All that to say – most of this book was written in Texas. I created the map of Polynya and outlined the final chapters in Chicago, and I reread/edited my final version of the book during an “Evacu-cation”.
What’s an Evacucation?
During the writing of Polynya, I lived an hour north of Houston. My wife and I evacuated the area because of Hurricane Harvey, which soon became a road trip vacation as we traveled to Santa Fe, Denver (do not eat the gummies!), Wichita, and Oklahoma City.
The “Snoop Dogg” ink shadow scene, as an example, was edited and improved upon after a discussion with Jeff Hays – Fantasy Online’s narrator who asked for the shadow to sound like Snoop – at a 24-hour donut shop in Wichita, Kansas. Other parts were edited/fixed/conceived in Santa Fe, at an airbnb near downtown Denver, at a Kroger’s knock off in Oklahoma City, and at a stinky hotel in Lubbock, Texas.
Thank ye!
Thank you, reader, for taking this journey with me and enjoying the Proxima Galaxy. I will continue to expand it going forward, so watch this space for exciting news and hopefully in the next year or so, a wiki page on the Proxima Books (Thus far: The Feedback Loop series, Fantasy Online Series, The Last Warrior of Unigaea series) and how they are connected.
Special thanks goes to Kay Smilie for killing the beta read of the book, to my editor Andi Marlowe @ Andromeda Editing for tackling this crazy book, to my ARC Team for taking a chance with this one and helping me spread the word, to my wife for letting me talk to her about goblins, Jeff Hays for voicing said goblin, to the members of the Proxima Galaxy on Facebook for making me laugh, the authors I know and enjoy speaking (here’s looking at you Luke Chmilenko, Apollos Thorne – Cherry Apollos!) and to my cover artists in Ukraine, who made Hiccup just as I had imagined him.
Mother of fick, I’ve said enough.
Harmon Cooper
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The Last Warrior of Unigaea PREVIEW
(aka, the back story of Oric and Wolf)
Out on Amazon now.
Chapter One: Cliffhanger
A small pebble bounces down into the valley.
I look up at the ledge to see my muscles bulge, my vein pulsing with blood. Digital life force. There’s a slight chill in the air but my body is warm from exertion. I’ve been hanging on the side of this cliff for twenty minutes now, waiting for my prey to walk along the mountain pass.
The things you can do in an online world …
My vision pane flashes and a couple pebbles skip past me.
I originally came to the Farthing Mountains to look for sunset roots so I could craft a few potions. I found one, but then I saw the orcs coming and figured at least one had to be a Player Character. If I’m lucky, two.
My grip loosens and I dig my fingers in tighter.
Don’t look down, I remind myself.
I still need to assign the attribute points from my last level-up – three points to be exact – and as I hang, I use the interface to transfer all three points into STRENGTH. My muscles expand and my chest plate made of Solidus steel tightens.
I feel myself get a little heavier, stronger, and more aggressive.
My character sheet appears:
Oric Rune
Class: Level 8 Player Killer
Subclass: Level 3 Herbalist
INFAMY: 38 Players killed
HP: 869/869
HP recovery rate: 2% per minute
ATK: 133 +51
DEF: 114 +30
Attributes
STRENGTH: 10
WILL: 4
DEXTERITY: 7
MIND: 4
SPEED: 5
I hear voices and mentally swipe away the interface. There will be time to pat myself on the back later.
(^_^)
Here they come.
The three orcs chortle as they make their way around the bend. They’re merchants, hopefully Player Characters, and if I’m ever going to get some loot and attribute points the old-fashioned way, it’ll be by killing these three.
I tighten my grip on the ledge, pull my knees up, and press the balls of my feet into the rock face. The red outlines of their bodies appear on my vision pane even though I can’t officially see them yet.
If I time it just right …
Almost there …
Now!
I latch onto the cliff’s edge and do something I would never be able to do in real life – bounce my feet off the rock face and use all my power to backflip up to the mountainside pass.
“Hey!”
I grab the first orc by the front of his chest plate and toss the slack-jawed bastard off the escarpment.
Instakill!
+1 Infamy!
A Player Character. Yes!
My sword comes out, as do the swords of the two other orc merchants. Their levels and anonymous handles appear next to their names.
Two level sevens? Damn.
“You’re going to pay for that!” the first orc seethes. A green icon over his head flashes.
An NPC.
The other has a blue icon.
Another Player Character, hell yes.
“Some good that shitty sword will do!” he screams.
I grin at him. If you only knew …
All avatars start in Unigaea with a legendary weapon that needs upgrading. This “diamond in the rough” approach gives new players something to immediately see to. Either sell the weapon for instant funds, or get it repaired and reforged. Hell, some even learn to reforge it themselves.
I’ve done neither.
I turn my sword over in my hand, waiting for one of the orcs to come forward. My legendary weapon was once a full-fledged buster sword, but the blade has since splintered into three distinct peaks. It’s still large – about as long as a skateboard – and sharp as hell too, but the blade’s odd form has taken many an enemy off guard.
Much to my advantage.
“You’re dead!” The NPC orc charges me and brings his smaller sword up to meet mine.
Our weapons clink together and I quickly overpower him, using my leg to sweep his feet out from beneath him. The other orc merchant attacks as his counterpart rolls away, spraying dust into the air on his approach.
“I’ll kill you!” the Player Character shouts. He’s much better with his sword than the NPC; still, I manage to get in a brushing swipe that connects with his shoulder.
-145 HP!
Thick ichor spritzes from his wound. He screams like a sissy and disappears in a flash.
I stupidly turn to figure out where he went and my vision pane flashes.
A rogue orc?
While my armor protects me from the NPC orc’s stab, I do receive some blunt damage. The other orc comes in for another swing; his blade lands perfectly in one of the valleys of my splintered sword.
This was why I hadn’t had my buster sword reforged.
The NPC orc growls, presses his weight forward, seethes, and tries to free his sword from the groove in my blade. I twist my wrist and grin at my unsightly assailant. He pushes his weight forward again, and I reward his efforts with a boot to the chest that sends him straight to the ground.
I come down hard with my three-pronged, splintered sword, tearing through his cheap leather armor and piercing his lung. I twist the blade, he cries out in pain, and I yank it out, arcing the air with blood.
-286 HP! Instakill!
I take a step back to catch my breath.
Wham!
The next sound I hear is my body hitting the ground.
(^_^)
My head stops spinning moments later and I find the rogue orc standing over me with his sword at my throat.
His face is covered in blotches, his teeth misshapen, pointy, and yellow. The other trait that defines him – aside from his poorly armored man tits – is his festering stink, one part sulfuric urine and two parts Limburger cheese.
I don’t know why a Player Character would want to play as a rancid orc, and I really don’t care.
Spit flies at my face as he shouts, “I wanted you to watch me kill you. This is what thieves get! This is what Player Killers deserve!”
I keep my eyes trained on him as I slowly pat my hand against the soil, desperate for the hilt of my weapon.
The orc kicks my Splintered Sword away. “Your broken-ass sword won’t do you any good now!”
He presses the tip of his blade into my Adam’s apple and snarls.
“Do it then,” I grit. “End this.”
“If you die, you have to start over completely. Level one,” he reminds me with a sneer. “You’ll lose your busted-ass sword too.”
This is the one thing that makes Unigaea one of the most addicting and most frustrating Proxima worlds in recent memory. It doesn’t matter what you do, nor what level you're at – if you die in Unigaea, your narrative ends. No respawning, no save points, no being brought back from death.
You start over with a level-one avatar, if you decide to start over at all.
A strand of my long brown hair falls in my face and I blow it out of my pane of vision. I smile at the filthy orc. “Do it.”
He’s just about to pull his arm back when an enormous black wolf tackles him, going straight for his jugular. The wolf whips his head left and right, sinking his teeth deeper into the orc’s neck.
-79 HP! -56 HP!
The huge wolf stops just before snapping the orc’s neck. The majestic beast, a deep shade of shadow and large enough for a human to ride, turns to me.
He bares his teeth and his ears flit back. Behind him, the orc chokes on his own blood.
“Easy,” I start to tell the beast.
The big wolf approaches me slowly, locks his big, blue-green eyes onto me and …
I reach my hand out to him. The wolf relaxes immediately and starts panting.
“Thanks for letting me finish the job, Wolf,” I say as I push myself up and run my hand behind his ear, scratching his favorite spot. He thumps his leg, sighs, and makes the cute whimpering sound he always makes when he’s happy.
Once I’m on my feet, I move over to the rogue orc and squat in front of him.
His eyes quiver as he takes in my form. His neck has been torn to shreds and the front of his armor is covered in blood, with a couple of bloody dog footprints. He coughs as thick crimson ichor boils from his lips.
I drive my Splintered Sword into his neck and twist.
Instakill!
+1 Infamy!
Bonus attribute point received!
I stand and wipe my bloodied blade onto his pant leg, suddenly disgusted at myself.
Wolf sits on his haunches and begins licking his paws. I walk over to the ledge for a moment and stare out at the magnolia pines below. I have to remind myself why it is I’ve chosen to do this, to go against everything I ever thought to be true and become a Player Killer.
I’m not yet strong enough yet, but I will be soon enough, I think, as a vulture lifts into the sky, screeching to signal to its brethren that dinner is ready.
My mantra for the last month still doesn’t change what I am, or what I must do to become who I’m supposed to be.
After another moment to collect my thoughts, I turn back to the two dead orcs, steeling myself for the troubling, uncertain journey that lies ahead.
Fantasy Online Polynya Page 31
