“Yup!” Gabrielle said a bit too quickly, “He’s the luckiest dummy I’ve ever seen. It’s why the ritual took so long.”
“I’ve never read of such a thing,” Ambiguous said, her features shifting, “An artifact that can turn someone into a world boss? That has to be the most broken thing.”
“Plausible,” Zaine said from behind.
Rowan jolted and reeled to face the boy. That sneaky bugger. “You’ve encountered this before?” Rowan said, keeping up the act. No other choice now. His big secret was out in the open—all thanks to his own stupidity.
“The Occult-Engineers and Alchemists from my time were said to have the knowledge of the gods. Of creation and destruction within magical bounds.” His lip curled, his nose wrinkling. “Which is why they were so hated by those light loving Draco fools. They hunted them down in their arrogance to maintain peace and the status quo. They feared what they didn’t understand and our superior converted dark brethren. Much knowledge was lost.”
The words slapped the wind out of Rowan’s lungs, the information dump a titanic revelation. They’d been trying to create a glorious dark empire in Zaine’s time too. And failed because of those idiotic, piggy bastards.
“Huh,” Gabrielle breathed like she was having an orgasm.
“Wow!” Ambiguous shouted, “That’s incredible. So if it wasn’t for them, we could have all sorts of advanced magical technology right now!” She spun to Gabrielle. “And you can reinvent it all!”
“Yup.”
Bloody hell. Ambiguous was right—agreeing with Rowan’s realization. This mundane, cliche game could be rebuilt into something… heavenly. A magi-tech utopia reality for the world to escape into. He had to admit: Roth was right. This VR tech was going to change the world, all starting with a fantasy-themed MMO.
Zaine shook his head, finally. His eyes turned black. “Draesear and Ione cursed this world. Any attempts to rebuild what they had is futile due to an invisible magic permeating the world. We’re limited to stuff like these awful catapults. I have one of the few Mana Shard mounts they created. Gabby has one of their fastest onyx brooms too.”
“What? Why?” Ambiguous lunged forward at the little guy like he just burned down her mansion.
What was with her? True, this was great news, but she was far too attached to this game.
Pushing her back with a heat-wave, Zaine took a breath as his eyes whitened. “I was cut off and couldn’t aid the Occult. They made a final stand at the frozen roof of the world but the three light factions and their summoned false-gods bested them.” He paused and his face fell. “Ione and Draesear abandoned us and didn't show up in our time of need, instead opting to punish us for our failures. I was sealed shortly after by the Draconians and their adventurer allies.”
Rowan gaped at the boy, jaw unhinged. He glanced at Gabby—a statue like before. Then at Ambiguous. She looked like someone really did burn down her mansion, those sleek gray eyes like a kicked puppy’s.
But Rowan was stunned for an entirely different reason. He now knew what was sealed at the frozen north: this game’s future.
Quest Update: The Frozen Calamity
Zaine Everlight has shone some light on what’s sealed in the north. Is it really what you think it is or just another wise demigod kid?
“But anyway,” Zaine mumbled, his rant continuing, “That’s probably ancient history by now. I have an army of weak imps to summon.” He turned.
Gabrielle said, “So why did ya attack us if I’m an engineer?”
He said over his shoulder before blazing away, “Because your idiot boyfriend declared a raid. And you’re Draco vermin.”
“Tch.” Rowan couldn’t find a retort. The boy was technically right.
Ambiguous sighed loudly. “You are one big dummy.” She slapped him on the back of his skull.
You have taken 1 physical damage
Gabrielle chuckled a breath. “Dummy.”
You have taken 1 physical damage
Icy mana boiled through his arteries as the girls laughed at his expense. He’ll show them. He’ll show this world that Rowan Black was no idiot pig-boy. “Keep sparring!” he snapped.
Those damned Water Mages will be the first to know.
Chapter 32
Imps
This wasn’t the fearsome, towering army which Rowan had imagined.
Squares upon squares of awaiting imps flapped their wings in the Dark Ruby Core chamber. Ten thousand Fire Imp Mages. Ten thousand Clawed Fire Imps. And a mere twenty Scout Imps, fortunately. Zaine hadn’t gone crazy on scouts. The Worker Dolls lingered at the side.
That was the sight which greeted Rowan after his spar with Gabrielle and Ambiguous. He’d reached tier eight Rime Blink and no matter how much more sparring he underwent, its tier wouldn’t level up again. A two-second cooldown would have to suffice, for now. Two seconds usually meant life or death during high-end raids in other MMOs.
Meanwhile, the girls both operated on a one-second cooldown at tier ten for their respective skills. Gabrielle’s leveled back up to the maximum during her duel against the Colossus. It’d taken her just a few dodges of the thing’s whip. Rime Blink had to be different than the other blink skills. Superior.
He scratched his head and said at last, “Why is our army all Imps?”
Zaine’s eye twitched. “What’s wrong with Imps?”
Gabrielle held back a guffaw, hands at her mouth, while Ambiguous chortled like he was missing something obvious. The girls certainly lightened the mood.
“They’ll be wiped with a few area of effect attacks.” Rowan pointed at an empty section of the chamber and fired a wide-area Tainted Ice Blast, coating over forty meters. At tier 6, it would’ve eviscerated tens of Imps. “See?”
"Oooooh," Gabrielle said, "Its tier leveled up in the spar, didn't it?"
“Yeah.” He nudged her arm.
“I am the best wand instructor!”
“You actually might be,” Ambiguous said, “I doubt anyone has a higher level or tier in Wand Mastery than you. Most seem to prefer a staff or focus orb. They do more damage.”
Which reminded Rowan. He had a wand mastery skill and suppressed its level-up notifications a while back.
New Passive Skill: Wand Mastery
More of an apprentice than a master. You show some promise
Skill Level: 103, 42%
Skill Tier: 5
Effect: 10.4% additional spell damage with spells cast with a wand
Tier Effect: 5% additional wand accuracy. 25% additional wand cast speed
Hmph, the taunting skill descriptions only fueled Rowan’s lust to become the top player in this game. Maybe not for wands—that was Gabrielle’s domain and it was unlikely he’d catch up and overtake her. Perhaps he needed a new weapon type. One unique for Necromancers. One far more powerful.
“Hmmmm,” Zaine mumbled, coming out of deep thought. His katana blazed into his grip and he held it in the air. “It won’t be a problem.” A plume of Fire-Dark mana tore through the chamber as his layered voice chanted in a rush. A chorus in the dark language echoed off the ceiling till every imp’s silhouette glowed ruby-black. His mana bar at the side of Rowan’s view drained, over one-third reserved.
Searing heat wrapped around Rowan’s Mana Shield till the demon boy’s incantation completed. Though it didn’t deal damage, the sudden spike in temperature was uncomfortable, to say the least.
“What skill is that?” Ambiguous asked before Rowan could.
“Corrupting Fire Imbue. Tier nine.” Zaine lowered his katana and took a breath, the strain showing even for a demigod. “Bonus dark and fire damage and large bonuses to resistances at a large cost of health regeneration.”
Gabrielle clicked her tongue. “Neat. Can ya give it to us?”
“No. Just minions.” Zaine cut Rowan a glance. “Necromancer should have a weaker Ice-Dark version. Good synergy with mine and Zar’s ring.” He reached into his pocket and chucked him Sazar’s ring. “Put it on
.”
He just gave it back like that? Rowan raised a brow, a clear question.
Gabrielle answered, “Silly, the contract magic lets him retrieve it from ya at any moment. As long as ya don’t give it away, which would be a breach of the clauses.”
The ring disappeared from Rowan’s fingers in a puff of smoke, back in Zaine’s palm. “Indeed.”
Well, that was convenient. Too convenient. “That’s good. I’ll have to learn more about contracts and oaths some time.” He caught it again and slipped it back onto his ring finger. The Dark Mana Aura enveloped a sizable chunk of the army, two or three thousand imps in range.
“Don’t bother,” Zaine said, “Boring stuff. Not as useful as it seems.”
“It is,” Ambiguous said and nodded, “I could barely get through half a tome.”
Gabrielle puffed to her and poked her nose. “Ya just need more patience. It’s fascinating stuff!”
Rowan leaned more to Gabrielle’s side. He trusted her more than the other two—and not because she was going to fuck him. He shared a deeper connection with her and he knew it wasn’t one-sided in his heart, as cheesy as that sounds. Or perhaps it was just the promise of sex. Hard to tell. “Maybe I’ll check out a tome some time.”
Out of nowhere, a six-inch thick book sailed through the air. Right at Rowan’s face. He swiped it before it hit his shield, his mana surging in the surprise. The paper brick weighed several pounds.
“There you go,” Zaine said with a smirk, “Have fun.”
Little bugger. “Thanks,” he spat and dropped it into his pouch.
The girls chirped another round of laughs. “Do you have any lore tomes?” Ambiguous asked.
Zaine shook his head. “They’re all at Zar’s…”
“Zar’s where?” Gabrielle said, puffing to the boy.
“It was raided and destroyed.”
“Oh. Too bad.”
But this fortress was still mostly standing. Rowan said, “Why wasn’t this base destroyed? All this ruby has to be worth billions of gold.”
Zaine shot him a look daring him to loot the rubies. “Just before I was sealed, I activated the Fire-Dark shields generated by the core and collapsed the seals holding back the magma to create a rock tomb. Seems to have fooled the Draco buggers apart from you two. The core ran out of mana recently though. Just spent the last of it to summon these Imps.”
“And the adventurers who sealed you?” Ambiguous asked.
Rowan and Gabrielle nodded in unison.
“Don’t know.” Zaine’s lips curled in thought.
A plot hole?
Possible. The AI controller couldn’t be perfect else—
Rowan reminded himself to not underestimate the game again. He’d done that far too much since his first logging in. There had to be an explanation for this. Something had killed those adventurers when Zaine’s seal had activated and prevented their respawn.
Or maybe they weren’t actually adventurers. Or the lore of adventurers had been different in Zaine’s time.
Rowan’s face twisted as the girls discussed this quandary with Zaine, not coming up with any logical explanations.
Though whatever was the reason, player characters shouldn't and couldn't simply be deleted inside the game. Something like that would destroy Synaptic’s business. There’d be massive lawsuits and not even Roth could hold back the tide.
Gabrielle gazed into his eyes. “Watcha thinking about?”
A possessive one she was.
“Just those adventurers.”
Her head tilted. “Kay.” She flashed him a full smile.
He returned it, that warm fuzz bursting into life in his chest. This was his beautiful Gabrielle—his partner in crime and future queen of his dark, magi-tech empire. With her and a demigod at his side, finishing The Frozen Calamity quest will be… easy.
First, that Water Mage Spire will be corrupted and the dark humans will be under his command, forever thankful for the new, superior life he had granted them. The easy-to-manipulate children at least. That one nefarious little girl was already in his grasp.
Ambiguous coughed. “Break it up, you two.” She laid a hand on their shoulders. “Zaine’s fortress wards detected intruders in the mine while you two were having your moment. We’re recharging the Core’s shield and attacking the Water Mages while they’re distracted here.”
“Yup,” Gabrielle sang and faced her, “Rowan is sure unobservant under the trance of my beauty!”
Man, she didn’t have to be so casual and overt about his affections. “Tch. Whatever.”
“Hehehehehe.”
Ambiguous huffed, “Really. For darkies, you two are—”
Fiery portals opened next to Rowan. The fuzz in his blood sizzled out as enormous gateways spun in dizzying vortexes, a new wave of sulfuric heat blasting up his nose. Intricate patterns decorated the edges of the portals, dark language symbols Rowan wasn’t familiar with. A dazzling sight, Rowan had to admit.
Zaine blinked to the edge of the core and chanted two quick lines. The Dark Ruby Core began sucking in vapor-like mana from the walls. It glowed bright red, flashing as it ate.
No—not the walls. From the mana sea beneath the chamber. No wonder Zaine built his base here. The magma was a plentiful source of natural mana—though not enough for a mana source for the dark humans, apparently.
“Move out!” Zaine’s child voice boomed over the waiting Imps. His chin jerked at Rowan. “Have your Colossus Enforcers and Stalkers bring building materials. The owls will operate the catapults and portals.”
Right. He was the commander of their demonic army including the minions Rowan stole. He kind of lacked a real Undead army at the moment. Crafting minions from bone was far too slow. “Yes sir,” he said sarcastically—then smirked. “Gabby, Ambiguous. Give the orders.”
Ambiguous chuckled. “Yes, sir.”
“Heeeey…” Gabrielle pouted.
Rowan blinked into a free portal before she could start an impromptu sparring session. The fiery spiral flooded his vision as heat cooked his skin. He pumped mana into his amulet and its cold aura grew to a buffer.
And he still hadn’t found out why their army was all Imps!
He sighed, traversing the portal through space-time in thirty-eight-meter jumps every two seconds.
Chapter 33
Sausages and Lily
A bleak mood hung over the gathering players and few NPCs with an Oculus Blessing, Jonathan hovering over Stonehurst’s mine on his Light Shard. Its bottomless mana supply radiated warmth into his feet and calmed his own growing unease. It’d been four and a half hours since the world event alert and nothing happened. Zaine the demigod hadn’t unleashed hell on Aeon Chronicles—yet.
And in a way, this all linked back to Jonathan’s original sin: not stopping Rowan when he had the chance back at Westind Highschool. Perhaps if he’d stopped and helped Rowan this could’ve all been prevented. Perhaps this was really all his fault and the in-game gods knew, reading his mind and punishing him and his friends for his greatest failure.
A sparrow of pure golden light flew to Lance’s shard, a few yards to the left. It dropped a scroll when he held out his hand. The king’s wax seal hid between his gloved fingers. A distance of a few miles limited party chat and the king wasn’t in Jonathan’s raid party anyway.
Xapham had declared he’d journey to Greenwood Capital, not taking any chances when a demigod Demon-Knight was on the loose. The city was an obvious first target. The only viable target without marching a demonic army across the continent. Zaine had been sealed for over a thousand years and dark spawnstones were naturally unstable, lasting fifty years at most. The demigod wasn’t stupid—according to the tale. Far from it.
“The king has arrived at Greenwood Capital. No signs of Zaine or demons even with his T10 detection ward,” Lance said, glimpsing up at Jonathan and the others on a flying mount. Mostly Mana Shards apart from Dorian’s phoenix and the Beastmaster’s eagle. She had ported in fr
om the western continent minutes prior, representing a prestigious guild. The event alert had been worldwide—every player on every continent and island included down to the level 1s.
Dorian breathed loudly, a scowl etched on his face since the alert had hit. He hadn’t taken the news well, putting it lightly. He had personally swept the mine but LeMort’s lingering Confusion Wards had bested him. He had been a sad, angry sight ever since.
Similar to Jonathan’s own plight during the weeks after Max’s murder. “It’s alright man, those wards fooled Lance and I too,” he offered.
Aeon Chronicles Online_Book 1_Devil's Deal Page 38
