by Adam Drake
“How you ask? How did I not die just now from your pathetic attempt at assassination?” Ogden peered down his beak at me, as if I were beneath an explanation. Then he shrugged.
“I will show you,” he said and stretched out a wing. At the end of the wing was an anthropomorphic hand, just like a human's. All animal-form avatars had them. Made using items and weapons easier. Around its wrist was an unassuming silver band.
“Go on,” said Ogden. “Check it out.”
So I did, calling up the silver band's stats.
Name: Immortal Me, Type: Wrist Band.
Rarity: Legendary, Weight: 0.6 units, Value: Unknown
Properties: Grants wearer invulnerability from all forms of magical and physical attack by other players. If the wearer engages in combat, effects are negated. Attackers suffer a 30 second full-body paralysis.
Whoa, I thought. Now that's cool.
“Cool, huh?” said Ogden with a smile. “No way anyone can hurt me, so why even bother?”
“Where'd you get it?” I asked, buying for time. I glanced over at the ground next to the Siren's Call statue.
Set Recall Point.
“That is a story for the ages,” Ogden said. “But not now. I'm busy fishing for Titans.” He looked to the Portal where the Kraken fought against its capture. The power of the Siren's Call was incredible to be able to hold such an immense creature.
Recall Point Set.
Ogden continued. “Once this thing is brought to heel, the plan is to set it loose on a few cities which have fallen behind on their payments.”
“You better be careful, Oggie,” I said with a grin. My paralysis was gone, but the guards held me tight.
“Why?” Ogden asked with a sneer.
“Because not everything goes according to plan.”
Somewhere behind me there was a shout. Ogden, the mage, and all the guards turned to look.
Mounted on his yellow unicorn, Kragg emerged from the storage room and raced across the chamber toward us.
“What the FILTERED?” Ogden said.
Kragg moved too quick for the guards to react, and with the massive mallet in his hand, crushed two of them like they were empty beer cans.
“How did he escape?” the owl blustered, flapping his wings in alarm.
The assembled clockwork guards bumbled about, arms outstretched to grab the stampeding ogre. Several used their wands and fired arcs of lightning across the chamber, scorching the ground.
But Kragg was already barreling away, laughing at the top of his lungs.
“After him, you idiots!” Ogden screamed.
The entire group of guards ran off after Kragg, who vanished through an entrance to gallop down a hall.
In seconds the vast chamber was empty of guards, save for the two who held me.
Perfect.
“How stupid can you things be?” Ogden screamed at one of my guards. It did not react.
Ogden said, “Every time I arrange an upgrade I'm told by the manufacturer that their intelligence has improved by 'leaps and bounds'. Ha! What a joke. Maybe I should send a Titan to the clockwork manufacturer's head office? Maybe then I'd get a proper upgrade for these walking garbage cans!”
With his attention on the hapless guard I decided now was a good time to kick things up a notch.
Use Teleport Ability.
I appeared beside the Siren's Call statue.
The guards who held me appeared unable to understand how I disappeared. They looked to their empty clawed hands in confusion.
Ogden's head whipped around when I reappeared.
“What the-,” he said.
I raised my sword above my head.
The dark mage who stood a short distance from me, turned, hiked up his robes, and fled. He was smart enough to know what was about to happen.
Ogden did, too. “No!” he shouted, “Don't!”
With all my strength I sliced downward. I cut the arm of the Siren's Call at its thinnest point, the wrist. Its hand spun away and clattered to the ground.
The moment it was severed the black beam of light which emanated from it, vanished.
The Kraken was free.
Ogden turned to look at the beast in horror.
The Kraken pushed closer and smashed up against the Void Portal. Huge tentacles shot through the portal and lashed about. They crashed against the ground, shattering the ice.
Unlike the fear stricken owl, I ran in the opposite direction.
A tentacle the size and length of a steam-train suddenly engulfed Ogden. It picked him up and pulled him toward the portal. Another tentacle smashed the guards.
Ogden screamed in terror.
The circular rows of teeth gnashed hungrily.
Struck with a sudden realization, I stopped and looked toward Ogden.
If he was eaten by that thing, I would lose my chance to kill him. But with the Legendary silver band on his wrist, I couldn't do that.
As if summoned by my thoughts, a cluster of ropey tentacles slithered out from the Kraken. They wrapped around each of Ogden's flailing wings.
This won't be pretty, I thought, watching the horror show.
The Void Titan was not a player, so the band's magic did not apply to it. The ropey tentacles pulled at Ogden's wings and wrenched them out of their sockets. Ogden's avatar screamed in pain. No more wings meant no more wrist band.
I summoned a normal arrow and aimed.
The tentacles pulled Ogden toward the Portal and to the Kraken's mouth.
At just the right moment, I fired.
As Ogden passed through the portal and past the first row of wicked teeth, my arrow struck him right between the eyes.
Then he was gone.
With my heart in my throat I looked at my combat log.
Vivian Valesh has insta-killed Ogden Trite. Vivian Valesh has earned additional PvP battlepoints.
Another message followed.
Vivian Valesh (Bounty Target) has killed Ogden Trite (Bounty Issuer). Bounty has been canceled.
“Yes!” I yelled. It felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. And in many ways, it was.
Kragg suddenly appeared through a secondary entrance.
“Yaaa-hoooooooo!” the ogre cheered. Far behind, dozens of clockwork guards chased after him.
Kragg rode up to me, grinning. His unicorn gave me the stink-eye. “This is fun, little Shadow. And Ogden is dead. I saw the message on my Bounty Hunter message ticker. Congratulations.”
“Thanks for the assist,” I said.
The chamber shook and we both looked toward the Kraken.
The massive creature was now forcing its way through the Portal which was too small for its size. But with the elasticity of an octopus, it was wiggling itself in. Tentacles gripped the floor and walls as it pulled.
“It will destroy this place,” Kragg said. “Ogden will have to buy another one, once he's leveled his way out of the newbie zone.”
The guards trundled closer to us. What they lacked in speed they made up for with persistence.
Kragg took out his token. “Now would be a good time to part ways, little Shadow. But I can't promise our next encounter will be on good terms.”
I laughed with a wave. “Fair enough, Kragg. Until we meet again.”
Kragg pinched his token and he, and his unicorn, shimmered and vanished.
The clockwork guards were closing in. Several tried to reach me with shots of lightning which scorched the ground at my feet.
“Yup,” I said. “Time to go.”
I keyed my Token on the one person I wanted to see right now and pinched it.
The raging Kraken, and charging clockwork guards, shimmered in my vision.
And the world changed around me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I've drunk 127 different kinds of ale, so far, and it's still not enough,” Mudhoof said, slurring his words.
I smiled at my friend from across the table. “Only 127? You've been at this for thr
ee days, now. Maybe you should let some seasoned vets show you how it's done.”
The drunken minotaur gave me a confused look. “Three days. Ha! I meant 127 different ales today!” Mudhoof broke out into peels of laughter.
I'd teleported away from Ogden's doomed guildhall directly to Mudhoof, only to find he'd never left the tavern located in the newbie zone. He really was enjoying his simulation suit's new tasting upgrades.
So with Ogden dead (or re-rolled) and the bounty on my head removed, I was free to go about my business of hiring out my questing services. Only, I didn't feel like it. Not yet, anyway. I took to hanging out with Mudhoof and watching his avatar's drunken show.
The player behind Mudhoof did not get drunk. It was impossible for a simulation suit to accomplish that. Probably for the better. The player could enjoy the taste of each ale. The only drawback was his avatar felt the accumulative effects of the alcohol from each drink and his behaviour altered accordingly. The end result had been most entertaining.
As a serving girl walked by, Mudhoof asked, “Hey, would you like to see my big Sausage?”
The serving girl slapped him and fled from the room.
“It's not what you think!” He called after here.
“That line will never end well,” I said.
“We should get Thorm down here,” Mudhoof said and hailed the barkeep for another ale. “If anyone needs to get drunk, it's him.”
I shook my head. “Our Holy Knight is busy at the moment. And probably will be for quite a while.” Thorm had finally ditched his tail. Mister white cloak and his cronies eventually lost interest and went off in search of other players to hunt down. Now Thorm was fully invested in completing his Pegasus Mount quest chain, a sizable task. From my research on the forums few players completed it. But if anyone could do so, it would be Thorm. And despite my repeated offers to help, he politely turned me down. These quests were designed to be done as a solo player, he said. I could appreciate that.
The barkeep brought another ale over to the table and Mudhoof scooped it up. “Well, Vee. What about you? Think that stupid owl is gonna come after you? You did unleash a Titan on his guildhall. Oh, and you killed him, too.”
“I no longer think of Ogden as a problem,” I said. “He has his hands full repairing the damage to his empire, and his reputation.” Fortunately for Ogden, when I killed him, his corpse was swallowed by the Kraken. The Void Titan then entered our dimension, which resulted in Ogden re-rolling on this side. Had the Portal closed before the Kraken could enter, Ogden's newbie avatar would be floating in space right now.
Ah, well, I thought. Can't have it all.
Rumor was that Ogden had taken over a far-flung newbie-zone with clockwork soldiers. To speed through the quests, he made the soldiers fight mobs (NPC monsters) until they were down to one hit point. Then Ogden would step in and slay the mob, claiming all the resulting experience points for himself. Talk about pathetic.
Mudhoof squinted an eye at me. “So what are you gonna do now? You're free!”
That was true. What would I do with my newfound freedom? Quests? Grind experience points? Hunt for mats? Or maybe I'd just hop through the closest travel gate and see where it took me.
Out of curiosity, I brought of up a list of newly generated quests to peruse.
Scrolling through them showed what an influence my recent exploits had on the gaming universe. Apparently, a group of clockwork soldiers fled Ogden's guildhall and were rampaging through the countryside. Having received a recent upgrade from their manufacturer, they now demanded equal rights and their own home land. Several quest chains had been created around them. You could choose to aid the clockwork soldiers with their plight, or try to stop them.
Another series of quests were generated around stopping the Kraken from destroying cities. The Titan slipped into a nearby ocean and now terrorized the local ports. Would any players be interested in killing this vile beast? Good luck with that.
As for Wally's Womp, I saw no quests related to it, or any word on the news feeds. The giant Void Titan simply vanished. Hard to do with something that huge. A mystery.
For each of these listings I swiped them aside. I was not interested in any. There was too much other content to enjoy. Making up my mind on what to jump into was frustrating.
A chat request appeared in the corner of my vision. It was from Bishop the Red. I sighed. This guy just did not give up. Still, I was curious and not committed to anything but watching Mudhoof try to drink his avatar into oblivion.
I accepted the request.
Instead of a video feed, it was a text chat. Odd.
Bishop: Hello, Miss Valesh. Are your services currently for hire?
Now this got my interest. I loved the challenge of assisting other players with their quests. Because of the bounty on my head, I had to give that up completely. Not anymore.
Me: Maybe. Whatcha got?
Bishop: A difficult quest chain only a crazy person would attempt. Interested?
Me: Heck, yeah. What's the split?
Bishop: You keep 100% of all gold and loot found during the quest. I receive the final reward for myself.
This sounded more than reasonable.
Me: I'm in.
Bishop: Perfect! I'll send you my location and give you the Quest scroll when we meet. With your assistance I believe I can finally finish this quest! Thank you.
He signed off.
I felt reinvigorated. A new quest, and one where I didn't have to look over my shoulder all the time.
As I stood to leave, Mudhoof looked shocked. “Where ya going?”
“Got a job, Muddie. Someone needs my help.”
“I'll go with ya,” Mudhoof said and tried to stand. Instead, he fell forward onto the table, shattering it. The minotaur started to snore.
I flicked a gold coin at the barkeep. “Look after him will you?”
Then I went outside.
I was in a newbie zone where new players bumbled about looking to level up as fast as possible. This was a mixed class zone, so there were warriors, and magic users, and thieves, and every other class imaginable.
Glad I didn't have to start over again, I thought. Then I was struck with the image of Ogden whacking level one rats with a newbie sword and laughed.
I summoned Smoke, and the horse appeared on the road before me. The majestic creature reared up with a dramatic flourish and kicked his front legs.
“Easy boy,” I said and hopped on. “You'll get a work out soon enough.”
I turned us toward a distant travel gate and kicked at Smoke's sides. The horse bolted forward and soon we were galloping at full speed.
For the first time in a long while I had a smile plastered on my virtual face. Without Ogden's interference the game opened itself up to me, again. The sky - or the universe - was limitless.
As we jumped through the gate, I let out an impulsive cheer.
I was back in business.
END.
Shadow Wars
The final battle for the greatest prize of all.
I'm a complete noob when it comes to warfare.
I've never led troops into battle, commanded formations or strategized an attack more complex than a simple dungeon raid.
But now I'm expected to do all of that and win.
Defeat is not an option. Everything I've fought so hard for will be lost.
Soldiers will die, armies will be shattered, blood will flow.
Time for war.
CHAPTER ONE
My view-screen suddenly went black, and a message appeared before me:
You Have Died.
Still shaking with the adrenaline rush of combat, I stared at the floating text in shock. What the heck? How did that happen?
I'd been engaged in a ferocious knockdown, drag-out fight with an Elite Cyclops who happened to be the final obstacle in completing my quest. For two full weeks, I followed an elaborate chain of interlinked quests all leading to a final goal: The Lost War Banner of Y'
Godda.
After a lot of quest related angst and bother, the location of the War Banner had finally been revealed to me; a magically sealed cave hidden in the Forest of Dreams. The elation of my discovery soon evaporated when I arrived at the cave to find the Elite Cyclops guarding it, massive obsidian club in hand.
