Aeon Chronicles Online_Book 1_Devil's Deal

by Dante Sakurai

  He focused on his boss status, bringing up a sub-dialog.

  You have met the requirements to ascend to a tier 2 boss! (Various achievements)

  You will gain the following bonuses:

  20 additional unallocated stat points

  Tier 2 world boss bonus: Necromancer passive skill: Undead Minion Design Library

  The various achievements were a list of trivial milestones such as his character level, damage dealt, damage taken, fame, skill tiers, etc. Not anything unique or interesting.

  Rowan accepted the advancement with a nod. A stream a knowledge explained what the design library was: a user interface that held custom Undead minion design which he would be able to craft in the future. Minion designs could utilize bone, flesh, mana, and other hidden materials.

  Nice. Just what he needed to fulfill his first promise to Gabrielle. He’d wouldn’t dare disappoint her like that.

  He moved to the next advancement.

  You have met the requirements to ascend to a tier 3 boss! (Various achievements)

  You will gain the following bonuses:

  30 additional unallocated stat points

  Tier 3 world boss bonus: Necromancer active skill: Create Undead Minion Design

  For this one, a technical-looking interface with many tools and guides allowed Rowan to design a custom minion. There were presets and archetypes available to make his life easier and a simulation function to test his designs. Saved designs were stored in the design library but could also be crafted into scroll form. He’d simply need to chant a long verse and the design would be printed onto papyrus, ink needed.

  Gabrielle’s cute voice startled him. “Whatcha doin? You’ve been staring at the wall for a bit…”

  “Are you ready to return?” Ambiguous asked.

  They were back—back from whatever they were plotting.

  Rowan considered them one after another. Their faces were innocent, neutral, happy even. Gabrielle appeared saner than ever when Ambiguous stood in her presence. Should he question them about their strange behavior? It would risk a scene.

  Gabrielle smirked at him, seemingly reading his mind, taunting him to ask, daring him. Ambiguous too. There was a heavy implication in that look which he couldn’t grasp.

  And that was all he needed to know it wasn’t a plot of betrayal. They’d act far differently if it was. This had to be something stupid, something trivial and unimportant to the mission between them. He let out a breath and said, “Yeah, let's go.”

  “You sure? Got everything you need?” Ambiguous asked, hand on her hip.

  He nodded as Gabrielle giggled. Her joyous expression reminded him of his promise and new skills. He began in a ramble, “Oh right, I have the skill to craft your teddy dragon a body now. I just need enough bones… but using a million pieces of finger bones would make a very weak body. A dragon’s corpse would always be better. I could convert it too but I’m not sure how it would work with your soul tra—”

  Gabrielle puffed to him and her arms squeezed him in a vice grip. “Yippie!” she said into his neck.

  The warm, fuzzy feeling returned and at this moment, he felt far happier than a dark class player ever should.

  “Okay, break it up,” Ambiguous cut in, “I know where this is heading. Let’s go.” Her staff waved and the scene dissolved into darkness, Gabrielle taken from his arms.

  Ambiguous Pain has ejected you from her dimension. You will be returning to your original location in 9 seconds.

  Arrgh. Damn her.

  But she was right. They had things to do. Water Mages to take down, a demon boss to raid.

  The underground fortress faded in.

  Rowan froze, his stomach flipping. This wasn’t the alcove! Gabrielle and Ambiguous weren’t with him!

  He stood on a balcony ledge overlooking a molten waterfall feeding a sea of magma.

  The structure shook, every one his body vibrating.

  “RAAAAAAAAAAA!”

  He turned and stared into an enlarged visage exactly that of Draesear’s. A gargantuan demon wielding a fiery whip gazed down at Rowan. Its wings flexed and its whip-arm moved with lightning speed.

  The world was suddenly black.

  You Have Died. Very unlucky! What could have happened to that wormhole?

  Respawning in 6 hours and 59 minutes. Would you like to watch your death?

  “Dammit!” he roared into the void and tore open his friend list. Ambiguous better have a good explanation for this.

  Then a realization cracked through his skull: Was this the betrayal?

  A cold despair gnawed at every organ and nerve in his body, a sheer emptiness draining every last drop of fuzz in his chest. How could his beautiful Gabrielle do this to him?

  Chapter 26

  Wrong Answer!

  Out of the few possessions Gabrielle was afraid to lose, one of them would be Rowan. Her forehead tingled and she spun around, eyeing every last detail in the cave down to the three lava mushrooms and a rock formation which looked oddly similar to a goblin’s head. No Rowan. No Ambiguous. His status changed to dead on her friend list. She was alone again.

  Gabby LeMort (To Rowan Black): Heeey, where did ya go?

  A minute passed and she received no reply. Strange. He was indeed online and the messaging system should work under any circumstance.

  The tingle behind her eyes spread to her ears, a panic growing. Her breaths elongated. She madly puffed around the alcove looking for the boy, checking behind each stalagmite. She even pushed her detection ward into the lava pool but found no crispy Rowan. She puffed back to the entrance.

  Oh, his minions idled in the tunnel, the owl monster blinking every other second. She puffed to it and grabbed its feathery shoulders. “Do ya know where Rowan is?”

  It hooted once and pointed its gross beak at the ground.

  The floor below?

  She puffed to the stalker and poked its skull. “Tell me where Rowan is.”

  It didn’t answer, blank.

  Gabrielle puckered her lips and smacked the thing. Rowan had granted her second-in-command status so these demons should be answering her orders as long as they didn’t conflict with one of his commands. He shoulda gave her equal command for situations like these. That dumb boy… “You’re not allowed to speak, are ya?”

  The stalker shook its head.

  Lame.

  “Do ya know where his corpse is?”

  It nodded, those orbs of fire for eyes spinning a tad faster. It pointed at the ground with its blade-arm.

  Gabby LeMort (To Rowan Black): Are you there? ^_^

  Again, he didn’t reply. Something new had to be blocking communication.

  Gabrielle moved on to the imp Mages and they responded likewise plus flashing her their characteristic grins.

  Oh no. So he actually had been sent to the floor below.

  Gabrielle’s detection ward had picked up glimpses of something really, really strong down there. Well, strong for a level 192 demon. Perhaps the dungeon boss. Terrible. She was far too low on high-level potion supplies.

  The chatbox vibrated.

  Ambiguous Pain: Hold On. Something weird just happened to the space-time in the dungeon.

  So it was her fault! The oh-so-poor cripple couldn’t find a boy in real-life or in this game and had to steal Gabrielle’s. Uncle Vincent and the order won’t be pleased if Ambiguous ruined the plan with this stunt—not at all.

  Gabby LeMort (To Ambiguous Pain): What did you do, ya hussy?!

  Ambiguous Pain: One second. Recalibrating my spatial mapping of the spawnpoint.

  Literally a second later a wormhole cracked to life by the spawnpoint, Ambiguous spiraling into existence without a care in the world for what she’d just done. To Gabrielle’s grouchy Rowan.

  “Heya!” Gabrielle said and puffed into her face, their noses less than an inch apart. “So where did ya put Rowan?”

  Ambiguous flinched back. “He should be he—” Her sleek gray eyes twitched left and
right. “Shit.”

  “Shit is right!” Gabrielle exploded, grabbing her bony shoulders and squeezed and shook. “You’re lucky those demons over there are still under our control! What happened? He’s not responding to my PMs!”

  “Hmmm.” Ambiguous leaned away from the spittle. “I think this is similar to what happened in the black dragon raid. I was watching those buggers from Light’s Justice port into a spawnstone they brought but after the third port people were thrown off. It must be some kind of threshold trap ward. Tricky things.”

  Gabrielle studied her face for the longest seconds, searching for any signs of deception, for any hint of untruth or strain or malice. She couldn’t find any. Ambiguous’ class passive rendered her immune to Gabrielle’s Transcended Awareness skill so she couldn’t just read her mind. And Gabrielle was out of dark magic powder to draw a circle. She grumbled and said, “Ya better not be lying.”

  “I’m not. I promise.” A twinge of guilt wobbled at Ambiguous’ lip. “Look, I got careless. I completely forgot about that ward. It’s been years in-game.”

  The chatbox wiggled.

  Rowan Black: This isn’t over. Mock me all you like. After I destroy your pussy I’ll destroy you.

  Huh? Where did that come from?

  Though at least communication was back online.

  Gabby LeMort: Ah… This isn’t the time for sexy talk, my grouchy Rowan. You’re kinda dead.

  Rowan Black: Fuck you.

  Gabrielle blinked twice. What in blue blazes was happening? He was suddenly a meanie again. She resisted an undying urge to play with the boy that would just make the situation worse.

  Gabby LeMort: Just calm down and don’t be a meanie, kay? It was Ambiguous’ fault. I’ll resurrect ya in a little bit.

  It was lucky that Rowan had attuned to her spawnstone, adding this little cave to his list of spawnpoints. It cost gold to respawn at a point which wasn’t your primary point but popping up back at the temple wasn’t an option. He’d just have to fork out the fee.

  Ambiguous said, “Are you alright?” She laid a hand on Gabrielle’s arm.

  “Rowan’s just being grouchy.” Gabrielle shook her off and puffed away to give herself some space.

  “Are you making a resurrection draught?”

  “Yup!” She fished out her cauldron and an oil burner, then pulled up the recipe for the draught. She barely had enough ingredients left for two of these. And the White Dragon blood was painfully rare and expensive. Damn that hussy Ambiguous. First for trying to steal her Rowan. And now for wasting her potion ingredients.

  Rowan Black: What happened? Tell me now.

  Gabby LeMort: Not now. Busy brewing your resurrection potion.

  Ten seconds of nothing.

  Rowan Black: Fine. You better have a good explanation for this.

  Gabby LeMort: Yuppers ^_^ And change your primary spawnpoint to this cave btw! Ya can do it in the character status window.

  Rowan Black: Right.

  Gabrielle let a lukewarm smile spread on her lips. Her Rowan was tame again, back in her possession, right where he belonged—away from Ambiguous. The mana in her veins and brain settled into a mellow flow, swishing and twirling in gentle eddies in her belly as she prepared the draught by first filling the cauldron with water.

  And for some stupid reason, he’d thought she was the reason why he’d died. Which made zero freaking sense. Boys will be boys, even the smarter ones.

  Ambiguous’ heel clunked on the rock. “Look, I’m sorry—”

  Not a sob speech. Gabrielle hated those. “Cut it, ya hussy. Rowan is my property. Get your fangs away from him and I’ll call it even.”

  “Tch, fine.” She flashed to a boulder and pulled out a lore tome.

  “Good.”

  Gabrielle focused on the brew and chucked in a shrunken Unicorn head, feeding the liquid with Water-Dark mana. The heads cost over a thousand gold a pop on average. The so-called good players protected Unicorns like they were divine creatures from heaven. Idiots, the lot of them. Unicorns were barely more intelligent than Ents—which wasn’t a high bar.

  She stirred the bubbling cauldron and established a brewing mood while the lava popped. Her mind strayed to Rowan every now and then like a naughty sparrow. He still hadn’t made good on her promise to ravish her yet.

  * * *

  Gabby LeMort has used a Resurrection Draught on your soul through [Spawnpoint 2, Demon Fortress Cave]. Do you accept?

  About fucking time. Rowan was beginning to think this was another ploy of theirs but refused to let himself go down that dark path again. The thought of Gabrielle betraying him had undone his soul and turned him into whatever he had become in the alternate timeline an hour before. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to, needed to win over Gabrielle even if she was plotting against him. She’ll see that she needed him one way or another.

  Gabby LeMort: Well? Accept, ya slow swine!

  Swine… She’ll regret calling him that.

  He cast out his intention into the void and the dialog winked away. The volcanic alcove faded into view and the presence of his minions returned to his mind, a unique sensation which he couldn’t describe. Almost like invisible threads pulling through the hot air. Not uncomfortable or distracting. Just there.

  Now, for those bitches who put him through that… His gaze snapped to Gabrielle at the left, mana storming through his veins. Her face was smug and twinkling with amusement like she was enjoying his death. It was time for a spanking whether she was guilty or not.

  “Heya Row—”

  He tackled her and flipped her bottom up, a block of steel and stone in his grasp. “Tell me what happened!” He slapped her ass with all his strength.

  She giggled that sweet mirth that felt so good to hear. He didn’t really believe she’d betrayed him—especially now since she’d revived him. But he needed to be sure.

  He slapped again. "You weren't plotting against me, were you?!" And again. His fingers were already sore.

  Her laughter paused. She said after two heartbeats, “Maybe.”

  Oh, hell no.

  “Wrong answer!” Rowan tugged at her tattered robe skit. It gave way! Along with her panties! That extra 5 strength must’ve done it. His mouth watered at the sight of her perfect behind. She was all his now—his to dominate and command in his upcoming dark empire. He leaned down to her ear. “Now, answer me. You wouldn’t dare betray me would you?” He spanked her bare cheeks, his hand leaving a red mark. It faded after a split-second.

  She looked at him and smirked, those swirling blue orbs taunting. “Well… There’s always a possibility.”

  He growled, roaring at her answer. “Don’t you dare!” He spanked her six times in rapid succession. The blows shook her petite body in his lap.

  “Oh, Rowan! Ya brute!” She tacked on a snicker.

  “Tell me what happened!” He whacked her once more.

  Then spread her legs. He couldn’t stop himself for she was exposed in his grasp. And she was glistening down there, ready for him to enter. Ready for him to ravish and destroy like he had promised. A trail of drool brimmed over his lip as his hand zeroed in on her cherry.

  Someone sighed. “I think I can answer that.”

  Ambiguous. Rowan had forgotten about her in his craze. And he was about to fuck Gabrielle right in front of her. The heat of embarrassment barely registered as lusty blood drained from his waist. He realized: he’d do it anyway. Yes, he’d fallen that far thanks to Roth and Draesear’s meddling. And he was completely fine with it.

  Ambiguous flashed to his side in a burst of purple, then took Gabrielle’s arm and helped her redress. She flashed away to rough chair carved from volcanic rock.

  “Awww,” Gabrielle mumbled, “He was getting to the good part.”

  “And I’d rather not watch,” Ambiguous said, “It’s not polite.”

  “Then blink away.”

  An electric tension sparked between the two similar to their behavior like before except
much more strained. Rowan’s nose wrinkled. “What are you two planning? Why are you acting so weird?!”

  Gabrielle pointed at Ambiguous, her mouth opening.

  The Chaos-Mystic cut her off. “Just something insignificant between us,” she said, tone smooth, “It doesn’t concern you.” She glared back at Gabrielle.