treated us that way, even before we left the institute proper.

  Part of me wanted to roll right back into my room and forget what I was reading or listening to. It was a lot easier to deal with things when you ignored them, pushed them out of your brain, and pretended that those horrible events weren’t about to take place. Hide in my room and then go hide in Elementalis for a bit, that was the easy way out.

  Of course, that’s what ten-year-old me or fifteen-year-old me would do. Adult me didn’t get that luxury anymore. I knew the finances as well as Roxanne did, and I made sure to know as much about the gears-and-cogs of the aid request process and our medical situation as possible. As she started to turn back to the main room, massaging her brow with her free hand, I slid the stack of government papers closer to me and started to go through them myself.

  “Of course, I know the buck stops with you,” Roxanne cried to the heavens. “Thank you for absolutely nothing.” She finally saw me at the table and let out a deep sigh. “I have to go now. I have work to do.”