Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  “Who are you?” he asked again.

  “Just a busybody. Where’s HotPants? She’s easier to work with.” And so angry. Goodness, but it would be funny to say hi. That woman was the oldest of the quartet that had guided me through the [Maze of Midnight] when I was acting as Carver.

  “Well! Attack! What else are you imbecilic peons being paid for?” the angry one shouted.

  Never mind. Now wasn’t the time or place to sort out the Awesome Quartet.

  “Have we met?” Awesome Jr. was absolutely perplexed. He showed enough sense to stay away though. I could be some player killer for all he knew.

  Briefly, thoughts of Requiem flashed through my mind. I was a player killer, I guess. So were most people here.

  “Not exactly,” I said.

  “Where did you get that weapon from?” The young man finally clued in on the fact that [Morrigu’s Gift] was in my hand. It was currently in the smaller cane shape, which still felt comfortable to me when not actively fighting.

  “An old man gave it to me when he passed away.” I smiled. Telling the truth without providing a straight answer felt amusing. It was a leftover behavior from being a [Red Imp], when I constantly gave Requiem misleading responses.

  Thinking about Requiem for even a second made my teeth grind. I sucked in a lungful of air and tried to keep focused. These letters had to be delivered or else my failure would never be fixed.

  A door below shattered, and pieces went everywhere. I pulled my head back behind the curtain just in time to avoid splinters of wood. Both princesses shouted and a few people cried out from below. People broke in below.

  “Finally!” Cathryn the Angry shouted. “Kill them!”

  “Protect Princess Katelyn!”

  The defending four players pushed back Katelyn the Crying. Two then dove toward the attackers. Everything turned to chaos.

  “Dammit. Are you still holding to that Legacy Wish?” I turned to Awesome Jr. and shook the young man.

  He was short, lanky, and clearly hadn’t filled in. A few weeks of reality and months in-game made no difference to his build.

  Trait Received: [Legacy Wish]

  Type: Passive, always active

  Details: Travelers possessing the trait [Legacy Wish] will receive the following benefits for any action related to the bestowing entity’s core beliefs:

  Personalized quest offerings

  25% faster reputation gain

  10% additional progress on all skills demonstrated during ‘Difficult’ or higher quests

  Conditions: Upholding the core beliefs of the person bestowing the [Legacy Wish]

  Beliefs: William Carver; seek adventure, assist new players, care for the world of [Arcadia].

  For a moment, my back twitched as if someone was sneaking up on me. I looked around and found nothing. Below us, the players kept shouting at each other. Someone was clearly chanting [Lithium], which thankfully no longer made sense to me. Lightning splashed into a nearby wall.

  “Who is this, Adam?” a woman asked.

  I turned around and recognized the shorter girl. Her knitted wool cap now contained a rainbow of colors. “Finally! SweetPea, are any of you following the Legacy Wish?”

  Maybe she would have an answer for me. I needed to keep the two princesses alive below or this stupid quest would be impossible to finish.

  She looked at Awesome Jr. He shrugged. Finally, SweetPea nodded.

  “Good! Remember the rules! Adventure and care for the world!” I leapt upon the rail. “Letting princesses die is probably bad!”

  Shadow literally faded into view a few feet away. He still wore darker clothes. The only bright spots were white wrappings around his fingers. I gave a quick chuckle. He had been sneaking about with a vaguely smug look. The black-haired teen that had inspired such grumpiness in Carver now struck me as amusing.

  “Someone’s up above!” one of the individuals attacking shouted. Their colors were a forest green that made Awesome Jr.’s stupid cloak look even uglier.

  I saluted with two fingers. I pulled [Morrigu’s Gift] from my belt, and a moment later my [Blink] triggered.

  They were too slow. I ran between two of them, shifted [Morrigu’s Gift] to the two-handed form, and blocked the impact of a heavyset man in leather gear. The Traveler intended to attack Katelyn the Crying.

  [Awareness Heightening] kicked in automatically as the action started. I felt as though everyone was moving in slow motion as my second [Blink] landed me near Katelyn. I had the [Barricade] skill and a shapeshifting weapon. This was the place to use it. My one arm pressed out at Katelyn to keep her from standing. I slammed [Morrigu’s Gift] into the floor between the attackers and us. Another bolt of lightning shot across in our direction.

  Everything ran by slowly, and ideas flashed through. A few seconds later, [Morrigu’s Echo] was out and in the same giant sword shape. Thank goodness both were over-the-top and huge. Briefly, I said a prayer to the Voices and slammed the second one downward to complete my corner shield.

  I tucked in over Katelyn to protect her. Lightning hit the weapons and spun across. A second, then a third blast followed quickly. The system displayed a “[Barricade] successful” message.

  The skill [Awareness Heightening] kept right on going as I stood. Both sides were still fighting. Multiple Travelers swung blades in slow motion, two different people were chanting [Lithium], and another initiated their scroll with their thumb. Everything about their movements seemed like the sloppiest football game ever. Neither group was organized. Shazam would have whipped them into much better shape.

  I pulled out the message scroll and put it right in bewildered Katelyn’s hands. She looked up at me with a delayed reaction. A check-mark popped onto my screen.

  Message Delivered to: Katelyn

  Message Status: Unread

  Note: Completion requires recipient review of contents

  That means this war really needed to stop. Both princesses needed to go back to their corners. Given the sheer outrage and pushy attitude of number two, it was unlikely that this would stop with a “please.”

  I reached up to the hilt of [Morrigu’s Gift] and shifted it into a much smaller dagger, the same one I tried to use frequently in the mountains with Shazam. With the tall flat blade now out of the way, my vision settled upon Cathryn the Angry. Two, three [Blink]s might cover it.

  One of the Travelers after Katelyn the Crying got too close. His near-bondage gear combined with a wicked-looking morning star to freak me out. I panicked and raised one foot to kick at the man’s midsection. He went flying.

  Another door slammed open. The noise became buried under battle. A female voice registered in the background with a burst of familiar laughter. One [Blink] later and [Morrigu’s Gift] blocked another blow. “[Barricade] successful” popped onto the screen again.

  My second [Blink] put me right behind Cathryn. I grabbed her by the arm and placed a longer version of [Morrigu’s Gift] at her neck.

  “Attention!” I shouted.

  People turned toward me. Those attacking the castle in their forest greens wore expressions mixed with horror and confusion.

  It was time to put a lot of trust in my [Acting] skill.

  “Cease fire!” I demanded while backing us up to a wall. Some of the defenders were inching in my direction. “Or the princess never gets to visit another castle.”

  A string of players flooded into the room from the defender’s side. In the mix was HotPants in her angry red garb, a half-cat creature, and my niece, Beth. [Awareness Heightening] faded out, and everything returned to normal.

  “Jesus, Uncle Grant, what’s your brawn at?” my niece asked from the doorway. She wore a loose, flowing top. The leather pads I had last seen on her were scuffed and portions were charred.

  “Uhhh… three hundred,” I said while shifting Cathryn and the blade toward the nearest person. My heart felt insanely loud, or maybe it was the princess in my arms.

  Holding a princess at knifepoint wa
s another item to knock off my bucket list.

  “That’s insane,” she responded, which pretty much summed up my life in Continue Online.

  Session Thirty-Nine — Sane Illusions

  “Read it!” I demanded after shoving the rolled up letter into her hands. She held it away from her as if it was a snake, while my weapon sat at her neck.

  The other Travelers were getting far too close. Behind me loomed a wall, which limited my choices. [Morrigu’s Echo] lay far away, and I didn’t have time to [Recall] it. My other hand was taken up keeping Cathryn nearby. She was a lot younger than I thought, smaller, rail-thin. It felt like holding a board that squirmed and ground teeth.

  “What is this?” Katelyn the Crying had more than enough defenders on her side now. One of my delivered messages sat in her hand. Katelyn looked like an older sister, far more filled in and nearly plump.

  “Just open it and read the stupid message!” My second chance to help Xin’s memories rested on this. Under normal circumstances, this would be aggravating. With over ten other players shoring my sides, my tension rapidly reached an all-time high.

  “What in God’s name is going on in here?” another woman broke in. HotPants had finally made her appearance.

  I glanced up quickly, trying to figure out where the rest of our—Carver’s—gang was.

  “More factionless?” one of the Traveler’s stuttered. The large man that suffered my kick earlier groaned while crawling around. “Why now?”

  “Because you’re an idiot. You, and all the others here.” HotPants had a new staff in one hand. She looked two steps away from planting either end into someone’s face.

  A lot of people protested. The only one that really registered belonged to Beth.

  “Hey now,” my niece said.

  “Well, you are. God, all of you.” HotPants frowned at the mix of players. Most of them looked young.

  “What is that? What did you give her?” Cathryn the Angry shouted.

  Her surge of movement caused a few players to make halfhearted attempts in my direction. I yanked her back.

  “Not so fast.” I tried to keep calm, but everything seemed to conspire against me. Too many players, and I teetered on the edge of a second failure. My niece being here in the mix didn’t help.

  “Who’s he?” someone next to Beth tried to whisper but failed.

  “My uncle, the one I said might join us. He started two months ago in real time,” Beth’s return whisper contained a trace of awe mixed with amusement.

  I tried not to smile with pride in my success at being useful.

  “Bullshit. With three hundred brawn? Even high Ranks are lucky to sit at three hundred anything,” one of the attackers said. This conversation contained no privacy.

  “Got to be a lie.” A shaky person who wore a lot of dark green sounded doubtful. Her face was wrapped in layers of light-looking cloth.

  [Brawn]: is the baseline measure of physical strength belonging to each Traveler. The effectiveness of [Brawn] can change based on situation, angle of effort, and mental status. Each point in [Brawn] will impact different body parts in varied amounts.

  Example, a user with [Brawn] at 50 can regularly lift 50 lbs. with little to no strain on their arms or legs.

  “Kicks like three hundred.” The large burly man in bondage gear had a giant welt on his skin from my boot imprint.

  Part of me felt proud to have knocked anyone back so hard. Bondage Gear managed to get upright, but the health bar above his head flashed red.

  I was surprised that no one went crazy and started murdering each other. Part of me had expected a stupid battle frenzy when dealing with other players. The scene outside this castle had only reinforced my perceptions.

  “What if he’s telling the truth? Maybe an Ultimate Edition?” the person next to Beth guessed. “You know they catch up faster.”

  My cheeks stayed calm. Neither eye twitched in response to the Traveler’s accuracy.

  Acting successful!

  [Act: Straight Face] gained!

  [Act: Hostage Taker] gained!

  [Act: Questionable Sanity] gained!

  “Keep back.” I quickly swung [Morrigu’s Gift] at one of the attacking Travelers.

  Cathryn the Thin and Angry almost made it out of my grip. The younger, rail-thin princess screamed loud enough to ring in my ears.

  “You’re both staying here until you read the message,” I said while trying to shake off her minor daze effect.

  The other players nearby looked to have equally suffered from the shriek.

  “Why should I do anything you say?” This young woman I had captured was all over the board in her attitude. Overbearing, rude, haughty, snide, it was every annoying emotion ever developed rolled into one being.

  I wanted to explain how there was a knife at her throat right now, but someone beat me to it.

  “Look, you’re clearly still in diapers. I bet if you both stopped to read the letter, he would let you go,” HotPants said. She was resting on her staff. The blonde woman with red highlights looked annoyed and tired.

  “Can’t read it if you’re dead,” I said, pleased that someone else made the point for me.

  “I refuse to read it unless Katelyn is killed. You do that for me, I’ll give you whatever you wish.”

  She disturbed me with her attempt at being sultry and suggestive. Cathryn was about six years too young for me to even remotely consider. On top of that, Xin still existed in some form.

  One of the Travelers next to me looked hurt. Cathryn’s offer had struck him wrong somehow. I tried not to retch in my mouth. Teenagers just didn’t understand how badly they judged character at that age.

  “Counter offer. Read the letter, or you both die here today,” I said and growled in annoyance. Hopefully my [Acting] skill would turn this into a credible threat. I did not want to have to commit any harm upon Locals of this digital world.

  “Uncle Grant!” Beth’s shout was drowned among a chaos of other people.

  “Sorry, munchkin, I’ll explain it later, but either they read the letters or none of this matters. None of what I’ve done…” Doing all those trials. Pretending to be William Carver for a month. Shivering on a mountain with Shazam. Dealing with Requiem and his constant physical abuse. “None of it matters. This is my only way through.”

  “Surely we can talk about this,” a man in shining metal armor said. He looked to be a commander or leader of one of the parties.

  “They read it. Or I-I have to kill them. That’s how it’s got to be.” I ground my teeth and pressed the blade closer to Cathryn’s neck. Blood trickled down in a thin line, making people gasp.

  Someone’s lips were moving, which meant [Lithium] might be chanted. Whatever it was scared me into action. [Morrigu’s Gift] shifted into a larger blade form. Someone thought there was enough time to run for Cathryn, but [Morrigu’s Echo] had already been [Recall]ed into my hand.

  I shifted my second weapon and hurled it through the crowd toward a Traveler trying to cast something under his breath. My foot came up and gave a push-kick to another player that got too close. A moment later, [Morrigu’s Gift], my main weapon from William Carver, was still in hand and at Cathryn’s neck.

  “Very well, mister.” One of the attackers backed up hastily.

  Their royal figurehead for this war needed to stay alive. I banked on them staying peaceful in the face of my threat.

  “Hermes. Just Hermes.” I gave my Continue Online name.

  Those on my niece’s side, the defenders, didn’t seem upset at all. They were also amazingly non-aggressive. Maybe they hoped to resolve this peacefully or at least without casualties on their side. It looked as though Katelyn’s team felt perfectly comfortable bunching together and backing up slowly.

  “The Greek messenger god?” a Traveler said.

  “That’s my job. Messenger to the Voices.” I curved the blade around my hostage’s neck a bit more, then reached for player inventory where my second letter was sto
red.

  “You are no messenger,” Cathryn sneered. She somehow found the courage to be rude and bold while a knife loomed across an artery.

  “Read the title, princess,” I said.

  “I have no means to do so. I am not a Traveler, and neither are you.” She sounded downright upset. “You’re some slob who’s bitter about his failure.”

  I shook from her response. “What?”

  “What could you mean? He nearly died doing his duty for our father.” Katelyn’s comment came from across the room and aimed at her sister.

  Her wording touched on a buried memory. I looked around in confusion, trying to keep an eye on the other players and both princesses.

  “He failed! He sat there and let my father, along with so many others, die to poison.” Cathryn turned toward me while her health bar took a scratch from [Morrigu’s Gift]. “It was your job to test the food and you failed.”

  “What are you talking…” Then it hit me. That was one of the first things I had ever done in Continue Online. She had to be talking about the [King’s Taste Tester] event during my trials.

  Event!

  King’s Taste Tester

  A food tester! You were asked to sample the King’s food for poisons, and that you did. A little here, a bit there, and perhaps a tad too much of the lamb if truth was to be told. With a keen sense of smell, you detected that some items were tainted. Discolored ones too were removed from the King’s potential feast. However, many skipped by your nose.

  When it came to the actual tasting, you found a truly deadly poison and nearly died. Of course, there were all those others you missed. This kingdom was due for a change in regime anyway.

  Royalty may recognize you as a man who has sacrificed for his country.

  Knights and guards may recognize you as the man who let a king die.

  Near death has reduced your endurance for the next few days.

  “Uncle Grant?” my niece Thorny, Beth, whatever, said. She sounded disconcerted and worried.

  I told myself that everything happening now was for Xin. A woman I couldn’t save from the train wreck who could be saved here.