Hell to Pay (Ascend Online Book 2)

by Luke Chmilenko

  With a flourish of his hand, my gold pouch vanished from the table and was replaced by an immaculately crafted greatsword. Looking down at the blade, I felt my heart jump as I gently reached down and picked it up in my hands.

  At just over four feet in length, the blade of the sword was completely translucent and free from any flaws, appearing as if it were forged entirely from glass. Looking down to the hilt, I saw that it too was made out of glass-steel; however, unlike the rest of the blade, it was dark and opaque.

  Grasping the weapon by the hilt with both hands, I hefted it into a ready stance, its perfect balance rendering every other weapon I had ever used inadequate in comparison. After holding the blade for a moment, an alert appeared out of the corner of my vision.

  You have equipped an Evolving Weapon!

  This mystical weapon has the potential to grow with you and increase in power as your skills develop, but before you can fully bond with the weapon, it must be awoken. While this weapon is in its dormant state, it will take 25% of all combat experience you accumulate until it fully bonds with your soul. Please note, any experience received from quests will not be applied to this total. Once the weapon has been awoken, it will become a permanent part of you and you will be unable to sell or destroy it.

  I need to feed this experience? I cocked my head in confusion, feeling a little overwhelmed as I reread the alert. Hang on, that’s not right…I get an experience penalty while I’m using this.

  Feeling a sense of dread wash over me as I now realized why this item was put up for sale rather than being used, I brought up the item’s description and searched to see how much experience it would take to Awaken the weapon.

  Experience needed to Awaken: 0/50,000

  “Fuck!” I shouted, startling the Auctioneer once again. “This is going to take forever!”

  “I-is there a problem, sir?” the Auctioneer asked hesitantly, his eyes focused on my new sword and the threatening manner I was holding it.

  “I…don’t know,” I replied, pointing the sword towards the ground and mentally trying to figure out just how long it was going to take me to realize the weapon’s potential.

  Fifty thousand experience points is close to two levels’ worth of nonstop grinding since the weapon doesn’t take quest experience, but at the same time, it takes a flat twenty-five percent of all combat experience and I can’t adjust it. I paused for a second to do the simple mental calculation. Which means I have to earn at least two hundred thousand experience points to fully awaken this weapon…and that will likely take me until I’m close to level 20.

  “A-all sales are final, I’m afraid,” the Auctioneer said after a moment, sensing my inner turmoil. “If you would like to chase after that gentleman that left, perhaps he will buy it off you and relist it again, unless you wish to relist the item yourself.”

  “He was the one who sold it?” I asked, looking over my shoulder to see if he was still nearby.

  “Yes.” The Auctioneer nodded, clearly relieved that I wasn’t about to take my frustrations out on him. “Mentioned something about finding it in a newly uncovered cache here in the city…but that’s really none of my business.”

  “I…” I trailed off while looking down at the sword.

  Sure, it was going to be a pain getting it to Awaken, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but be curious to see what would happen, and I doubted that I would have the opportunity to find another evolving weapon anytime soon.

  “I’ll keep it,” I said finally, coming to a decision. Even with the experience penalty, the weapon itself was better than anything else I could find on the market at the moment, and would remain so for several levels to come.

  “Excellent!” The man gave me a halfhearted smile as he moved back towards the heavy leather book he was writing on. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must temporarily crash the city’s commodity exchange…”

  Almost the second that the Auctioneer finished speaking, I began to hear a low grumble start to fill the air as Adventurers around me began to murmur and complain. The sound grew to a feverish pitch as more and more Adventurers joined in.

  I looked back at the Auctioneer, who simply sighed and continued to write in his book, occasionally looking at the papers the Adventurer before me handed to him.

  “Uh, good luck with that,” I told the man as I felt both Quinn and Molly start moving towards the lobby as the unrest began to grow. “I think I’m going to get out of here before a riot starts and I need to put this sword to use.”

  “If that happens,” the Auctioneer said with another deep sigh, “please use it on me first.”

  Chapter 11

  “What the hell happened in there?” Molly asked, the three of us having met up in the lobby as we made our way out of the Auction House. “Everyone was happy one minute, then chaos the next.”

  “Someone bought out a huge chunk of the commodities market and relisted it,” Quinn said a moment before I could chime in. “I was checking out prices for leather and jute, when nearly all of it was bought up and marked up almost instantly.”

  “Metals, too,” I added, remembering what I heard the Adventurer tell the Auctioneer. “Must have taken an insane amount of money.”

  “Not the worst idea, though,” Molly said slowly after thinking for a moment. “With the military leaving, and needing resupply on the road, crafted goods and resources are going to be at a premium. Whatever person or guild bought everything out is likely going to clean up.”

  “That many resources leaving the economy is going to cause problems until it settles down again,” I pointed out. “Inflation is going to hit everything for a few days until it’s all relisted.”

  “Might be a good opportunity for the guild to make some money,” Molly said thoughtfully. “I’m sure there are a ton of places we can hit for just resources alone and undercut the relister.”

  “That’s actually not a bad idea,” I agreed, making a mental note to bring it up with Isabella.

  “Well, all that aside, at least we managed to get some shopping done before everything went to hell,” Quinn said, holding up a finely polished length of oak with a clear crystal set on top, then motioning to my sword.

  “That is a pretty nice sword, Lazarus,” Molly noted with the faintest tone of envy tinging her voice.

  “It’s the best one I’ve ever wielded,” I said with a smile, before going on to explain the awakening process for the sword. “I have a long way to go before I can use it to its full potential, though.”

  “Damn, that is pretty sweet, even with the experience penalty,” Quinn said, shaking his head. “I had no idea there was such a thing as Evolving Items in this game. Maybe once the auction house calms down again, I can take a look if there are any similar ones listed and put in a buy order…”

  “That may not be a bad idea,” I told the mage in complete agreement. “Just be sure to read the fine print so you know what you’re getting into.”

  “So where are we headed, exactly?” Molly asked, turning her head to look over at Quinn as we started to put some distance between us and the Auction House.

  “We’re off into the Old District,” Quinn answered. “Shouldn’t take us too long to get there, the streets are emptying out pretty fast.”

  “Yeah, they are…” I had steadily noticed the amount of people on the streets decreasing as we made our way out of the central Market District and moved northwards. “Not many people go walking about in the Old District, though; it’s mostly for Nobles or for the Merchant families.”

  “True, but look at those who have gone out and tell me something isn’t wrong,” Molly told me, subtly motioning towards a group of well-dressed people passing by us on the opposite side of the street, escorted by a trio of bodyguards. “Yesterday, they wouldn’t have even bothered to take bodyguards with them, but today they have.”

  “They’re nervous,” I replied, noticing that two of the bodyguards had chosen to place themselves between us and the group they were es
corting. “Really nervous.”

  “That tells me even they don’t know what’s going on,” Quinn observed. “I’d be willing to bet that even the Noble Houses don’t have any idea where the military was sent to.”

  “No bet there,” I grunted, having come to the same conclusion myself.

  Walking for a while, the three of us made our way out of the Market District and found ourselves amongst the largest and oldest houses in Eberia. The clutter and bustle of the Market District slowly faded away into sprawling properties full of lush greenery. Some of the houses were entirely new construction, made out of wood, while others were solid stone, repurposed from the ancient ruins that made up the majority of the city.

  “Where does your contact live in here?” I asked, feeling self-conscious that we would be walking into one of the larger houses on the street.

  “We’re just about here, actually,” Quinn said as he motioned to a row of townhouses ahead of us. “William, my contact, has an apartment here…well, actually, all the apartments in his building, but he doesn’t really use them.”

  “What does your contact do to afford a place here?” Molly asked incredulously as she looked around. “This street puts my home to sha—erm, it’s really beautiful.”

  I couldn’t help but catch Molly’s sudden correction as she turned away from me, making me wonder what exactly she was trying to hide about her life outside the game. Does she think something will change if I know even the barest details about her life?

  “Based on what I know,” Quinn said, completely oblivious to Molly’s slipup as we walked up to the building, “he simply outlived everyone, including the landlord, and the city found it easier to simply grant him the property than find someone who wanted to go through the trouble of buying it.”

  “Really?” Molly asked with disbelief. “No one wanted to buy the place at all?”

  “Wait until you see the inside.” Quinn gave Molly a thin smile. “You’ll understand why.”

  “Aw…” she answered with disappointment. “Is it…?”

  “I can’t even explain it,” Quinn shook his head, motioning for the two of us to follow him to the centermost apartment as he unlocked the door and held it open for us. “So, I won’t even try. Come on.”

  After exchanging nervous glances, Molly motioned for me to go first, apprehension clear on her face.

  “Coming,” I said with slight resignation as I stepped through the doorway, my eyes widening in understanding as I saw the inside.

  “Oh.”

  W

  Entering into the building, I was forced to turn sideways as Quinn and Molly followed me inside. Books filled the entirety of the house and hallway before me, stacked in countless piles that reached from floor to ceiling. The musky smell of paper mixed in with the faint stench of decaying food met my nostrils the moment that Quinn closed the door behind him, leaving me coughing as I adjusted to the smell.

  “W-what the hell, Quinn?” I gagged as the stale air caught me off guard, tickling my throat relentlessly as I spoke.

  “Told you,” Quinn grunted, motioning me to walk down the hallway. “Keep going, the smell gets better further in. Just be careful and don’t knock any of the piles over. I’d rather not be crushed to death by an avalanche of books…again.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I looked over my shoulder and back towards the mage as I started to sidestep down the book-laden hallway. “That’s happened before?”

  “First time I was here,” Quinn replied with a bit of embarrassment. “This hallway was less organized back then. The piles are much sturdier since I’ve restacked them, but I don’t suggest testing it.”

  “You did all this, Quinn?” Molly asked from behind the mage. “There has to be thousands of books here!”

  “Easily,” Quinn agreed. “Probably tens of thousands.”

  “Quinn.” My voice took on a nervous tone as I tried to maneuver my bulk down the hallway without knocking anything over, pressing myself against the one book-free wall. “What is this place?”

  “This is where all the books that came from Assara ended up,” Quinn whispered, referring to the Old Continent where the original settlers of Eberia had come from. “Once The War started, no one was really that interested in cataloguing old history that didn’t matter anymore, nor bothering to learn the dead languages that these books were written in. William is the only thing keeping these books from being tossed into a fire.”

  “All of this came from Assara?” I repeated, struggling to get a count for just how many books we had walked by, and how many more I could still see down the hall ahead of me. “Where is this William, anyway?”

  “His office should be coming up behind you,” Quinn told me, knocking on the wall I was leaning against. “He usually doesn’t leave it.”

  “Oh,” I said, turning my head towards a doorway an arm’s length away from me. I had been so focused on not knocking over the wall of books in front of me that I hadn’t been paying any attention to where I was going.

  Continuing my awkward shuffle a little further, I made it into the doorway, happy to have crossed the book-filled hallway successfully. My tall and bulky stature was great when it came to combat, but unfortunately that also made getting through tight spaces a little trickier. Turning around slowly in the doorway, I looked into the office, finding that it was little different than the hallway leading to it.

  Stacks of books were littered everywhere around the room. The majority of them were small, only reaching to waist or shoulder height, conveniently serving as adequate places to put half-eaten plates of food, or empty tea cups. Lined up against the far wall were even more books, piled into massive columns that reached up towards the ceiling, the stacking looking very precarious when compared to the work Quinn had done out in the hallway. Set in the very center of the room was a heavy oak desk, completely covered with papers and even more books.

  “Oh, hello,” a wizened voice called from behind the desk. “Did we have a meeting today? I must have forgotten, my apologies…”

  Looking between a gap in the stacks of books set on the desk, I could make out the faintest glimpse of white hair and a single grey eye looking back towards me.

  “Uh, I’m here with Quinn,” I said nervously, taking a couple hesitant steps into the room as I tried to find a place to stand where I wouldn’t knock anything over. Moving behind me, Quinn entered the room and made his way to the desk, stepping around the stacks of books on the ground with practiced ease.

  “William,” Quinn greeted loudly. “We didn’t have an appointment today, but I was passing by and decided to drop in and say hello. I brought some of my friends with me.”

  “Oh, Quinn, it’s you,” William replied in recognition as the mage came around the desk. “It is nice of you to drop by. I really don’t get that many visitors anymore.”

  “Because this place is a deathtrap,” Molly whispered behind me. “You can still see Quinn’s bloodstains in the hall where the books crushed him.”

  “You can?” I asked, startled that I hadn’t noticed anything when walking down the hall. I’d been too focused on not knocking over any of the stacks.

  “Erm,” Quinn cleared his throat loudly, giving Molly and me a pointed look before replying back to the man behind the books. “We’re always happy to drop by, William. Do you mind if I move some of these books so you can see your guests?”

  “Oh, of course, I’m done with this stack,” William told Quinn while pointing to something that we couldn’t see. “Just find a place for it…wherever there is space.”

  “What are you working on?” I asked, making sure to speak up as I watched Quinn shuffle over to the desk and lift a stack of heavy books, revealing an incredibly old-looking man sitting behind the desk.

  Weighed down by age, William was the very definition of ancient, his grey eyes slowly glancing between Molly and myself. Wispy white hair barely clung to his liver-spotted head as it cascaded downwards, tucked behind a pair of half-pointed e
ars, reaching down just past his shoulders. I doubted that the half-elf was ever a large man in his youth, but his advanced years had taken a toll on his body, making it obvious that there was only skin and bones underneath the plain grey robe that he wore.

  “Oh, nothing too important,” William answered, his weary tone indicating to me that he had long since resigned himself to the fact that few shared his interest. “Just something that keeps an old man’s mind sharp and his hands nimble.”

  “Your work is important, William,” Quinn scolded while scowling at the man. “You are cataloging a lost age.”

  “I am a man who’s too stubborn to die and has nothing else to do with his time,” William grunted at Quinn, clearly having heard the same words before. “Perhaps one day, if I am fortunate, someone like you will take up my work or make use of it somehow. In the few short weeks that you Adventurers have been around, I’ve had more visitors coming to see me than I’ve had in the last five years.

  “Before Quinn showed up, the last time I had anyone come visit me regularly was a man named Thaddeus, at least before he passed on.” William paused for a moment as he searched his memories. “He was always curious to see how I was doing and if I had uncovered any useful tomes that could aid the war effort, or to collect any dangerous ones that needed to be quarantined.”

  “Thaddeus Denarius?” Molly voice echoed with surprise from the far side of the room as she walked up beside me. “The old Patriarch of House Denarius?”

  “Oh, yes.” William waved a bony hand dismissively. “I knew him as a boy, from before The Fall. He was one of the few that bothered to remember me.”

  “What do you mean by dangerous tomes?” I asked, suddenly curious as I picked up a blue-colored book off a nearby stack and ran my hands against the well-worn cover. I looked at the spine to see if I could recognize the title, discovering that the book I held was titled ‘Fifty Tints of Mana.’ “And why would a book need to be quarantined?”

  “On occasion,” William began to explain, “I come across a book that might be considered dangerous, either to the reader themselves or because of what the book contains. Thaddeus was always good in insuring that a dangerous book would be properly cared for or locked away by the Mages Guild.”