Continue Online (Part 2, Made)

by Stephan Morse

  “Tear. Nowthe tear.” I muttered trying not to heave. My insides felt as if they were in turmoil. The quick back and forth between characters had been mentally exhausting. It was like I ran two miles while being dehydrated.

  Frankenstein handed over another small marble object. I ran it through [Identification] and nodded. “I’ve held up my end.” He said. “So. You should still be able to tell where he is, Spite?”

  Luckily I had a quest marker that told me exactly where Requiem was. That was one of the perks of needing to kill him as a player. “Yes. Icantell. Aboveground now, north, fivemiles maybe.”

  “My castle.” Frankenstein became even paler. He started shaking.

  “Youhavea castle?” I said, but it was too late. The man had already whooshed away with his red squiggles of darkness.

  There I sat. A second [Seer’s Tear] which was cleverly marked on [Identification] with a two of two symbol. Only the first one was somewhere in my belly and had been traveling through for hours.

  The Voices above didn’t bless my [Red Imp] self with a player inventory or even pockets. There was no strap to hold it down with and clutching it in my hands was useless. I went with swallowing the second [Seer’s Tear] to let it join the other one. A [Greed] and [Self-Serving] pop-up confirmed the action.

  I had no real idea how to get out of here. Requiem and my autopilot had made it through part of the dungeon. The giant face wasn’t about to answer me judging by its frown. My health was dangerously low for much more of this.

  There was a torch on the wall. Wings stuttered and tried to fly up. I made it by pulling myself up with chubby arms and weak flaps. It took me nearly ten minutes to get a spark going from rocks in the cave and using the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] in a sort of file shape. I was lucky this torch was intended to be lit. Game mechanics and practice camping with Shazam on the mountain helped.

  The dying torch light triggered my [Flame Regeneration] skills. Warmth washed over me chasing away the chill of reliving my neck pain. It also woke up the wall with a vague groan. A remaining eye rolled slightly to look at me.

  “Really?” I Looked at the giant half a face wall.

  “Unnnh.” It groaned at me. My undead mud wall to English skill didn’t help decipher that. The eye shut and what existed as a mouth went slack.

  At least now I could fly off this stupid green circle. I jabbed the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] into the ground to try and muss it up. The circle flashed and reconstructed moments after my attempt. The effort gained me a few more percent points on the bar.

  I wanted to log out but my poor little [Red Imp] self remained lost in the dungeon. There was a quest marker that pointed to Requiem Mass, but it was far away now. My autopilot could probably handle a few of the smaller creatures, but this dungeon must contain at least one more boss monster. Hopefully being on vaguely peaceful terms with Frankenstein would prevent any other boss level creatures from attacking me.

  There was no way I could handle one of those myself. Not with my current body and skills. Even Hermes would be hard pressed to survive. He had a lot more [Brawn] and [Endurance] after all those weeks on the mountain training with Shazam.

  Then there was this stupid summoned status that refused to shake itself off. I had been given a brief glimpse of Hermes’ side of the world during the unbound spell process. My main body or character seemed to be sitting on the hill over a huge castle. There were at least two armies clashing below. I tried to remember the timing. That must have been the war my niece and that man Arnold had talked about.

  So, as a result, my goals were clear. Stab Requiem in the back to get this quest completed. Get back to my Hermes body and help out in the war to keep my niece alive. I may be an old man who would only get in her way, but that didn’t mean I would let anything bad happen.

  Step one, find a tunnel that went up. Step two, stab Requiem Mass now that I was no longer restricted by the summoning ritual. Step three, free Xin. With three simple steps, everything would work out. It had to.

  The tunnels up were amazingly peaceful. All the undead creatures that had plagued us on the way down were gone. Not one mole or set of roots popped into being. Each twist and turn kept me jumping waiting for something to scare me. My path stayed clear. Frankenstein must have recalled everything he had to fight against Requiem. I wasn’t sure how much I liked the older Traveler. He could have easily killed me but didn’t, so that said something.

  I used [Blink] as often as possible to speed up the traveling time. Wings only went so fast despite all my practice. It was easily hours of high-speed movement before I made it to the exit, winded, but alive. Finally, I got out to the top and found a hastily erected camp.

  “Whatis this?” I shouted in confusion.

  Requiem’s jar of goop that he had been cradling for days was sitting there almost completely empty. I looked inside and saw signs of scrape marks on the sides. He had clearly dipped something in this.

  I stabbed at it with the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift]. A small box popped up.

  Well. That was neat. I focused and tried to curve the edge of my weapon a bit. The [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] ended up looking like an exaggerated butter knife. Soon I had scooped out what little remained and slathered it on my one item.

  Enchanting the loincloth seemed questionable. I would fill up the bowl with water and bathe in it if that might help my own stats. Anything to get an edge over Requiem. There was no telling what bonuses he might have gained.

  Neat. Requiem might have gained the same ability. He might have gained increased damage or any other number of things. I took to the air and made my way towards Requiem Mass. It might take a while, I might only have one life left, but me and the young man would meet again soon.

  I may be tiny and have a low health bar, but no longer was I bound by his rules.

  Session Thirty Seven – Baby Don’t Hurt Me

  Traveling was a lot easier out here in the open. There was so much free room. A landscape of undead and rotting creatures didn’t seem to lend itself to flying beings. I took advantage of my vertical freedom to skip the drawbridge and track down the two players.

  Requiem had plowed through a river of undead creatures. He moved quickly from one monster to the next while hacking away. Bits of monsters hung all over the castle drawbridge. At least seven different rats were floating belly up in the moat.

  They were easy enough to find. I just had to follow the trail of dead bodies and girly shouting. Frankenstein was screaming in horror. Every few seconds the goofy Traveler would use that burst of speed to wiggle from one location to another. Requiem and his stupid blue glowing body was always close by, pressuring him.

  I watched them dash down one of the castle corridors. Stain glass windows were between us. Using [Blink] to get through would be easy enough if there was a good opening. Part of me hoped that Requiem would get backed

  into a corner and I could pop in behind him.

  My mind ran through the possible methods. Using an [Unexpected Strike] would cause a ton of extra damage. The moment I attacked Requiem would know my position. I opted to keep watching the other two whittle away at each other.

  Frankenstein kept sending half rotted animals after Requiem Mass. Giant monster rats tried to gnaw on his face. Monkeys of questionable bowel control gibbered and clawed. Moles in the courtyard threw mud piles. We had been fighting the Traveler’s minions this entire time and I hadn’t known.

  This goop on my [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] might come in use. I wasn’t sure how the game justified having a weapon that could change shape and be thrown. Maybe I was so terrible that the Voice of Balance said ‘whatever’. Part of me felt happy each time my character learned something new.

  Now was a good time to practice. Requiem was running along a causeway after Frankenstein. I put the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] into spear form and got ready to lob it. If I stayed at a distance he might not notice my weapon among all the other chaos. The attempt missed wildly by clattering into the co
urtyard below.

  “Ahh! Nononnodamnno!” I tried to say it quietly, but my voice carried. Requiem didn’t seem to notice thankfully. Building a new skill from scratch on a [Red Imp] would take a long while.

  Both eyes closed and I tried to visualize the weapon coming back to my hand. Triggering new skills was always a pain in the neck. [Blink] took around seventy different attempts to be able to aim regularly. Thank goodness being down in that pit of a dungeon gave me plenty of time.

  “Get away! You’re ruining everything!” Frankenstein shouted loud enough to be heard over the groans of undead monsters.

  “It’s just a little pain! Come on!” Requiem Mass and his silly blue aura dodged around one torn up rat and slashed at a mole. “You’ll hardly notice!”

  There wasn’t enough time for seventy attempts on weapon [Recall]ing. Not when one successful usage took ten seconds of idle behavior. Plus each [Recall] ground down the [Echo of Morrigu’s Gift] and its durability. The spear was back in my hand and looked to be at seventy-five percent or so from one use. I checked out the [Regeneration] progress while both Travelers chased each other around.

  One minute of the Travelers trying to kill each other equaled about five percent on my weapon. That was not enough for repeated attempts. In Requiem’s world that was a dead rat monster and heavily wounded mini bear. The ursine bundle of undead-themed nonsense had tiny round ears and a slashed face.

  “No! Lilly!” Frankenstein ran to grab one of the bear’s fluffy ears that had disconnected. He cradled it while sniffling.

  “You named a bear Lilly?” Requiem actually paused the destructive rampage to stare at Frankenstein.

  “Yes! She’s cute and you’re ruining her!” Frankenstein’s body vanished and dark red wisps of energy coalesced in a new location. He grabbed another piece of the bear named Lilly. The dive brought him amazingly close to Requiem’s stabbing blade. “Ahh! I’ll get you for this!”

  “Not at this rate.” Requiem was smiling. I tried to keep out of the main picture in case a [Red Imp] flying up above would be too obvious. Stealth was not one of my character’s skills, still. If I ever had to do this again I would ask the Voices for someone sneaky.

  “Shut up!” The goofy Traveler yelled. He sounded near sniffles. Something flashed like a camera going off. The bright moment caused Frankenstein to shudder. His clothes seemed made of smoke much like Jean’s had.

  “Really? You’re like forty and telling people to shut up?” Requiem said.

  I took advantage of the distraction to throw another spear at the back of Requiem’s head. My wings faltered for a moment causing the shot to go wild. It landed on one of the mole creatures that was mostly incapacitated. A small box displayed minor gains.

  “Shut up!” Frankenstein was far too emotional about a bunch of mindless leftovers. These undead things were all gross. “You’re a jerk!”

  Requiem swung a blade down and chopped at another undead rat. There was an overabundance of the things bounding along the castle grounds even with all the destruction. More were scaling up the walls with monkeys riding their backs.

  “This is why we can’t work together. You’re a child.” Frankenstein grabbed another bit of some monster’s body and clutched it to his chest. Lilly, the mini bear, growled and charged at her enemy.

  “Really? This from the man who is sad his teddy bear is falling apart? Or how about the fact that you betrayed me and refused to give me your piece?” The younger Traveler emphasized his disgust by sidestepping Lilly and pushing her over a rampart’s edge.

  “We could have completed it together, you unstable little brat!” Frankenstein tried to dodge off again. His clothes were a mess.

  “Why would I work with you?” The younger one asked. His cheek kept twitching every time Frankenstein spoke.

  “Because we could have been done!” Frankenstein whined.

  Requiem snarled and dove for Frankenstein’s body. He tossed all the body parts and did that squiggly energy running. The eyeball pendant around my former master’s neck flashed brightly and energy went everywhere. It was like the red foggy abilities abandoned Frankenstein in fear.

  Was that the point of Requiem’s necklace? Had we gone down there to get him a piece of equipment that would counter Frankenstein’s squiggle things? Part of me felt terrible for helping make myself obsolete, but I should have expected it. The one day I chose to ignore my ‘kill Requiem mission’ and all good intentions backfired. At least my [Red Imp] self was now a free agent. With one life to risk it all.

  The players kept up their endless fighting down a stairwell. Both were well below half health according to [Identification] results.

  “Stay back! I’m warning you!” Frankenstein had backed into the castle’s inner courtyard.

  “Or what?” Requiem stalked closer. His body gave off the deeper blue hue while one sword trailed ash. The lighting made his face look twisted, especially on someone who sounded so young.

  From above it was clear that Frankenstein was not at all happy. The man turned and started shouting to one of the archways. “Cliffy! Here boy! Come to papa!”

  “More undead fodder?” Requiem sounded disgusted.

  “No! This one is special.” Frankenstein gave one of the best evil villain laughs I had ever heard. My [Red Imp] body joined in out of some diabolical gene buried in this racial code.

  An absolutely giant rotting dog slowly padded in from one of the doors leading outside. I had never seen this huge creature before in any session as the [Red Imp]. It was enough to make me whistle slowly. Plus he named it Cliffy, how neat was that?

  “I’ll get you yet, and your little dog too,” Requiem said. There wasn’t a trace of humor in his words. I, however, was nearly bursting and trying not to laugh.

  “Sick ‘em, boy!” Frankenstein said.

  The dog didn’t move right. It bounded on three good legs and one that was terribly broken. PoserMan and his wingtip coat adopted a strange pose. He pressed both hands together and crossed his legs on the ground. Out of his body shot another round of red energy linking between him and Cliffy.

  “What are you doing?” Requiem tilted his head and swung both swords again.

  I was asking myself the same thing. If my teenage years of video games were any hint, Frankenstein was channeling power into Cliffy. There were no clear indications of other player’s buffs most of the time. Continue Online happily told me what I had going on, but other people were a mystery.

  After five seconds, the dog was larger. After ten seconds, it was faster. Requiem couldn’t sit around letting Frankenstein continue to charge up the creature. I could at least see mana dropping down on Frankenstein’s bar. He changed his pose a bit more and the blue bar leveled off.

  Requiem once again tried to charge towards his nemesis. The big undead dog, Cliffy, got in the way and snapped uneven teeth at his face. I cheered from up above as young Traveler lost health points. He pulled back from the beast and switched out his swords.

  Frankenstein was humming as part of his strange pose. Requiem dodged again and managed to get away from the dog’s repeated lunges. It would take me a lot of practice in order to avoid that kind of repeated attack, even with [Blink].

  Maybe. I did have lots of experience with Requiem.

  If I knew him, he would be throwing materials up into the air. There, he was tossing up those short blades in an arc. I flew over to catch them. That brief bit of practice with Shazam, catching cards out of the air, helped. This was more of the same.

  I managed to grab six and redirected them over Requiem’s head below. Seeing small [Unexpected Strike] windows pop up for minimal damage gave me pleasure. It was enough to put a dent in the Traveler’s health bar. I used [Blink] to hide quickly before he looked up.

  “Roarrrrr!” Cliffy tried to give a ferocious growl, but it failed due to half a jaw being in shambles. Some of the projectiles that I missed struck Frankenstein as well. My help was keeping things vaguely even.

  “What
?” Requiem was confused. He pulled out one of his swords from the hammerspace that Travelers used. Then he tossed up more blades with his free hand like basketballs.

  I blinked out and grabbed the newest projectiles quickly. There wasn’t enough time to risk dropping them on Requiem’s head. They were put to good use as throwing practice from the side instead of letting gravity take control completely.

  “What is going on?” My former master demanded.

  Frankenstein hummed while his giant rotting dog swung again. The two danced back and forth all over the courtyard. Cliffy would swing an enormous paw and do more damage to the surrounding mortar than anything else.

  Requiem elevated his aura up to the next level. He shouted, which made the young man’s hair stand on end. The last time he used these abilities Requiem could move faster and hit harder. Eventually, it built up to the black hole ability then fatigue.

  I hoped that Frankenstein would be able to push him far enough. If Requiem wasted that ability I could clean up after them. With heightened speed, Cliffy and his red energy bonuses were losing ground. Soon the creature was down another leg and couldn’t intercept the enemy Traveler anymore.

  I ‘oopsed’ another rock into the side of Requiem’s head. Blades captured from Requiem’s earlier attack were kicked off the edge. Next, bits of dead moles were slid off the side to hopefully make it seem like the place was falling apart. Cliffy’s onslaught against the walls might have knocked things loose up above.

  The dog was falling apart under Requiem’s assault. It charged in what had to be a suicide run.

  “Go!” I shouted.

  Requiem twitched and tried to use a screen of smoke. [Dark Vision] saw right through it and showed the Traveler trying to dodge. The giant undead creature didn’t care in the slightest and curved to intercept.

  The younger Traveler in his leather gear turned the blade and swung. It curved into the creature’s neck as a giant head descended. From my angle, the dog’s mouth had opened wide and half swallowed Requiem. I started feeling hopeful for the first time in days. Had the undead beast finished off my enemy?