Awaken Online: Precipice

by Travis Bagwell

  Alex didn’t hesitate. “Tell me where to start.”

  “Fantastic!” the Lady replied, excitement briefly displacing the arrogant indifference in her voice. The woman flashed forward towards Alex. She rested her hand on his shoulder and gazed at him levelly, her face only inches away from his own. “I am gracing you with two gifts.”

  Her eyes flashed with power and the words and gestures of a spell trickled into Alex’s mind. “Cure Crippling Wounds,” he murmured. “You gave me a simple healing spell?”

  The woman smirked at him. “Of course, you would assume that this is a simple healing spell. In fact, it cures crippling conditions. When it is advanced further, it can reattach limbs and cure all manner of disease. Not all of the residents of this world are immortal. Perhaps you’d do well to remember that, sir knight.”

  Noting Alex’s underwhelming reaction, the woman sniffed and pulled something from behind her back. “My second gift is this,” she placed a golden tome in Alex’s hand. He looked down at the book with curiosity. It was covered in gold plating and was laced shut with a fine ribbon. The tome felt warm to the touch.

  The woman’s spiderlike fingers delicately brushed Alex’s chin and drew his gaze back to her. “I need you to preach my gospel to the plebian masses of this city. Bring their feeble minds to the light.”

  She released Alex’s face, turned, and began to casually stride away. After only a few steps, she stopped and turned back to Alex. “I almost forgot. Do not fail me or cross me. I am not kind to my enemies.” A cruel, arrogant smile curled her delicate lips.

  Alex felt the strange sensation well up inside him as he heard the woman’s words. The voice in the back of his head thrummed in approval. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied with an impassive expression.

  ***

  Jason and Riley arrived at the marketplace thirty minutes later, and Jason carefully surveyed the crowd that filled the square. Undead of all shapes and sizes were jammed between the rows of stalls. Voices rang out over the crowd, calling out the prices of various goods. Houses ringed the market, constructed of an obsidian-colored wood decorated with skulls and bone engravings.

  The dark keep loomed over the market, resting on the northeastern side of the square. Its spires stretched into the black sky, and translucent shapes drifted around their tips. Silver chains crisscrossed along the stone walls while gargoyles sat a lonely vigil on the parapets.

  It had taken the pair a while to sort through the players’ loot. None of it was spectacular. Jason decided to collect everything and then sent a few of his new zombies to Rex. The equipment could be used to provision the Twilight Throne’s growing army. However, he made sure to keep sufficient gear to equip his new zombies. Being a Necromancer required being rather free with the gear he acquired since he had so many minions that he needed to outfit.

  After the battle outside the Twilight Throne, Jason discovered that players dropped all of their equipment upon death. However, they only lost the gear if someone actually looted them before they respawned. He supposed it was another deterrent to encourage the players to be cautious about dying. This wasn’t a common feature in most MMOs that Jason had played. In his experience, most people weren’t comfortable with the chance of losing everything that they had collected while playing.

  Unfortunately, I was too slow to loot most of the players after the battle against Alexion. Of course, raising the corpses as NPCs didn’t help - they walked off with all of the equipment! I am so stupid sometimes…

  Jason had also spent some time after the fight in the alley replenishing his supply of zombies. Most of the players’ bodies were still intact. If he had summoned them as skeletons, they would be at much higher levels. However, they would also lose all of their skills. Jason had concluded that careful use of skills was preferable to raw levels. The zombies would grow in power over time.

  He had added nearly twenty new zombies after factoring in the losses he had sustained. The rest of the corpses had been destroyed beyond redemption. Jason now had over thirty undead at his command. He had also managed to gain a couple of additional mages, including one with the light affinity. It was the first time that Jason had seen a light mage in action, but, after inspecting his new minion, he discovered that it knew Minor Heal and Blinding Light. A quick test revealed that the healing spell did not affect his undead.

  Well, at least I have a small army again, Jason thought gleefully as he surveyed the new troops that circled him.

  Riley looked at him suspiciously. “What are you grinning about? You’re starting to make me nervous.”

  He waved his hand. “I’m just glad to see my zombie army increasing again. Alexion pretty much wiped me out during that last war.”

  Riley looked at the zombies that surrounded them. After the ambush, Jason hadn’t been willing to take any more chances. He kept his zombies close as they made their way to the keep. His remaining two thieves also carefully scouted the streets ahead of them. As they weaved their way through the market, Jason’s undead forcibly pushed the players and NPCs out of the way. They glared at the group but held their tongues. Even the most idiotic player wasn’t stupid enough to challenge over thirty zombies.

  “It’s certainly interesting to travel with you,” Riley said diplomatically, observing the hostile attention they were getting in the market. She turned back to Jason and asked, “So why exactly are we going to the keep?”

  “We’re exploring,” Jason replied. “This will be the first time I’ve entered the keep since being made Regent. When I received the quest notification, it explained that I had unlocked the city control menu. I expect it can be accessed from inside the fort.”

  “Do you know what you’re looking for?” she asked, her brow furrowed.

  “Not a clue!” Jason replied nonchalantly. “I expect we are going to have to wander around for a bit. We should be careful, though. I doubt that there are any enemies in the keep, but I’m not really certain.”

  As Jason finished speaking, the pair arrived at the gate to the keep. It towered over them. The dark wood was cracked and splintered, and metal bands ran the length of the wood at regular intervals. Heavy metal rings were embedded into the wood, possibly intended to serve as giant handles.

  Riley looked at the gate with a worried expression. “So, this is kind of intimidating.”

  Jason gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, we’ve got some decent protection now.”

  He turned back to the gate and eyed it carefully. The only problem was that he wasn’t certain how he was going to get inside. His Strength wasn’t nearly high enough to move the gate. It would probably take several of his zombies working together to open it. Frustrated, he placed his hand against the wood and felt a faint vibration. A prompt appeared in his vision.

  Obsidian Keep Interface

  You have been recognized as the Regent of the Twilight Throne.

  Do you wish to open the gate?

  Of course. What a stupid prompt.

  Apparently, the game took that as a yes. The heavy wooden gate creaked open slightly. Jason looked at Alfred in irritation. At least now he had someone to blame for the silly prompts and sarcastic quest language.

  Jason and Riley slipped through the opening, followed closely by the zombies. The gate shut behind them with a heavy, ominous thud. The pair found themselves in a long entrance hallway with a high vaulted ceiling. The walls were formed of thick black stone and torches lined the walls, illuminating the tapestries and paintings that hung at regular intervals. The pair’s feet sunk into a thick red carpet that covered the floor. Instead of the familiar pale green light that shone in the city’s streets, the flames of the keep’s torches were a bright blue.

  Jason was a little confused. He expected that the gate would open into an interior courtyard and that there would be another gate into the main keep. This would create a chokepoint for the keep’s defenders in the event of a siege.

  Riley spoke up, echoing his own thoughts, “I
s it weird that the gate opened into a hall?” Her eyes scanned the open hallway. After the fight in the alley, Jason could tell that she was much more cautious and observant of their surroundings.

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” he replied.

  Jason followed Riley’s example and carefully examined the walls of the hallway as they made their way forward. Almost unnoticeable indentations in the stone began to shimmer blue as his Perception activated. Jason walked over to the wall and inspected it thoroughly.

  “These are arrow slits,” he murmured. An epiphany struck him. “I bet there are hidden hallways on either side of these walls.” He examined the room with fresh eyes. This would be a fantastic killing zone in the event of a siege. The attackers would be flanked from both sides as they made their way down the corridor. They would also have few options to retaliate against the defenders.

  “This hallway can be turned into a chokepoint in the event of a siege,” he said. “Clever.”

  Riley smiled slightly as she observed Jason’s excitement. “I expect that you and whoever designed this hall would be great friends.”

  He shot her an embarrassed look and shrugged. “Whoever built the keep designed a good defensive structure. I expect we may have to use this someday if the keep is attacked.”

  The pair made their way to the back of the hall. The room was nearly a hundred yards long. A second heavily reinforced gate stood at the other end of the hall. Its doors were slightly ajar. Jason slipped through the crack and found himself in a large circular room. Several hallways split off in multiple directions.

  He sighed. “This is going to take a while. Why don’t we explore for a bit?”

  Riley spun in a slow circle as she observed the branching hallways. Then she glanced at Jason and shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

  The ground floor turned out to be a maze-like series of passages that Jason assumed were another form of defense. It took them some time to navigate the hallways until they found the stairs to the next level. Jason guessed that the control panel would be located somewhere near the center of the keep on one of the higher floors. Whoever had designed the castle would want to defend that room, so that seemed like the most probable location.

  The pair slowly investigated the structure and climbed from floor to floor, the zombie guards trailing behind them. The castle was filled with empty, dusty rooms and long hallways. However, they did not encounter any enemies or undead. It appeared that the keep was unoccupied - which made sense given that the gate couldn’t be opened by anyone other than Jason.

  After nearly an hour of exploring, Jason and Riley found themselves standing near the top of the keep’s central tower. A door crafted of solid obsidian stood in front of them. Tortured faces were chiseled into the stone, and arcane symbols ran along the edges of the door. The scrollwork glowed a faint blue.

  “So I guess this is it?” Riley asked in the silent hallway, her voice tinged with worry as she looked at the ominous portal in front of them.

  Jason frowned. “I guess so.”

  He tentatively pressed his palm against the door. An electric shock ran up his arm and surged through his body. He had the impression that the strange pulse of energy was somehow testing him. The sensation ended after a brief moment, and the door emitted a low hum. It eased open, revealing a small square room with a black obelisk in the center. Blue torches circled the room and cast flickering shadows along the walls.

  Riley stared at the object in the center of the room with curiosity. Not seeing any opponents, Jason walked forward toward the obelisk. Since everything in the keep had been touch activated so far, he reached toward the column of stone. Before he touched the object, a shape darted from the wall and slammed into his hand.

  Jason leaped back cursing, “What the hell was that?”

  The remaining zombies in the hall rushed into the room and drew their weapons, ready to take on whatever foe had struck Jason. He was expecting some large enemy to materialize -perhaps a keep guardian. He surveyed the room carefully, trying to find his new opponent.

  Jason’s words were echoed back at him in a feverish frenzy, “What the hell that? What hell am I?”

  “Who are you?” Jason called out as he summoned his dark mana.

  The same frantically energetic voice responded in clipped sentences, “What me? Who you?”

  A small shape appeared in front of him. Jason squinted at the figure while his hand clenched around his dagger. It was an imp the size of Jason’s hand. The creature’s skin was a dark gray, and it had a small pot-belly. Tiny black wings sprouted from its back, fluttering agitatedly in the air. It hovered beside the obelisk and waved a tiny pitchfork at Jason in irritation.

  Well, this isn’t quite what I was expecting.

  “This my rock! It special rock!” The little imp shouted, as he the caressed the stone with his free hand. His angry little green eyes turned to Jason. “Why you try touch my rock?”

  “Aww, he’s kind of cute,” Riley said as she walked up beside Jason.

  “Me is cute?” the imp asked in a confused voice. His eyes fastened on Riley, and an adoring expression swept over his face. He sped over to Riley and hovered before her. He bowed mid-air before exclaiming, “Pretty girl! My girl! I give you stone!”

  “Did he just propose? How long have the two of you been dating?” Jason asked dryly. Since he didn’t see any immediate threat from the imp, Jason took the time to examine his hand. There were three little holes in the top of his hand, and they bled profusely.

  Riley stuck her tongue out at Jason before turning back to the imp. “Who are you?” Riley asked as she watched the little creature dance in the air in front of her.

  The imp touched his hand to his chest. “Me is Pint. This my rock!” he said with a proud smile, pointing to the obelisk.

  Riley smiled at the gray imp. “I got that. Why are you here, Pint? Are you guarding the rock?”

  The little imp bobbed animatedly in the air. “Yes! Yes! I wait for master. He claim rock.”

  “Well he’s here,” Jason said with a frown. He motioned for his zombies to stand down since many were still holding their weapons at the ready. He doubted that they were going to be taken out by a pint-size imp with a toothpick.

  Pint looked at him with wide eyes. “Really? You master?” A scared expression warped his face. “I so sorry. I no mean to stab master.”

  “It’s okay Pint,” Riley said reassuringly. “He probably had it coming.”

  The imp smiled at Riley, his anxiety disappearing instantly. “Then I did good? Should me stab again?” He thrust his little pitchfork toward Jason experimentally.

  Riley chuckled. “No. I think we’re okay on the stabbing, for now, Pint. Maybe later.”

  Jason frowned good-naturedly and accepted this as payback for the proposal crack. At least Riley was starting to loosen up a bit. “What does your rock do?” Jason questioned the imp as his eyes returned to the obelisk.

  Pint smiled, revealing sharp yellow teeth. “Rock is magic! It control keep.”

  Fantastic. It looks like we found the city’s control panel. I wonder how to use it.

  Jason turned back to Pint. “How do I use the rock?”

  The imp bobbed again and looked at Jason suspiciously. “You really master? Just touch rock!”

  Jason sighed. Of course. It probably functioned the same way as the keep’s gate. He rolled his eyes and approached the stone again. He reached out and touched it tentatively. A prompt immediately appeared in his vision.

  Obsidian Keep Interface

  Do you want to access the city control panel?

  Yes, Jason thought.

  The room filled with a blinding blue light. Riley and Jason both gasped and covered their eyes, as the sudden glare ruined their night vision. When their eyesight began to recover, they both looked around the room in surprise.

  A glowing blue hologram of the city now filled the small space, running along the length of the floor. The hologram showe
d each individual building that made up the Twilight Throne. The blue buildings reached nearly to Jason’s knees. He surmised that the black obelisk represented the keep since it was located at the center of the room. When he looked at the translucent model of the city closely, he could see that the buildings were recreated in incredible detail. He could see the individual shingles on each house.

  “You can actually see all of the NPCs and players!” Riley exclaimed from beside him. She had leaned over, examining the market carefully. The individuals were highlighted in green and moved in between the rows of stalls.

  This room would be incredibly useful during a war. If the enemy was within the walls, I could use my psychic control with my zombies to command the city’s forces.

  Jason was overcome with curiosity. If the obelisk had the ability to recreate the city in this level of detail, what else could it do? He turned back to Pint, an excited grin creeping across his face. “Pint, why don’t you explain exactly what I can do with your rock?”

  Chapter 5- Strategic

  Alex stood on a street corner near the market district in Grey Keep. A sea of NPCs and players passed in front of him. The city’s NPCs were dressed in loose-fitting robes and sandals, while the players wore more durable armor and weapons. Market stalls lined a nearby courtyard, and the merchants’ shouts filled the air.

  Alex had taken pains with his appearance. His act needed to be flawless. He had shed his steel armor and now wore a plain brown robe. His blond hair was tousled and tinged brown with dirt. In place of his greaves, Alex now wore the strapped sandals that were popular among the NPCs in this area.

  He hesitated, looking at the bustling crowds. This first act was the most important. The people here already hated him. He hoped his changed appearance would help with that, but he would need to show humility and compassion to win them over. Although he understood his goal, the whisper in his mind mocked him for assuming such a weak role. This might be his most challenging performance yet.