Jason's thoughts eventually turned back to the gold, and he sighed as he realized that there wasn’t any way to move it. He would just have to come back for the loot. He made certain to carefully close the hatch to the cellar and replace the rug. Only someone with a decent skill level in Perception would find the cellar.
To protect his new treasure stash, Jason also rigged another set of traps. He had ended up with a ridiculous number of extra bodies, and he had his troops move them into the guardhouses and the administration office. Jason then raised the bodies through a crack in the door of each building, carefully easing each door shut behind him.
He expected this trick might not work forever, but for now it was hilarious and an easy way to spread chaos in the city.
Jason glanced at the local chat to see how things were going in the north-side. The results brought another wry smile to his face:
MonkeyKing has left the channel.
Legolass has left the channel.
Chango has left the channel.
Lasandra: What the hell is going on! I just had like five people on my friends list die at the same time!
RupertMurdock: I know. The north-side is chaos. DO NOT GO NORTH. THERE ARE ZOMBIES!
ShadowKilla: I can take some zombies. You guys are just a bunch of noobs!
Carolina: Guys I'm standing a decent distance from the training ground and there are zombies milling around everywhere!
Shadowkilla has left the channel.
RupertMurdock: Lol Shadow must have died.
Lasandra: Players and NPCs are regrouping in the market. Everyone come to the market now.
Jason was starting to have fun. Too bad he was running out of time. Once daylight hit, the fear factor would decrease and his zombies would begin to degrade quickly.
He glanced at the in-game clock and saw that it was nearly 7:30am. He frowned. Shouldn't the sun have risen some time ago? He looked at the sky and saw that dark billowing clouds had rolled in over the city. He could see the occasional flash of lightning. Jason smiled and could have sworn he heard another rumbling laugh.
Maybe I could keep this up a while longer. What should I do next?
The king was already dead, the nobles had been taken care of, and the guards had now been severely weakened. If he could finish off the guards and find a way to weaken the remaining players in the city, he would basically control Lux. He looked at his small army of undead that he had worked so hard to cultivate over the evening.
If I somehow took the city, I could come and go as I please with my zombies.
The familiar chill pulsed in his veins as the idea of taking the city grew in his mind. He had wanted power, hadn't he? An excited grin twisted his lips, and dark mana coiled along his body as he recalled the glimpse of power the old man had shown him. The image of himself standing on the ramparts in front of his legion of undead flashed through his mind. He wanted that power!
It sounded like most of the guards on the north side of town had likely perished. Either that or it would take them a while to carefully clear each house. He had also just created more than fifty feral zombies here that they would need to deal with when they got back. However, Jason expected that the idiot guards at the starting courtyard would continue to direct new players to the training ground soon enough, and they would set these zombies free.
He had a small army of about thirty-six zombies following him, but what he needed to do was find an area where he could create more zombies and keep the city distracted and fighting. His guerrilla tactics had worked wonders so far.
Feral zombies. Controlled zombies. It didn't really matter. He just needed chaos. They didn't even have to be high level, there just needed to be more zombies!
The question was, where should he go next?
The market was the obvious place to find a large number of people, but judging from what he was seeing in chat, most of the players were starting to head there to regroup. He expected that by the time he made it to the market, he would find a well-fortified area swarming with people.
Then he thought of the south-side. That area was probably not defended at all right now. There were countless people there. Jason had already witnessed the poverty in that area. Many of those people were sick or starving. A life as the undead was probably preferable to the one they had now; it certainly couldn’t be worse. Maybe he would be doing them a favor.
Bands of dark mana crawled along Jason's body like black snakes, and waves of unholy energy cascaded from him. The ice crystallized in his brain and thudded in time with his heartbeat as a plan began to form in his mind. He would take the power that he craved!
He looked up again at the sky and shouted, “You better watch this next part closely, old man.”
A flash of lightning was his only reply.
Chapter 21 - Reborn
The group of techs in the control room were huddled around one screen when Robert walked back into the room. As he fished individual pieces of popcorn out of the bag he was carrying, Robert hummed to himself. He didn't immediately notice the crowd that was now grouped around the screen or Claire glaring disapprovingly at their backs.
Looking up, Robert caught sight of the group. “What are you all looking at? Put it on the big screen!” Robert motioned towards the large screen that hovered over the control room as he settled down in his chair on the raised dais in the center of the room.
A tech promptly complied, and the image they had been watching was projected in the air above the control room. The video was being shown from the point of view of a first-time player who had made his way to the training grounds in Lux.
Or what was left of the training grounds.
The group could see the destruction that had ravaged the area. The remains of bodies were scattered everywhere. Blood drenched the stones and the sides of buildings, and entrails littered the ground. Some of the corpses appeared to have either been ripped to shreds or blown apart.
Robert gaped at the scene.
“What happened here?” Claire asked in a horrified voice as she watched the events unfolding on the screen.
The player moved carefully toward the administration office through the field of dismembered corpses. An unusual and foreboding silence hung over both the training grounds and the control room. The only sound that could be heard was the player's ragged breathing. The player then gingerly opened the door to the office and peeked through the crack in the door. What he saw was a group of zombies packed into the room and milling around.
“Oh shit!” the player gasped.
The noise promptly alerted the zombies in the room. A dozen milky white eyes were suddenly focused on the lone player. Time seemed to freeze as the zombies all stood still, staring at the player.
With a throaty roar, the group of zombies rushed forward in a frenzy of limbs. In his panic, the player fell backwards onto the ground and the camera tilted erratically. The player was trying desperately to crawl away from the building.
The view panned back to the administration office. The zombies slammed into the door of the office and came pouring out, rushing at the player. Their wretched screams tore through the air. Their faces were wild and their hands clawed the air as they reached for the player.
“Oh god no!” the player shouted. His hands came into view as he vainly tried to defend himself.
Then the zombies were upon him, and his body was quickly torn apart in a flurry of arms, teeth, and blood. Although the pain sensors were heavily muted, the player let out a scream of anguish as he was ripped apart. Likely the psychological horror of what was happening was worse than the dull pain he felt.
The screen went black.
No one spoke in the control room for a long moment.
Then Robert turned to the tech he had spoken with before he left the room. “Tell me you have access to that unusual player's camera.”
* * *
Jason had been busy for the last several hours.
The black clouds had stayed hovering over th
e city, obscuring the sun and protecting his minions. Torrential rain had begun to fall soon after he left the training grounds. Bolts of lightning would occasionally strike a house or the cobblestones, starting small fires and sending up sparks. Several players had noted, in the local chat, that the weather seemed unnatural.
Jason agreed, but he wasn't going to complain.
He had divided his zombie army into five smaller groups and had them systematically kill the residents of the south-side. He quickly realized that many of the buildings in the southern part of the city were vacant. His guess was that many of the NPCs had moved away as the city began to deteriorate under the corrupt influence of the nobles.
Jason made certain to stay far away from the Sow's Snout. He wasn't certain that Jerry would approve of how he had spent the last twenty-four hours or how things had so rapidly spiraled out of control. After sparring with Jerry, he also didn't think a few well-placed Corpse Explosions or some clever tricks would be enough to kill him.
So he satisfied himself with slaughtering the peasants, thieves, and beggars he could find. He left large groups of feral zombies sitting in carefully designated houses in the south-side. Over the course of the last few hours, the city’s zombie population had grown dramatically.
In the meantime, the players and guards on the north-side had managed to regroup and kill most of the zombies Jason had left in the various manors. From what he had read in the local chat, the remaining city guards were now few and far between. Lux had already been a city plagued with problems, and his one night of rampaging had brought it to its knees.
Jason soon ran out of bodies to raise in the south-side and made his way west. He needed more zombies.
The people living on the west-side had holed themselves up in their homes after hearing word of a zombie invasion. This wasn't much of an obstacle for Jason's thieves. He had soon accumulated a mounting body count in that part of the city as well.
Unfortunately, most of these kills don't give me experience any more, Jason thought ruefully as he jogged along the streets on the western side of the city.
Most of his zombies ran ahead of him, killing the residents and moving their bodies to certain carefully marked houses. His bodyguard contingent and Onyx kept pace as he made the rounds of the houses, raising the waiting corpses. Jason hadn't leveled once in the past several hours, even after killing approximately a third of the city’s residents.
He did, however, get some amusement from watching the chat logs when a group of new players made it to the training ground to find it deserted. They had promptly investigated the administration office and the guardhouses looking for the guards. That had obviously been a mistake. The group had been killed almost instantly.
What a way to start your first day in-game!
Jason had seen the feral zombies in action and could only imagine how unnerved those new players must had been. The group of high level zombies he had left at the training grounds had promptly gone on a rampage through the eastern part of the city, which had been left largely undefended. This had been an excellent distraction and had forced the remaining survivors to the center of the Lux where the marketplace and the keep stood.
The keep's gates had remained firmly shut and no response had been heard from the city's regent. Many of the players had noted that the keep stayed silent in the midst of a zombie invasion. A few had also remarked that it was strange that the city’s regent hadn’t opened the gates. Clearly, they didn't realize that the keep was uninhabited and the city's regent had been dead for quite some time.
Jason was finishing up in the west-side when he received an incoming message.
Frank: Hey man. What the hell is happening in Lux? All of the streams are going wild and the footage is intense. There are freaking zombies!
Jason: Umm. Yeah it's pretty insane here.
There was a long pause before Frank responded, and Jason took the opportunity to regroup his zombies. He sent each of his remaining five rogues to separate parts of the city with careful instructions, and he started preparing a group of kamikaze zombies using some of his zombie guards.
It was currently 6:46pm in-game.
Frank: Wait. What the actual fuck Jason? My friend's list shows that you’re level 58. How are you level 58?! Weren't you level 12 yesterday? What the hell is going on?
Jason grimaced.
His fingers hesitated over the semi-transparent keyboard that floated in front of him. He looked at the bodyguard contingent which had set up a defensive perimeter around him. Each zombie was approximately level 90. His two mages stood nearby and surveyed the area around him while wreathed in flame and ice.
How exactly was he going to explain what had happened?
Jason: I can't really get into it right now. It's been a long night.
Frank: Oh don't give me that crap. I know you're up to something. Most of the players in Lux are now dead and you’re not only alive, but you somehow power leveled over night?
Jason: Fine. I might have had something to do with the zombies. However, I'm a bit busy right now.
Frank: Okay, okay. At least enable your player camera and start recording. I don't know what you're doing exactly, but you owe me a chance to see what happens next!
Jason face palmed. He had a camera built into the UI? How could he be this dumb? He could have sold the footage from this evening for a small fortune.
On second thought, maybe it was for the best. This last evening had made it clear that his success as a Necromancer relied on a healthy dose of deception and discretion. Releasing the footage might have revealed something that would allow the other players to identify him. He didn't want his information plastered all over Rogue-Net.
Even if he did give Frank some footage, he decided it would need to be heavily edited.
Jason: Okay, I will enable the camera. I have to go though.
Frank: I guess I will take what I can get. Good luck on whatever the hell you're doing!
After he terminated the chat session, Jason quickly enabled his camera in the system menu. He started making his way carefully down the main street he had used when he first entered the game. His minions had already scouted the market where the players and NPCs were grouped, but he was curious to see it with his own eyes and he needed to get in position for what was coming next.
It was early evening in the game, but it was still incredibly dark. Between the cloud cover and the rainfall, it was hard to make out anything on the street. The rain was torrential, and his clothing was completely soaked, even with the cloak. A constant drumming sound could be heard as the droplets hit the cobblestones.
He left the majority of his army in a building about a hundred yards from the marketplace and ordered them to barricade the door. Hopefully, that would keep them safe from what was coming.
Jason then activated Sneak and moved closer to the marketplace, using the occasional stack of barrels and crates as cover. His target was a building located on the southern edge of the market. If not for the heavy rain and Sneak, he was certain the other players and NPCs would have seen him before he was able to enter the building.
Once he made it to his destination, Jason made his way to the second story and found a window that gave him a decent view of the market. Onyx sat quietly beside him, looking down on the players and NPCs. Jason stroked the cat idly as he surveyed the marketplace.
The players and remaining NPCs had erected a hasty fortification around the market. They had toppled the stalls and used the wood to wall off the entrance to each street. The market was located almost directly in the center of Lux and the city's four main streets each connected to the market like the spokes of a wheel. Players and NPCs were posted on makeshift bulwarks in front of each blockade. They looked nervous and continuously scanned the streets.
Jason's eyes shone with unholy light as he looked down on the market, and dark mana twisted around his arms. He radiated corrupt power as he stood watching the players and NPCs. He chuckled evilly to himself. This
was going to be a fun fight.
Onyx looked at Jason askance. Jason had been channeling his dark mana continuously for more than twenty hours now. Onyx's tail twitched with nervous anticipation, as he looked between Jason and the marketplace.
Jason's gaze drifted to the keep that sat on the north-east corner of the market. Its windows were dark, and no guards manned its walls. It was surprising that no one had started to question whether the regent even existed. What regent would let his city be attacked by a zombie invasion and not offer his keep as protection?
He checked the time in-game. 7:37pm. It had been nearly forty-five minutes since he had given his thieves their instructions. He just hoped they had enough stamina to make the jog. They were each around level 60, so he was hopeful that they wouldn't have too much trouble. This was the first time that he had been without his minions in hours, and he almost felt naked.
By his estimate, he had another five minutes until his thieves made it back. Jason trembled with excitement, and his heart beat frantically. Even the dark mana wasn't enough to suppress his nervousness. It had been one hell of a day, but this was probably going to be the most intense thing he had witnessed in AO so far.
“I'm going to conquer a city,” he murmured to himself. His voice carried a faint note of surprise.
Onyx just looked at him with a dry expression that said, “That has yet to be seen.”
Suddenly, Jason could make out a faint roaring sound. For a moment, he thought it was only the sound of the rain. Yet this was something different. It carried a note of rage and hunger that couldn't be felt by mere water. As his hand rested on the windowsill, he felt a slight vibration.
Awaken Online: Catharsis Page 24
