“How many do you think there were?” one of the younger soldiers asked, his eyes still filled with fear.
Another young soldier sat on the ground, trembling slightly. His voice was shaky and uncertain. “There must have been hundreds. I-I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
The older soldier eyed the two calmly. “I don't think there were many undead in that field. Maybe several dozen at most.” He paused and then said thoughtfully, “I believe we were tricked...”
“What do you mean?” one of the younger soldiers asked with wide eyes.
The older soldier hesitated, and his eyes filled with sorrow. “I could be wrong. Gods help me, I hope I am. I think there were only a few zombies. My guess is that someone used the panic and chaos to trick us into killing each other. It must be this Jason that the travelers keep talking about.” As he said this last part, he rubbed at his stubbled face tiredly.
One of the young soldiers looked back at the field of corpses that lay south of the camp. “Y-you mean we did that to ourselves?” His expression was filled with horror.
The older man looked evenly at the boy sitting before him and spoke carefully, “If I'm right, there was only one real enemy out there tonight and no one saw him.”
The expressions on the younger soldiers' faces warred between terror and amazement. “What kind of demon could do this?” one of the soldiers murmured.
The older soldier looked back at the battlefield and shook his head sadly. “I don't know, but we should never have come here.”
Riley started moving again. Was the weathered soldier right? Had Jason done this on his own? She walked to the southern part of the clearing and inspected the corpses. She noticed that most were human. She was only able to identify a few fallen zombies by their milky white eyes.
She knew she should be horrified by what she was seeing - what she had already seen over the last few hours. A few weeks ago, she would likely have quit AO in disgust. Yet now she was filled with a strange curiosity. What kind of man could cause this much destruction on his own? If she was being honest, a part of her was excited by the prospect of power she saw before her. It wasn't the raw strength of a warrior, but a certain insidious cunning and a willingness to do whatever it took to win.
“Could I become this strong?” a voice whispered in her head. The thought wormed its way into her mind and seemed to gestate there. She desperately wanted this strength. She needed it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by an incoming message from Alexion. He was commanding her to come to the administration tent in the center of the NPC camp. Anger boiled in her veins at Alexion's imperious order. Despite her irritation, she sullenly started heading towards the tent.
When Riley arrived, she found the NPC leadership and Alexion sitting around a large rectangular wooden table. The room was filled with NPCs and players discussing the massacre the night before. Riley assumed her familiar polite mask, taking a position along the edge of the tent with the other camp aides.
Alexion stood at one end of the table, his hands firmly planted on the wooden surface in front of him. His eyes scanned the room. “Can anyone tell me what happened last night?” His voice was terrifyingly calm.
Silence hung over the room.
Finally, one of the NPC commanders spoke up. He was a large man with greying hair. Scars riddled his face and arms. This was not his first battle and he addressed Alexion without any hesitation in his voice, “Clearly, we were attacked. In spite of your spies’ information and your carefree attitude a few hours ago, the undead decided to meet us in the field.”
Alexion stared at the man, and Riley noted that his mask was beginning to crumble around the edges. “The undead army is still in the Twilight Throne,” Alexion said, his voice ringing with confidence.
The NPC responded calmly, “And do your spies also happen to know where Jason is at this moment?”
A flash of doubt crossed Alexion’s face before it resolved into a contemptuous expression. “Are you kidding me? Are you trying to say that one man caused this much damage?”
His cruel eyes drilled into the NPC commander. “You better hope that is not the case. Regent Strouse will not be happy to hear that you lost nearly four hundred of your men to one traveler.”
The NPC commander chuckled softly. “Boy, I lead the soldiers pledged to this cause by House Tyrial. I don't lead this army - you do. You had best take your own advice. How exactly do you plan to explain this massacre?”
Riley was aware that each of the noble houses in Grey Keep had pledged troops to the army and sent their own commanders. These were the men sitting before them. Her gaze moved to Alexion, and she watched him closely. His eyes had gone dead and lifeless. An involuntary shiver ran up her back.
Alexion moved around the table to the NPC commander at a casual walk. “You had best use care in how you address your superior,” Alexion said, his tone carrying deadly intent.
The man laughed again. “Or what? What do I have to fear from a young pup who pretends to be a wolf?”
As Alexion neared the man, his sword launched from its scabbard in a flash of steel. The blade sunk into the commander's throat with little resistance. The man’s eyes widened in shock as a muffled gurgle left his lips. Blood bubbled around the wound. Alexion withdrew the blade and a burst of blood rushed from the open gash, splashing against the wood of the table. The other NPCs and players drew back in horror.
Alexion looked around the table and met the gaze of each NPC and player in the tent. His eyes glowed a brilliant gold, and his body seemed to glow. He spoke in an unnaturally calm voice, as though what he had just done was inconsequential. “I am the leader of this army and my authority shall not be questioned.”
When he was met with silence, his voice grew louder. “Have I made myself understood!?”
NPCs and players alike nodded in numb acknowledgment of his words. Their eyes darted between Alexion’s face and the body of former commander that had slumped to the floor, now lying in a pool of blood.
“Now,” Alexion addressed the crowd before him. “I want the bodies burned. We will leave no corpses that can be turned against us. Then we continue to the Twilight Throne. Our mission has not changed. We need to send these undead back to their graves.”
“Dismissed.”
Riley stared at Alexion as he marched out of the tent. His mask had slipped completely, revealing the sadistic monster that lay beneath. As she watched him slay the NPC commander, she expected herself to recoil in horror. Instead, an errant thought popped into her mind.
“This isn’t real power. He is weak.”
They were still two in-game days away from the city, perhaps longer now that they needed to pile and burn the bodies. She didn’t feel optimistic about their success in the coming battle.
A lot could happen in two days.
* * *
After Jason had pulled his forces deeper into the forest, he took a moment to regroup. He posted sentries in the trees around his makeshift camp and kept his undead on full alert.
He didn't know whether the NPCs and players would give chase. Regardless, he expected that it would take them some time to douse the fires and regroup. Jason wasn't certain how many NPCs and players had died in the battle, but he anticipated that it was at least several hundred. He knew that they wouldn’t just have to regroup, they would also have to deal with the many wounded that needed tending.
I doubt they will send a search party… not immediately at least.
Once Jason felt that the area was secure and that he was safe for the moment, he finally checked his combat log. He was immediately bombarded by a string of notifications.
x2 Skill Rank Up: Summoning Mastery
Skill Level: Intermediate Level 4
Effect: 21% increased stats for summoned undead and 21% increase to effective Willpower for purposes of determining Control Limit.
Effect 2: You may now communicate with your minions telepathically. Distance limit unknown.
Skill Level: Beginner Level 6
Effect: Minions and subjects will receive a 3.5% increase learning speed for skills.
x3 Skill Rank Up: Tactician
Skill Level: Beginner Level 6
Effect: 10% increased damage multiplier for a successful ambush or strategy (Currently, Damage x 1.10).
x3 Skill Rank Up: Mana Mastery
Skill Level: Beginner Level 8
Effect: -4.5% to mana cost.
x3 Spell Rank Up: Specialized Zombie
Skill Level: Beginner Level 8
Effect: Increased skill proficiency retained by zombies. Skill cap Beginner Level 8.
x3 Spell Rank Up: Corpse Explosion
Skill Level: Intermediate Level 1
Effect: Increased damage (Currently 1.10 x Health).
Effect 2: 1% increased blast radius.
Honestly, I was expecting a few more levels.
After he reviewed the battle in his head, the experience made sense. His minions had killed a reasonable number of soldiers at the beginning of the fight, but the bulk of the deaths were caused by friendly fire. He could still see the image of the chaotic battlefield, with soldiers stabbing zombies and teammates alike.
He also noticed that his Corpse Explosion had advanced to Intermediate Level 1. This was the second spell that had upgraded to the next rank. Upon reading the tooltip, Jason discovered that the skill had gained a second effect which increased the blast radius.
Looking through his combat log, he was surprised to discover that the player kills had provided experience. This was actually the first altercation he had been involved in where the players were a reasonably high level. If player kills provided experience, then theoretically it was possible to level based solely on player-vs-player combat in AO.
Jason was now level 78. He decided to continue dumping points into Willpower, bringing him to 424. With his Summoning Mastery now at Intermediate Level 4, he had an effective Willpower of 513. This brought his Control Limit up to 51.
He decided to review his Character Status to see his current stats:
He was definitely getting stronger, but he wondered if it would be enough for the upcoming battle. His attack had been devastating, but there were likely still more than a thousand NPCs and players marching toward the Twilight Throne.
What was curious was that his dark affinity had increased by one percent. This must be what Morgan was alluding to during her explanation regarding the affinities. Likely acting on his need to protect the city and his desire to see combat had caused the increased dark affinity. Jason was surprised that he had gained a full percentage point, but perhaps the extreme lengths he had gone to in the last battle had some bearing on the size of the increase.
He noticed that his other affinities fluctuated over time. That must mean that acting on the behaviors associated with those affinities increased them. If he kept going with that line of reasoning, then acting contrary to the behavior associated with an affinity must lower it.
His musings were interrupted by soft purring, and he looked down to see Onyx weaving between his legs.
“Where the hell were you during the battle?” Jason asked the cat in irritation.
Onyx looked up at him with mocking eyes and yawned in an exaggerated fashion.
Jason sighed and shook his head. He had actually been a bit worried about the stupid cat when things had started going crazy during the fight.
Trying to figure out what to do next, he decided that he needed to watch Alexion's army and see how they would respond. After that, his next step would be to gather more minions and then harass the army on its way back to the city. If he could buy the city more time to prepare for the upcoming battle, that should increase their chances of winning this war.
His lieutenant zombie stood at attention before him. As Jason looked him over, a thought occurred to him. It would take Alexion a few hours to get back on the road. His army would inevitably continue their march east toward the Twilight Throne. However, now that Jason had seen the size of the army, it was clear that it would be forced to spread out in a thin line along the roadway as it traveled forward. The woods on either side of the road were too dense to traverse easily.
Jason quickly gave the lieutenant some instructions before he left with the other eight guards and four mages. The group would circle back through the forest, keeping pace with the road on the northern side. Jason would follow after he had summoned his new minions. His group of fresh zombies would keep pace with the army on the southern side of the road.
Positioning the guards and mages on the northern side of the road would give him more opportunities to harass Alexion’s army during the trip back to the Twilight Throne. A few rather gruesome ideas had already crossed Jason’s mind about how he could kill off some soldiers and weaken the army’s morale even further. His eyes darkened until they shone with an obsidian glow, and a grim smile curled his lips.
Rex was right when he said I don't like to fight fair.
Before he could break into an evil cackle (he might have been practicing), a thief entered the small encampment that Jason had set up.
It coughed violently, blood and phlegm spraying from its throat. It then looked at Jason with milky eyes and gave its report in a hoarse voice, “Master. The soldiers are gathering the bodies and are burning them in a large pit.”
Well, shit! I was hoping they would just leave the bodies.
His hands rubbed his face for a moment as he considered what to do. He really hadn’t expected Alexion to be so clever. In fact, he was half expecting him to leave the bodies to rot in the clearing. After a moment of reflection, he realized that there were still some corpses he could salvage in the woods. A number of Alexion’s soldiers had run ahead of the main body of the army. They had been picked off by his thieves and guards and it would be much harder for Alexion to send scouts out to find them. Especially if they thought the undead were still lingering nearby.
Not wanting to waste any time, Jason quickly ordered his remaining thieves to collect the bodies of the guards that had been killed in the woods and draw them farther back into the forest. He also urged them to be careful in case Alexion had laid any traps.
Then he sat down to wait.
A few uneventful hours later, Jason made his way back to clearing. The army had continued down the road towards the Twilight Throne and had left several long trenches piled high with burning corpses. The trenches threw off a thick smoke and an unpleasant smell. Jason covered his mouth and nose with the hem of his cloak in a vain attempt to block out the stench. Normally the game muted his sense of smell, but apparently the AI controller had decided that hundreds of burning corpses should have some lasting impression on his digital nasal passages.
His thieves had already thoroughly inspected the area and concluded that there was no one nearby. Jason wasn't surprised, large pits of burning corpses weren't a pleasant sight to behold. Jason also expected that the pall of death that hung over this clearing probably had a demoralizing effect on the remaining soldiers. Alexion had likely concluded that he needed to continue moving to maintain morale and to keep his troops focused on the battle ahead.
Jason watched the burning flames mournfully.
So many wasted zombies!
Even Onyx looked sad as he sat beside Jason and stared at the flames.
His thieves had managed to recover about thirty corpses from the woods, but Jason had wanted to see what he could salvage from the camp before he started raising any zombies. It didn’t look like there was much.
As he watched the burning pile, he noted that the bodies were burning quite slowly and no bones had yet been revealed.
Wait!
An epiphany struck him, and he quickly cast Custom Skeleton. The world slowed to a standstill and took on an ethereal cast. The flames now lapped ever-so-slowly at the corpses. Jason could sense the bones that still resided within each of the burning bodies. As he saw their faint
blue outlines through the flames, his excitement grew. The fires were intense, but it would take most of the day for the flames to eat through the flesh and fat before they destroyed the bones.
He began moving the bones gently out of the trenches. This caused the burning bodies to break apart and shift in a rather grotesque fashion, but he was left with a massive number of intact bones. Jason worked swiftly and soon stood next to the towering pile of assorted bones. He estimated that the tower of bone was ten feet tall and nearly twenty feet wide. Gathering all of the bones in the trenches had taken a couple hours, but it was worth it. He now had a respectable pile of building materials.
Onyx had taken the opportunity to scale the pile of bones. He sat at the crest of the tower and eyed Jason regally.
“Oh hail the mighty Bone Lord!” Jason said with a mock bow and a chuckle.
This drew an irritated expression from Onyx, and he quickly dropped down from the pile.
Now the question is what to do with all of these?
The Night Children had been effective, but were exceedingly frail. He expected that there would be small skirmishes during the trip back to the city where their agile, grey bodies could prove useful.
However, the final battle at the Twilight Throne would involve direct confrontation. The Night Children would not hold up in a straight fight where the enemy saw them coming. Jason also wouldn’t have time to come back to retrieve the bones. Anything he didn’t use now would be wasted.
What type of minions do I need for the upcoming fight?
He leaned against a nearby tree and tapped his fingers against the bark as he thought.
Awaken Online: Catharsis Page 34
