Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  “We can defend, but player versus player is way different than raiding.” Awesome blinked a few times as more raiders showed up. We were running out of time to formulate a real plan.

  “No shit.” Elane glared at the group up above. “Tink, ready your nukes now.”

  I couldn’t tell their exact numbers from this far away. Some were running ahead of the main group.

  “For the Horde!”

  Two absolutely huge spears sailed through the air in our direction. The man who had shouted, Nam Redrum, looked beefy with about five brain cells, a million hit points, and far too many miniature skulls.

  “Wrong game, idiot,” SheHulk said. Her body bulged as muscles tightened into huge bunches under chainmail.

  “He is rather dashing for a tool.” Edward’s mustache twitched. In his hands were two long rapiers.

  Nearby, TinkerHell was etching runes into the ground. The enemy had at least four spell casters also chanting [Lithium]. Red mist appeared on some of the leading enemies charging toward us.

  I looked at them and readied my weapons. Xin stepped back, and a crackle of bones clinking together started up. Her dress’s hem flickered with white runes as each piece of skeleton formed in the air. Dusk blasted three balls of fire in their direction, and I threw out two of my own.

  “Come on!” Awesome’s arm rose, calling his group into action. “Protect the town and drive them back!”

  System Notice!

  Another Traveler with high [Leadership] and [Respect] is attempting to [Lead] you. Following the commands given by this person will provide a temporary increase.

  Actions adhering to the orders provided gain:

  5% to all base stats

  +1 Rank to Path in use

  +1 Rank to skills under Rank 3

  Health Regeneration is increased by 10%

  The box confused me. I had never been subjected to anyone’s [Leadership] before. Other people were suffused with a low blue glow. We were fifty against hundreds. My eyes drifted off, then saw the domes behind us. I thought of another plan, a terrible one that might end our lives just as easily.

  “No! Pull back! We’ll trigger the event!” My idea blurted out in a rush.

  Awesome looked at me, then his eyes widened and a nod followed. He understood immediately. Triggering the event had made [World Eater]s spawn last time, and according to TockDoc, those monsters spawned every single time a dome fired up. What better for a mess of recklessly charging player killers than monsters that might delete them?

  Our side turned in unison to tactically retreat. A few of us faced the oncoming rush. I hurled [Morrigu’s Echo] rapidly into the nearest player. His eyes went wide as the spear form slammed through his shield, sending splinters flying, then turned his head to powder. My weapons were driven by an obscene amount of [Brawn] that few players could match. [Recall] brought it back with less durability.

  The giant skeleton waded in with a bone ax, and two players went flying before its knees were chopped out. The huge monster went down, and enemy Travelers quickly reduced it to pieces. Xin launched a few of her bone bolts, and the effect left her sweating.

  White icons on her dress flashed red as the giant creation was broken and consequentially unsummoned. She took a breath, then shook her head. I turned, taking an arrow to the shoulder, and grabbed my wife. We [Blink]ed ahead with Awesome, who was shouting orders.

  Arrowed!

  Total health loss: 10%

  “One and two! On the left!” Awesome shouted orders. “Group three, take the second one from the right! Dwight, can your people stay alive in the broken one?”

  “Maybe,” Dwight said between heavy huffs. He looked ridiculous trying to run in his bright shining armor.

  “Hermes! Go with SheHulk and TinkerHell!”

  “Fuck no!” SheHulk yelled back. Her legs weren’t covering ground nearly fast enough.

  “Shut up and do it! Hermes, you’ll need a solid tank, and we’ve got enough for groups one and two.”

  He paused as two spears sailed overhead, along with a huge glob of earth. SheHulk turned and threw up her shield while TinkerHell ducked behind it. Another chunk of earth fell upon us.

  Awesome’s two groups veered left toward the far two domes. Dwight and most of his guild members went for the third one, which had suffered untold levels of damage from [World Eater]s. Bolts sailed toward them while a few people in his group fired back.

  [Awareness Heightening] kicked into effect for Xin and me. A horn slowly sounded in the distance. It brought back memories of being hunted in the forest by my first human enemies. My blades came out and formed a solid wall similar to SheHulk’s shield.

  Both weapons formed into linking panels with curved bumps for my hands to grab. My feet braced, and Xin ducked behind my shield. [Immovable Object] drained some mana, but my body remained upright. A dozen thunks of metal hit my shield.

  “Go ahead!” I yelled at the women.

  SheHulk growled at me, and TinkerHell ran with Xin. Two figures were approaching rapidly, according to [Sight of Mercari]. My shield broke apart, and two large blades swung out upon the unsuspecting players. One’s life bar vanished in a flash of overpowered damage. The other grunted in pain and fell back.

  I [Blink]ed again to catch up with the others. Dusk soared ahead, leading the way to the fourth dome. Behind us charged players who were laughing, giddy or mad with the joy of running people down. To top it off, the rain started pouring down once more.

  Session Ninety-Four — Anger Management School

  All three females ran into the dome ahead of me. Our path went up a ramp into the dome’s second story. SheHulk kept spinning around to deflect incoming projectiles with amazing timing, likely warned by a skill. Each time, her shield flashed a bright gold.

  “Through here!” TinkerHell yelled from the doorway.

  We ran down a curved hallway that bent around the dome’s inside edge. Concrete-like substance with bits of wiring poking out littered the wall like an electrician’s nightmare come to life. Swords and other items lined the hallway.

  Skill Used: [Identification]

  Results: Sword

  Details: Enchant [Lightning’s Minor Bane] present. This weapon will deal increased damage to electricity elementals and ignore a portion of energy-based shield abilities.

  System Notice!

  Most enchanted weapons do less damage than average due to their altered makeup. This makes them dangerous to use as everyday weapons. Higher Ranks of [Enchantment] will allow these modifications to be negated, or other possible side effects.

  “Babe!” I yelled while pointing at the weapons. Hopefully she saw what I did.

  Xin nodded, then turned quickly, took a stance, and started chanting. A horde of people were coming up the ramp behind us. I turned and threw [Morrigu’s Echo] across the field once more. Most players were wise and flung to the side to get out of its way. One particularly rough-looking woman took my javelin to the knee. She cried out until two of her own team members promptly decapitated her.

  “Voices,” I muttered, aghast at how quickly her people turned violent. Seeing this made me feel a little better about my actions in times of battle.

  My wife’s hands bobbed in the air as runes on her robe lit up. Many were still red from the earlier destroyed monster, but she had enough to recreate two small skeletons that promptly collapsed next to enchanted weapons. Their bony fingers slid around the hilts, creating an illusion of deceased Locals.

  An enemy figure literally flashed into view next to me. I barely reacted in time. [Awareness Heightening] helped me get a blade up. Their deflected attack skimmed off [Morrigu’s Gift] and tore into the meat under my shoulder.

  Ice spilled down the hall, slowing this newest player killer even further. I turned and smashed him with a shifting [Morrigu’s Gift], then I watched as the ARC took visual input too far. Faint reassurances that the player was okay in their own ARC, though maybe upset, meant little as his head cleaved in two. A sl
ight taste of bile crept up my throat once the game gave me tokens for murdering another player.

  “Come on!” TinkerHell yelled from down the hall.

  An actual body joined the two skeletons. Other attackers filled the far doorway and peered inside with caution. Our small group of players stood on the far side of the long hallway, through a doorway, on what looked to be a ledge.

  “Oh, he’s not going to like this.” Xin’s voice carried as I ran to catch up.

  The wall curved right, and the next room opened to a huge, wide open area. At a glance, we seemed to be two stories above a flattened floor. We were inside the dome proper, and orange crackled along the ceiling. To one side was a rickety ladder to get down.

  On the dome’s far side sat an absolutely giant mechanical monster. It had eight legs, large faceted eyes that shone red, and a large red end that housed gears. Small spikes came off each leg, and the dried bits of prior combatants could be seen all around the room.

  “It’s a big. Mechanical. Spider.” I felt a chill of annoyance. One eye twitched while I tried to figure out how large a hammer I would need to smash this damned bug into oblivion.

  Heavy footsteps down the hall distracted me.

  Skill Used: [Identification]

  Results: [Sage’s Guardian #4]

  Rarity: Four of a Kind

  Health: [Extra], [Regenerates]

  Details: The Sage handcrafted four of these beasts over many years of hard labor. In the end, he left the key to their usage unexplained, and perhaps never created. The Sage himself has not been seen in [Arcadia] for years.

  An Ode to the Sage’s creation;

  Of mechanical creatures, the Sage was a fan.

  Four of these roam the halls made by one man.

  On the power of runes and bound magic, they ran.

  In the end, each is still an ugly tin can.

  “Tin can?” I questioned.

  Stomping pounded down the hallway. My head shook to get back in the game. Another stealther could be sneaking up. I closed my eyes to remove visual feedback long enough to activate [Sight of Mercari]. The results displayed an army’s worth of people nearby. At least fifty stood outside our dome alone, while more rushed through the town. We were outnumbered, and most of the players were headed our way, no doubt to pick off the smallest group.

  No one with a [Stealth] ability showed up, at least not below Rank Four. I turned, ready to throw a javelin down the hallway again, but the lead person had both a heavy shield and blue glowing energy about them. They crept up slowly. [Morrigu’s Echo] couldn’t pierce that even with my [Brawn].

  I threw it anyway. The blue shield crackled violently as my weapon skidded into a wall. One of the enemy players reached out to grab the weapon while shouting happily. [Recall] made it vanish from their grip and return to my side. I twisted the long spear into a smaller shape, then readied myself to hold them off.

  “We’re going to pull! Engaging the boss will close the entrance!” SheHulk motioned to TinkerHell.

  “What else happens after we start it?” Xin’s normally quiet voice picked up as a fresh blast of energy arced overhead. The energy kept overpowering our speech. Communication would be difficult, and my wife looked paler than normal.

  “Bad shit happens,” SheHulk grumbled, then leapt down. Her body plummeted like a slowly falling meteor.

  Xin nodded, then turned back toward me, looking beautiful despite the haggard chaos. She handled [Awareness Heightening] far better than I did.

  Thuds pulsed in my ears. The people coming down the hall grew closer, and the heavy shield-bearer remained in front. Xin waved both hands, and the skeleton traps reached for people hiding behind their tank.

  I leapt in as they became distracted. Xin’s minions slashed wildly. Two people coming down the hallway took damage while their companions rang out the alarm. [Blink] put me half twisted near the ceiling. Bones of her pets crunched as I fell down with a slash.

  [Morrigu’s Gift] cleaved through two people who were close together. I suppressed my stomach and tried once again to remember this was just a video game. These people weren’t really dying. My actions were simply like punching someone out of a bad dream.

  “Fuck! What Rank are these guys?” someone in the back yelled in slow motion.

  [Blade Dancer] and endless hours of footwork kept me moving the huge two-handed blade. A dagger hit me in the same damaged shoulder, and in response, the still-spinning [Morrigu’s Gift] cleaved into another attacker. One foot dipped, and I rolled forward to get into a new position. Shazam’s lessons had all involved moving constantly, especially when fighting mobs.

  Red mist hung from unexpectedly weak defenses as I dashed through. One arm dragged slightly. A foot squeaked while trying to get into a new position. The floor was only wet with heavy rain from outside. These people’s feet were simply slippery. The liquid forming in puddles below couldn’t possibly be blood.

  [Denial] served no purpose. There were too many people. Xin’s backup of bone missiles kept firing in a rhythmic pulse. I counted them coming every third beat. Feet stepped again to get into a new position, and an unexpected slash dug into my stomach. Pain jolted through the ARC. My latest assailant froze mid-motion as one of Xin’s projectiles ended his digital existence.

  “I don’t know! That one’s got an altered aura! It says he’s almost a fucking Voice!”

  “What are you pussies waiting for? Do you want to live forever?”

  Their words keep on buzzing while I dashed around. I used [Blink] every time the cooldown finished. [Power Armor] twisted on in short bursts. Metal clanged as my huge blade hit off walls, often with people’s body parts or weapons shattering.

  “You pussies see that notice! Charge like your loot depends on it!” One of the people in the rear waved his weapon, and a crowd flooded into the hallway. “Goddammed scrubs! You’re lucky we even carried you this far!”

  They surged forward like a tide of lemmings. I tossed [Morrigu’s Echo] a final time. A cramped crowd of players couldn’t deflect the bolt as it sailed through weaker players in the back. Messages flashed of critical hits, skill stats comparisons, and various Paths I had earned over the last few months.

  “Heads up!”

  Xin’s shout of warning made me step left and fade backward. A huge-ass hammer swung through, then smashed into the wall, causing sparks. I jabbed out with [Morrigu’s Gift] but missed. My eyes turned back to see Xin’s situation. She stood facing a charging player that had slipped by me.

  Dusk’s blast of fireballs filled the room beyond. Gears screeched on one end of the hallway. I grasped at the wall with one hand, stepped upon a fallen Traveler’s body, then [Blink]ed toward my wife.

  With a disturbingly casual disregard, I ended another Traveler’s virtual life. Endless messages of stupid player versus player tokens being awarded flooded part of my ARC interface. Crackling filled the hallway, and I heard one of the players shout from damage that hadn’t been caused by us.

  Electric flares crawled through the far end of our weapon-and-player-lined hallway. People were charging at me while screaming obscenities that made no sense. [Awareness Heightening] drug out their cries into a dull drone.

  I huffed while backing down the hallway toward Xin. People kept rushing as objects flew by. A line of throwing daggers clinked off my shield, then clattered to the floor. Each one shocked my arm with numbness.

  I heard shouts from SheHulk. TinkerHell’s chanting filled the dome. I winced as a close blast of fire splashed off the wall.

  “Get away!” I yelled at Xin.

  She nodded. We were the only ones moving sanely in a sea of slow motion. My chest flared with a spike of pain. This situation needed to get back under control. ARC feedback had become more powerful on my device since I activated [Morrigu’s Gift] at [Haven Valley].

  “Don’t wait!” I waved at Xin.

  She ran and started descending the metal ladder. One stupid part of my mind hoped my wife had remembered to
wear clothes under the black robe.

  Another blast of fire hit. I stepped back and hugged the wall, just outside the sight range of those charging down the hallway. One foot twisted right, and [Camouflage] activated. I felt thankful the Rank Three version actually blended in with walls of any color.

  A Traveler burst through and stared down. Crackles of light could be heard from the hallway. People were screaming, and the sound barely registered. Two more came out, and I lifted my foot back in a swing. The aggressive action made [Camouflage] fade away, but my metal-covered boot had already connected with the enemy’s backside.

  The man wearing lighter armor went flying. [Morrigu’s Gift] skewered a person to the left. I glimpsed the still-flying Traveler and saw wide eyes as he went straight into the giant mechanical arachnid.

  [Sage’s Guardian #4] went from calmly attacking SheHulk with three metal arms to enraged as the raider slammed into its face. Two arms lifted and pulled apart the offending player in a rush of gore. The coloring of our dome’s roof changed to the next stage of green. Gears on the mechanical spider changed as well.

  “What phase?” SheHulk yelled while ducking behind her shield.

  The giant spider tapped her shield hard enough to send the Hispanic woman sliding backward.

  I huffed for breath while fighting the fourth man. He kept blocking every sneak attack, change of weapon, and other ability. The man’s Path or general skill had to be high.

  “Three! All of them need at least three!” TinkerHell’s lanky form ran around, casting with short chants. Each one sent frost spikes at the beast.

  Gears slowed briefly upon being struck, allowing SheHulk time to recover her stance and press forward, or giving TinkerHell time to cast a heal.

  “Whatever plan you have won’t work!” the man attacking me yelled. He had two skulls on his clothes like Nam Redrum. “There’re too many of us, and we’re constantly resurrecting! You have no healers! You have no people watching from outside! You have nothing!”

  Each explanation accompanied a scrambled defense on my part. The wound in my shoulder hurt like mad. I rallied myself enough to push the man back, then pinged with [Sight of Mercari]. A name popped into existence back in town again. Now I knew what was happening—someone out there kept bringing back dead players.