I finished my cigarette, drank a cup of water, and made sure my backup plans for when the cops found me were in place. With it all in order, I sat on a comfortable gaming chair which had electrodes to stimulate my body while I played, and put my VirBridge — the gaming 'helmet' — on.
I had to at least take care of three things in the game before I got arrested:
First, get my money from the guy who had sold rats in the Slums under my guidance. Second, get to the Dark Temple. And then, the grand finale.
A robotic voice came from the VirBridge. "Initializing... Jack identified. Welcome back."
Launch Valia Online, I thought.
"Launching Valia Online in five. Four. Three. Two. One."
Connecting to Valia Online servers... OK
Checking latency... 0 ms
Logging in... OK
Do you want to continue your journey as Jack Thorn?
Yes.
Welcome back!
A moment later, the letters disappeared and a slow music started playing. V-Soft's logo appeared floating in the nothingness, followed by Valia Online's logo after a few more seconds. Apparently, DIR hadn't thought of changing V-Soft's image in here yet.
Then, the white letters came back.
Reentering world in 5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
The sensation of sitting on a chair was slowly replaced by the surety of being on my feet in a cold place, wearing a metal armor over leather armor, both covering my whole body except for the head, where I wore a thick circlet instead.
I took a deep breath. The cold stale air of the Underworld made me relax. It lasted a full two seconds, until the memory of a woman being shot came to me and I quickly opened my eyes.
Around me was the small cave where I had been last time, with the same metal table and the same chairs.
And the same lich.
Manhart was sitting on a metal chair, looking at a small stack of papers on the table. He wore a black and gold robe and multiple medallions hung from his neck.
The weird thing was that the papers he was looking at were modern looking white paper like you would find in any printer, very out of place for Valia's medieval setting.
"Alas, he returns," he said without looking up. His was the genderless raspy voice of the skeletons.
What's with people in my life not looking at me as they speak? First my parents, but now even game characters do it too!
Before anything else, I checked my character stats. Level twenty-nine, lots of HP and MP, all attributes and traits untouched. The extinct V-Soft didn't seem to have messed with my character before they were killed or imprisoned. The fact that no trap had sprung and killed me yet also boded well for my future in the game.
Just to make sure things were normal, I logged out of the game, and got back right away. I also called an ex-girlfriend from inside Valia — and hung up as soon as she picked up the call. Everything seemed to work as expected.
Apparently, Manhart wasn't used to being ignored, because he looked up from his papers after a few minutes. The grey flames in his eye sockets were so cool.
"I thought wood was expensive in the Underworld," I said as I created all ten morbs I could after the level ups from winning the Challenge. Most of them were fire but I also created two death ones in case I needed urgent healing. After my little show of power, I sat on a chair.
"I don't follow."
"Paper? You know, made of wood?"
"The stalk of cenaris, a small plant, can be treated with a few alchemical reagents to produce this. Interestingly enough, the same plant can also be used to create an extremely powerful poison which could kill even undead."
"Wow. You are so knowledgeable and strong, mister Manhart."
The flame of his eyes burned more fiercely for a few seconds.
"Don't play games with me, Thorn. And you were being so civil last time we talked."
If only he realized how ironic his first sentence was.
"Games? Who, me? Nah. I was just wondering if you could teach me some life and gravity magic; I have thirty intelligence points now, so it should be enough. And teach me some spells. And enlighten me about the politics of this world. And, well, reward me for the Obey the Resistance quest while you're at it."
The flames flickered in what I understood as amusement thanks to some sort of feedback the game provided directly to my mind.
"Do you know how relationships work?" He asked.
"Huh?"
"When people are good to others, others will be good to them. If you give me something I want, I will be more inclined to provide you with something you also desire."
That was new. A game character was blatantly telling me to raise my relationship points with him before asking for rewards. Stranger yet, said character was Manhart.
Could it be that before I killed people in V-Soft the AIs had orders to make my life harder, but now said orders had been removed? No, I didn't believe it. The lich was planning something, but I had cops to run from and no time to play my wits against his.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"I told you already: I need a Traveler as my General and you are the best candidate I have found."
"Yeah, about that... I have some stuff to do and I can't be your errand boy. Sorry."
His eye-flames shone brighter and I could feel fury coming from him. It was the weirdest feeling, especially because there were no changes to him physically.
"What?" He asked.
"'What' what?" I smartly replied.
"What do you need to do?"
"Oh, you know, kill a few people here, destroy a few others there, the usual. That's just how I roll. "
"Who do you want to kill?"
"No one you know," I said.
"That's a lie."
Damn, I had forgotten that he was a truthseer; he could detect any lie I spoke.
"Well, you know them, but you wouldn't mind if they died."
"That is truth. Or at least you think it is. You couldn't possibly know everyone I want dead or alive. Tell me the names."
"What if I refuse?"
The feeling of fury intensified and I just knew he was hair away from attacking me. Was this what books called 'feeling the bloodlust' of someone?
"Then I won't have any use for you," he answered.
I gulped and decided to tell a half truth: the name of only one of the people I wanted dead. I hoped he couldn't detect that there was missing information. "Luke Skyrunner. He owes me money from rat sales before the Slums' battle."
"How much?"
"About fifty gold if I'm not-"
Before I could even stop talking, a small bag appeared out of nowhere in Manhart's hand and he dropped it on the table. "There's a hundred in there. Now, become my General."
The exclamation point button on the edge of my vision became golden and started to blink rapidly. I opened it again but only saw the same content as before.
Profession: Resistance's General
You have been offered a Profession.
A Profession is usually a title that can be stripped from you by your employer or by yourself, any time either of you wishes.
To know more about your bonuses and responsibilities as a Resistance's General, ask Manhart.
Be advised that he can lie, and some Professions are semi-permanent and can only be removed by your employer!
"I can't just let him go," I insisted. "Also, if people start to believe they can keep the money of the Resistance's General without any consequences, how badly would it impact the Resistance's Army image?"
"Worry not, I will find him for you and send you his way to make an example of him. I swear on it."
Damn, he was even swearing, and truthseers couldn't swear falsely without losing their powers. He wanted me badly. Time to probe.
"So, assuming I accept, what would the position of General entitle me to?"
"Money: I will pay you a hundred gold
coins per month. Power: you will command an Army at your leisure, so long as the men aren't doing something else for me, and so long as what you want isn't forbidden by me. Opportunity: I'll give you incredibly rewarding quests. And I swear on it all."
"Money is cool. Power is dubious at best; you can always have the Army do something else and I'll be alone. And unless I'm mistaken, I can't refuse your quests, which makes opportunity a disguise for obedience. I also bet that I can't just resign from the position."
"You won't be alone. At any time, you'll have the authority to recruit people for the Army. I won't give those you hire other things to do for at least two weeks after their recruitment, and I won't give the Army any tasks just to take them away from your command. That I swear."
"No word on the obedience thing, huh?"
"No opportunity comes freely. I can swear to you that I don't plan on making you a slave to me and that in the near future I only need you to do two quests for me. However, there will be times when you will need to obey me for months without end."
The bloodlust had receded a little when I started to ask questions about the Generalship, but it was still there, a silent threat about of would happen if I refused his offer. However, the fact that he had given me money and was explaining everything to me showed how much he wanted me to accept the position. I wondered at how awesome I actually was for destroying the Slums in my first month in the game.
If he wanted me that badly, I could negotiate. Even with the bloodlust making my skin crawl, I forced myself to speak.
"I need one month off. I have other things to do that are urgent. After that, I'm all yours." If I could still play the game after the cops got to me, that is.
"No. I can give you your vacation after you do two quests for me. From what I understand of your power, they shouldn't take more than two weeks."
I did some math. From what grandfather had told me about the mercenaries I had hired, they were as trustworthy as people who kill for money can be. Could they resist ratting me out for two weeks? Feeling the bloodlust increasing, I realized I had no choice but to try to make the better of the situation.
"Do you swear on it?"
"I do."
"So be it. But I'll want you to teach me some magic."
The bloodlust decreased to an almost imperceptibly low level.
"I will. In the future, after you complete the quests. I swear."
I sighed. "I have one last condition."
"What is it?"
"Ter'nodril. I know the specter army is marching there as we speak and they are allowing no one to go through." I had checked what was going on in Valia before my last cigarette. "Give me a way to get into the city and I'll be your General."
My plans were to find a way in there by myself, but if I could make things easier for me by asking Manhart, why not?
His eye-flames flickered. "I'd rather you didn't go to Ter'nodril."
I crossed my arms. "I'm not asking your opinion. That's not negotiable."
He kept silent for some time before finally speaking with a strained voice. "So be it. And as a token of goodwill..."
A morb appeared above his head. It was light gray and pulsated constantly with light; I immediately recognized it as life magic. However, this morb was strange. Instead of being a perfectly stable ball, the light kept expanding and retracting in random places, as if it was a living liquid or something.
As I saw the morb fly at high speed at me I couldn't even dodge before the pain lanced through my head. I yelled.
And stopped right after. The pain was gone as quickly as it had come; it had lasted only a split second. A new exclamation point had appeared and I checked on it.
Skill-tree unlocked: Origin
New skill unlocked in the Origin skill-tree:
Cosmo Connection (level 1)
By feeling and connecting to the life power within the Universe, you constantly and unconsciously tap into it and channel its force into yourself.
Life energy will be applied to you every minute.
» Passive Spell
» Element: Life
» Self-Damage: 1
» Range: Self
» Interval: 1 minute
After reading the new spell I had just received, I felt the pain of getting bitten by a mosquito and noticed a text on the message log in the bottom left edge of my vision:
2 life damage dealt to yourself
HP: 1718 / 1720
The spell should do a single point of damage, but I was an undead and received double damage from life element attacks. The Underworld was filled with undead; this was one of the main reasons why I wanted life magic.
"Holy shit, I will keep receiving damage? What if I'm out of mana to heal myself?"
The flames in Manhart's eyes made me think of a confused face. "Just turn the spell off."
"Oh. I didn't know it was possible."
"It is, you just need to think about it." I tried and it worked. I turned it back on. "Even if you can turn it off as soon as you unlock the second-tier spell from the Origin skill-tree, you shouldn't. If you keep receiving life damage long enough, it will increase your Life Element Resistance. It's useful for any undead."
"Oh. Good to know."
And too nice of him to inform me. I wonder what's going on.
"Life magic is both the reward for the Resistance's quest and my token of goodwill to you. I expect you'll also show me goodwill by completing my quests as quickly as possible, and by recruiting at least ten Travelers to the Resistance's Army each month."
Now, that sounds like Manhart, extorting things from me immediately after acting nice.
"When you're done with the first quest," he continued, "I'll give you third-tier spells for all elements both you and I know. When you finish the second quest, I will teach you gravity magic and discuss the politics of Valia with you. Here is some money." He threw another bag of money on the table. "There are two hundred gold coins inside. Half is your first month's salary and the other half is for recruitment purposes."
"What do you mean, recruitment purposes?"
"Just as I paid you in advance, you should also pay all recruits in advance as they join the Army. You're allowed to recruit Privates for one gold piece per month, Sergeants for five, Lieutenants for fifteen, Captains for twenty-five, Majors for thirty-five, and Colonels for fifty. If you do a good job in recruitment, I'll give you more money for it in the next month. The opposite is also true."
A pretty straightforward system. "What if I can convince people to work for less? Can I keep the money?"
The flames in his eyes froze for a couple seconds and I guessed I had asked something that the AI had never thought of.
"Yes. As long as the amount you should have spent reaches the hundred gold coins, you can keep anything you didn't spend by underpaying your subordinates."
I smiled. I loved it already. "Can you give me an extra hundred coins? I will hire Bear and Daggers as my Colonels."
He took a few seconds to answer that. It was obvious that I would cheat my own companions and keep the money, and he was considering it.
"I'll give you the money, but you must pay those two fully. They have potential."
Another bag appeared in his hand out of nowhere and he threw it on the table.
"Now, accept the Profession so I can give you your first quest."
I did and a few exclamation point buttons appeared on the right edge of my vision.
Profession accepted: Resistance's General
Title received: Resistance's General
You are now allowed to hire and control the Resistance's Army. Only Manhart himself has more authority over it than you.
This title will be removed if you lose the related Profession.
Title updated: Warmonger > Warlord
For being acknowledge as a General by a major power in the Underworld, you are now an accomplished Warlord.
» +20 Strategist
» -25 charisma when negotiating peace deals<
br />
Adept Strategist increased to 21 (+10)
To all members of a party you are the leader of, except you:
» +16% increase to 2 attributes of choice
Level up!
Current level: 30
HP, MP and stamina restored
That was great! The Strategist trait was one of the best ones yet; ten extra points in it compared to when I was only a Warmonger was sweet.
Also, since character levels in Valia were calculated by adding up all the attribute and traits points together, dividing by ten, and rounding the result down, those ten points directly translated into a level up.
If I knew I would get this, I wouldn't have hesitated so much before accepting the Profession, especially since it didn't seem as if the Warlord title would go away with the Resistance's General title if I ever got fired or quit the job.
Quest: Steal from Robert, the Great
A- rank
You have been asked to steal a map from Robert, the Great, who lives in Margs Market.
You're allowed to use any means necessary.
Information Sharing
Manhart is offering to share the following with you:
» The location of Robert's house
» The estimated location of the map in the house
» The map's estimated energetic signature
Effects:
» Locations will be marked in your map
» Quest items will glow in red light when you see them
Well, that's useful.
I accepted the information sharing and pocketed all the money on the table. Just like that, I was four hundred gold coins richer. Well, since I would have to pay one hundred coins to Bear and Daggers, pay two hundred to the zombies that I hired for the battle in the Slums, and hire ten players with the other hundred, I wasn't as well off as I'd like.
Unbound Deathlord: Obliteration (The Unbound Deathlord Series Book 2) Page 3
