Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  As with most messages from the Voices, except the Jester, I actually got a projection of them talking. Vlad’s was an image of him from the shoulders up. His arms were bound up high. Not to mention his words boomed and his pectorals flexed despite being strung up. Jean wore those smoky clothes and waved her index finger at Vlad’s face. There was a bead of sweat on her forehead from who knew what. I felt kind of embarrassed just reading the message.

  She could have Spite, or whatever the [Red Imp] was. As long as we stayed well away from each other, it would be okay. Honestly, meeting my other character might be beyond weird. Or it might be kind of comical. Hermes versus Spite!

  I shook off the momentary amusement and looked at the newest boxes that had popped up.

  Transferred:

  [Blink] Skill

  [Awareness Heightening] Skill

  [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift], renamed [Morrigu’s Echo]

  [Seer’s Tear] [Left] & [Seer’s Tear] [Right]

  My jaw dropped. For a moment, all thoughts of Xin and delivering the messages fell sideways out of my mind. The [Red Imp] hadn’t possessed much at all, but this was it. There was a faint sound as the game plopped items into my inventory.

  I had no clue how to utilize two weapons for much of anything. Maybe Shazam could offer me pointers. For now, the second weapon, now titled [Morrigu’s Echo], stayed in virtual hammer space.

  I pulled out and looked at the two [Seer’s Tear]s. These were certainly worth looking into. Having them might help me get this delivery quest done. If nothing else, having [Blink] would make life amazingly easy. Though now I couldn’t fly, so that could be dangerous as well.

  The [Seer’s Tear]s puzzle was simple. Bringing them together produced a slight glow. Pulling them apart dimmed both halves. I tried not to think about the fact that these objects had been inside a [Red Imp]‘s digestive tract along with all the other terrible food Requiem fed me.

  The [Seer’s Tear]s in their combined form melted in my hand. A warm tingle rippled through my body and arm. My vision blurred for a moment, then something displayed.

  I read the latest pop-up box in my wall of text. The window started out saying something simple like the message box had with [Howard’s Phylactery], then it shifted to something else. In my mind, this was another clue of the Voices interfering or of my status of being an [NPC Conspiracy] owner. It might also have to do with the old [Legacy Wish] that had come down from William Carver.

  Skill Received: [Sight of Mercari]

  Rarity: Rare (Variant)

  Details: Initial Rank of [Sight of Mercari] allows the Traveler to see all sentient beings around them. This change in perception can be disorienting. As proficiency increases, the skill will Rank up, allowing additional details to be received.

  The variant aspect made no sense, but it sounded as though the game was giving me a miniature map interface somehow. I tried to focus on activating it to see if using it now would be worthwhile.

  Everything swam. It was like the teleportation to my former [Red Imp] body, only part of my eyesight seemed to peel away. There were almost two images coming in. One was the battlefield where two armies were moving about. The other was… I don’t know, something with dots.

  Both were trying to line up somehow in my mind, and it disoriented me. Goodness. Activating [Sight of Mercari] gave me a headache. A battle zone couldn’t be the best place for practicing that. [Blink] at least had tons of uses.

  For a moment, I wondered if the [Seer’s Tear] combination would have provided Requiem the same ability. It seemed more likely that the Voices were warping the original result somehow to match up with my [Messenger of the Voices] title. Part of me did not enjoy being a special little snowflake in this world because it was way out of scope.

  I stared at the people below and tried to figure out how to best get through. I rolled one shoulder, then the other. I stretched my legs a bit and got ready to run. In real life, I was a slightly overweight middle-aged man who looked more comfortable on a couch. In Continue Online, I had spent tons of time traveling around and being tutored by Shazam. It was time to put all those skill-ups to good use and see what happened.

  I started running.

  The ARC feedback was incredible as always. I felt the sensation of rushing through the air. It was more intense and natural than being in the [Red Imp] body. I had missed being me and not someone else in this game.

  Below me, people shouted orders and pieces of armies clashed. Most people were standard foot soldiers. They were each outfitted a little differently, but there were clear colors and insignias throughout.

  A pack of four wolves was busy chasing down stragglers with low health bars. Two giants at least sixty feet high were striding through the army, swinging clubs that might have been freshly uprooted. Casters much like TinkerHell tossed spell after spell into any groups that started bunching up. Lights clouded the plain in greens, reds, blues, and whites.

  One of the healers—at least I assumed she healed based on the pure-looking nimbus around her—crumbled from a sneak attack. A vaguely familiar-looking person was stabbing twin daggers into her back.

  I tried to take it all in while moving briskly. There had to be a path of least resistance. If I skirted the side, the biggest risk would be one of the wandering giants. No, maybe they could be used as a vantage point.

  That was the way I went. I didn’t have much time to dawdle, and every second passing felt like one more moment of failing Xin. Something about letting loose just felt really neat. Flashbacks of some of the new players running wild on a beach in [Haven Valley] flickered through my mind.

  “Hey!” a castle defender shouted. Both the castle and this guy’s clothes were the same color.

  “He’s alone. Get him!” the second person shouted.

  They moved to intercept me. I didn’t even waste time and applied [Blink] liberally to get by. One cast drained nearly five percent of my mana bar. The fact that so little energy was used pleased me. Not only had skill-ups made it easier, but Hermes as a character had way more mana than the [Red Imp].

  “How?” one of the defenders shouted from behind me.

  I kept running and looked up toward my next destination. I leapt and used [Blink] again. During a two-second delay, I hung in the air before another [Blink] could be used. My third usage ended up stair-stepping me through the air onto the giant’s shoulder. The lumpish brute gave me the best position to try to look over the field.

  The giant was too dim to notice my weight on its shoulder. I grabbed one ear with absolutely no concern for my safety and tried to eyeball how many [Blink] usages would be needed to get across the remainder of the field.

  This must be what Dusk felt like all the time. I laughed and almost felt bad for leaving the sleeping [Messenger’s Pet] behind. My ride’s shoulder bobbed a bit as the giant swung lazily. Below us, men in armor were shouting. In the midst of my hanging on, a small box popped up. This time, it wasn’t some skill increase or a notice about an event happening while I was on autopilot.

  Thorny: Uncle Grant?

  That was clearly my niece sending a message. Focusing on responding was hard. Luckily, Continue Online had a default message keyboard that could be activated. I did an awkward one-hand typing.

  Hermes: Hi, munchkin. Riding giant. Looking for Katelyn & Cathryn.

  Thorny: What? Where are you? What giant?

  Hermes: On quest. Outside castle. An ugly one. Needs bath. Smells.

  My typing wasn’t neat at all. I was busy using the giant creature’s burly head as a shield while riding. The brute slowly meandered toward my quest marker, so sitting up here felt safer. Once I got past the smell of unwashed hair and rotten-fish breath.

  Another series of messages came from my niece. An arrow nearly caught me in the head while I tried to read.

  Thorny: If you can kill it, do. They’re part of the attacker’s army. My friends haven’t been able to get them all. If you can get one, then we can pull some defenders back. W
e need them desperately.

  Katelyn and Cathryn are the princesses. Is your quest for them? I’m on Katelyn’s side! We’ll prevent Cathryn from taking over!

  Gotta go! Someone broke in. Meet me inside!

  The giant made a violent swing to one side. I hung on to a large lock of hair while trying not to spit out the strands that invaded my mouth. My response was badly typed out.

  Message blocked: Target has become a [Prisoner of War] and is unable to communicate until the scenario is resolved or [Prisoner of War] is removed.

  “Damn,” I muttered.

  My bucket list did not include teleporting to the top of a giant and bringing it down. At least this huge thing, with hunched shoulders and a jutting jaw, looked only vaguely human. If putting this creature down would help Beth, then so be it. Killing monsters felt far less nerve-racking than killing other players.

  [Morrigu’s Gift] shifted into a large spear from my weeks as Spite. Being a [Red Imp] and flying around made me far less terrified of gravity’s call. Falling could be negated by using [Blink] correctly.

  I put that practice to use and swung at the spinal column clearly visible on its hunched neck. My tug on the giant’s hair finally got this creature’s attention. We waved around while I braced myself for a rude separation of spinal nerves.

  “Oooouhhh,” it said. A “Huurk” followed as I jabbed [Morrigu’s Gift] between disks on its neck.

  My niece said this guy was on the other team. My niece had just been captured in this stupid war. It may be a video game and nothing in here lasted out there, yet I was too immersed, too invested. To me, this place was rapidly becoming a second home.

  And Beth was in danger. I shook my head and tried to remember that it would be okay. My niece had a life outside the world—where my fiancée didn’t. Failing Xin’s quest recently made me all sorts of conflicted regarding Continue Online’s realism.

  The giant fell to its knees and managed to take out a few more soldiers. A [Caliburr] caught in the collapse let out a strangled snicker. Moments later, it shook violently. Crushing the almost-horse creature made me feel a little guilty. More so than the Travelers’ passings did. Maybe the giant could have been tilted to fall a different way.

  “What happened?” someone nearby demanded. A face peered out of crudely made armor.

  “Someone killed it! Quick, clear the left!” another defender ordered those around her.

  I moved through indistinct shouting and kept moving onward. The inertia of falling had been mostly canceled out by a last-minute jump and [Blink]. Over the course of a few days with the [Red Imp] and flying, a few smooth moves like this felt natural.

  In a few more minutes, I’d navigated the field. Most obstacles were easy to overcome with my [Blink] move. The cooldown before reusing it was only a few seconds. That was more than enough to dodge around the landscape. This ability was clearly broken, and I was sure Jean and Vlad had had a hand in bypassing the Voice of Balance on this one.

  “Who’s that? He’s not wearing colors!”

  There were defenders bunched together, roaming the fields to pick off stragglers.

  “Factionless?”

  “Might be a ruse. Get him!” a third person said.

  “Too late.” One of them sounded sad that they couldn’t stab me.

  I left them far behind using a quick use of [Blink].

  Army members on both sides were left behind. I ran when able, thankful that my [Light Body] had gone up so much. Speed-wise, my skills were behind Beth’s, but she may have been using spells or other bonuses. My niece also had at least a year of game time on my two months. Even with the advantages given to me by the Voices, overcoming sheer playtime was difficult.

  “Stop him!” someone shouted.

  [Blink] confused a lot of people. I didn’t even have to draw [Morrigu’s Gift]. In fact, running at high speed with an oversized two-hander would have been awkward.

  The castle itself looked broken and burned. People inside were fighting, and weapons clanged constantly. Most of the combat seemed a step down from Requiem’s normal skills. Maybe all of these people were new players or not very good.

  “Nnnooo…” someone near me groaned.

  I turned to see what seemed to be a severely wounded servant. Most were dead or dying, and I had no skill for healing.

  “Oh goodness.” I sighed while reaching toward the fallen servant.

  Life extinguished from him moments after I checked the wound. He had tried to reach out to another woman who lay across the hall, but she was already gone. I passed my hand over the deceased man’s eyes to close them.

  Travelers, other people from my world, were easier to feel passive about. I didn’t like it but they—we—could come back. Locals didn’t have that luxury so keeping war between players meant none of the people of this world got hurt.

  This game was too real. Involving the Locals was dirty. What if this had been Mylia Jacobs or any of the children from the orphanage? None of them knew me, but I had spent a month with all sorts of people native to Continue Online. To me, they were more real than most people outside.

  It was official. War was stupid. I hadn’t liked conflict in my world; here, nothing became muted by distance. All around me were signs of struggle and lives being lost. Digital people, but they still showed emotion.

  Why had I looked forward to it? Had Beth’s excitement over this conflict been so contagious that I’d looked forward to fighting other people? Never again could I support anything that involved fighting Locals of Continue Online.

  Symbols flashed on my screen, representing the two messages yet to be delivered. They burned with fire, signaling a need to get moving. I stood up from the two bodies and kept striding forward.

  A few corners later, the shouts of people became clear. I came in from above and ended up on the second floor, overlooking a grand room. Heavy curtains hung from ceiling rails, then were pulled to the sides in bundles. My feet slowly slid across the floor in my effort to remain silent.

  This time, a box told me that the stealth attempts were successful. At least I hadn’t alerted an entire camp while falling backward down a ramp twice.

  “It’s over! I’ve won at last!” a female yelled excitedly. She sounded high-pitched enough to have sucked in a balloon of helium.

  “You fool, we’re sisters!” another woman yelled back. Her tone was near tears.

  I peeked around the corner and ran a quick [Identification] on both of them.

  “No! You’re nothing of the sort. You’re Father’s bastard spawn that should never have been born.” The gloating one with a high-pitched voice was Cathryn and I guessed the leader of the attacking team.

  That meant the one in tears on the floor was Katelyn. I made a face trying to commit their names to memory. My lips curled into a frown.

  “Why aren’t you killing her!” Cathryn demanded.

  Someone mumbled back, but they weren’t loud enough for me to hear. Both of them had a few remaining guards. From my quick scan, all of them were players. With them in the way, trying to deliver my messages would be awkward.

  Twitchy. That was a good word to describe them. If the Travelers in here were like those outside, then I would be fighting. I could rush in and shove the letters into both hands with liberal use of [Blink], but there was no guarantee that it would count. Plus, the other Travelers might kill me, then one of the princesses, and I would fail this too.

  Not this time. Delivering letters meant making sure they didn’t kill each other. I could watch over both groups until they attacked, but after that, it would turn into a mess.

  “I’ll kill you, Katelyn!” Cathryn shouted.

  I heard a foot stomp onto the floor. Everyone was violent in this world.

  “Why must you do this?” Katelyn answered.

  Both rows of players seemed nervous. There might even be more people hiding about watching this high school drama unfold. [Sight of Mercari] should allow me to see dots. Maybe I could find ou
t if anyone else was hiding below.

  I triggered the skill again. This time, my mind wasn’t completely caught off guard. My little blue bar signaling how much mana was available to me dropped rapidly.

  The dots that appeared across my vision blurred in and out. They weren’t just in front of me. There were pinpoints behind me as well. I could sort of see them without turning around. I shook my head to let the skill go and tried to regain normal perceptions.

  Seeing behind me without turning around was a downright weird sensation. I could try for a few more seconds and still have enough to [Blink] around. I managed to hold on to the ability long enough to see names with the dots.

  Well, one name that couldn’t be a coincidence. A young man was very badly sneaking up on me.

  “Hello, Awesome,” I said.

  “Awesome’s my—” the person responded automatically.

  “Father. Yes, keep it down.” I waved at him. We were lucky the two princesses below were too busy shouting at each other. Even the players had joined in the name-calling. Neither side seemed willing to make a move.

  “Who are you? Are you with one of the factions?” he said.

  “Not exactly,” I muttered while trying to figure out what to do. No, wait. Awesome Jr. being here meant the other three from my Carver period might be nearby.

  Awesome Jr. had been using potions and stuff with some sort of [Mana Sense] ability. SweetPea cast healing spells and spent most of her time huddling in the background. They were sort of dating.

  Shadow had immediately wanted to be an assassin. His playstyle would have been far sneakier than Requiem’s. He should be less flashy than Edward from the [Grand World Crossroads (Lerter Region)].

  “Is Shadow here?” I asked after the cow-mooing teen. Shadow the Fifty-Second.

  “Who?” Awesome Jr. asked.

  “Please tell me he’s not sneaking up on me, trying to be an assassin still.” I kept my voice low and looked over my shoulder.

  The princesses were yelling, but one of the Travelers kept glancing up here.

  “Uhhh…”

  “Do you make mana potions yet? I could use some.” I waved his volume down. Awesome Jr. seemed to incapable of remembering how to keep his volume down.