A small prompt appeared before me…
‘Investigate the Fire Shrine’
Kill 20 undead
Destroy the Elemental
Quest activate: YES or NO
“What the hell,” I said reaching forward and motioning my right hand to swipe yes.
“Not sure what that was you were doing just now but thank you for accepting,” said Bendi as it opened the vile and began handing it to me. I drank and for a moment I felt like I was going to throw up. The red potion was like a shot of whiskey burning against the back of my throat. I felt revitalized after a few short seconds. My health, mana, and stamina had all returned to 90.
“If we are going to do this we will need weapons, I used everything I had to fight off the Nanook,” I said picking myself up of the ground, “I’m also not sure I can fight with just one arm,” I finished.
“Bendi will join you, Bendi will help you in your quest for the witch, Bendi knows a secret stash with weapons, Bendi will show you,” it said. A moment later I saw something new pop up inside my interface.
Raid party. Members: 2.
Name: Bendi
Age: ???
Gender: ???
Race: Golem / Familiar hybrid
Level: 10
Class: Healer
HP: 100
Mana: 100
Stamina: 100
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 2
Charisma: 9
Luck: 8
Abilities: ???
Skills: ???
Inventory: Unknown qty herbs and potions
Reputation: Liked
Alignment: The Witch
Languages: Common (English)
I scrolled over to look at my own stats once again.
Name: Adam
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Race: Human / unchained
Level: 1
Class: Cryomancer
I lost all to the Nanook. Supplies, lives, and 89 levels of experience.
“What are you doing?” asked Bendi as I used my right hand to swipe side to side.
“Checking my stats,” I answered.
“What are stats?” it asked.
“Not important,” I smiled, “don’t worry about it.”
I took several steps forward as Bendi moved to lead the way towards the fire shrine and another message came up.
‘Far Eda’
Quest Complete.
1500 xp
I felt the hair on my right arm stand up and a shiver run down my spine.
Leveled up. You are now Level 2.
Chapter 5
The air inside the forest was more crisp and cleaner than the air inside the ship. The forest was colossal, radiant, and ancient. Its canopy was overshadowed by hazel, birch, and poplar, still plenty of light passed through their crowns for a variety of shrubs to flourish in the moist and fertile bottom layer below. Curving vines dangled from the trees, and a variety of flowers, which grew sparingly, protruded from the otherwise green forest grounds. A medley of noises, belonging mostly to fleeing animals, filled the air, and were accompanied by the sound of the wind blowing gently through the forest. On our way to its stash Bendi led me to some plants. The first one we picked was called an Auricoma, a rare giant plant that could be found in some jungles and forests in Eda. It was in bloom, early winter with thin, sickle shaped leaves, olive green. It grew decent sized flowers which were orange, light purple, and dark purple. They Auricoma grew in small numbers but it was thick with a wooden stem that could be used as medicine. We picked what we could leaving a few to pollinate and reproduce. Bendi told me that over the next several months the Auricoma would produce small sweat fruits. The second plant we found was Cladrastis, an extremely rare, medium sized plant usually found in dry regions. It bloomed twice a year for 1 week and we stumbled upon it at the right time. It had large heart shaped leaves that glowed with an orange hue. Bendi insisted I taste one and I gained +10 to my defense for 24 hours. I tried eating another hoping that maybe the game would glitch and my abilities would stack but the second leaf was bitter and I gained nothing.
Bendi led me like a blind man through the edge of Wildwood to a stash alright. A small stone casing with a short sword and rifle inside. “So much loot,” I said joking. Bendi smiled. I guess he didn’t understand my sarcasm. The rifle was named ‘Bendi’s Rifle,’ very original, with an attack of 20 and a weight of 10. It was styled after an M1 Garand only blue with several patches of white duck tape holding it together along with several other aesthetic markings that looked like runes. The description for the rifle was pretty simple, an old family heirloom refitted for modern times. The short sword was named Requiem, the Ghoulslayer. It was missing a description and besides a few markings but it wasn’t much different than the regular short sword.
“Were you ever human?” I asked Bendi.
“Human, no, always something but never human,” it said.
“How did you get this rifle, this sword?”
“Found it, scavengers lost, lost in crash, in ruins outskirts Arcadia, dried up, made new again. Wanted to give to witch as gift, give to you now, gift, will save Arcadia, will save the forest, will make witch happy,” it finished.
“What is the witch’s name?” I asked.
“Not for me to speak, maybe you, once we finish, Bendi not worthy,” it said.
“Why doesn’t the witch just clear the fire shrine herself if she is so powerful,”
“Not powerful, wise, old, one of the first, the first people,” Bendi answered.
“One of the first colonists?”
“One of the first,” Bendi said again.
At least from what I gathered the witch was human. If she was an NPC she was one of the colonists. A part of the background story of Darkness Beyond was that humans had fled Earth in the late 21st century to colonize a planet called Eda. Eda, this world was something out of a fantasy novel. Ruins that belonged to elven like creatures, dwarves, elementals, all of it alongside aliens creatures and wrecked starships. Science fiction fused with fantasy in a post apocalyptic world. The player character is someone that arrived late to the party, waking up from stasis 200 years after the first ships crashed. After that it was all about exploration and survival, meeting other colonists and finding a way to rid the world of the dangerous dark magic that had begun to infect it. A second life, the world was meant to be a living breathing eco-system with an economy that ran on scrip and monster hunting. A world filled with players, quests, loot, and more.
I placed the edge of Bendi’s rifle over my nub. I didn’t have enough arm to balance it out.
“Let me try something,” I said aloud. Bendi was around but not really listening, just watching, trying to make sense of me. I liked the company. It was nice to have a companion even if it was such a strange creature.
I summoned all the energy I could moving my hand down my arm and across my phantom limb. From thin arose a small icicle that came down like a blade as far as my elbow use to be. My mana dropped to 10.
“This will have to work for now,” I said letting my hand go and my concentration slide as I made the edge of the ice more narrow. I held the rifle back up and it balanced perfectly across my ice glaive.
I thought about killing myself. Seeing if maybe when I respawned my arm would be whole again. The chance was too much to take. I would tough it out for now. It was the strangest sensation. I still felt like my arm was there, it even itched. A phantom limb, a phantom pain. I did my best not to think about it. I had too much at stake, too much going on to let this get the best of me. I reminded myself, this wasn’t my body.
I felt my sixth sense tingle. It was a strange feeling that ran down my spine. I opened my interface to Bendi’s confusion and saw I had unlocked a new skill tree.
Cryomancer Skills
Ice Blast (Apprentice) - Unlocked
Cast an arrow of
ice that inflicts damage and has a chance of freezing the enemy.
Gust (Apprentice) - Unlocked
Creates a strong gust of wind that pushes enemies. When inflicting damage on a frozen enemy, it will unfreeze.
Stasis Shield - Locked
Creates a wall of ice that confines and protects player with a chance of freezing nearby enemies.
Ice Pike - Locked
Make ice spikes sprout out in a line to inflict damage. Has a chance of freezing enemies.
Ice Wall - Locked
Creates a wall of ice that confines an enemy with a chance of freezing nearby enemies.
Subzero Shield - Locked
Create a shield of ice for defense. Inflicts damage after blocking enemy attacks and has a chance of freezing enemies.
Frost Pillar - Locked
Summons a tree of ice on the ground that pulls nearby enemies in and has a chance of freezing them.
Ice Spear - Locked
Summon a spear from the air for a limited amount of time that inflicts critical damage to enemies.
Ice Blast (enhanced) - Locked
Cast several arrows of ice that inflicts damage and has a 90% chance of freezing the enemy.
Ice Pike (enhanced) - Locked
Make ice spikes sprout out in both a line and a circle around you to inflict damage. Has a 90% chance of freezing enemies.
The skill tree also had several hidden powers that showed only as ???
So I unlocked two new powers by focusing my energy. If I had to guess my skills would only grow as I used powers and not with my level. A little different than the alpha where each level you acquired points to buy new skills but this would work in my favor for now. I could focus on training myself rather than fighting unlocking skills naturally rather than having to look back at any kind of menu.
Along the way to the fire shrine we passed a small stream of water. I was both hungry and thirsty. There were several large fish swimming in the stream. We were at the edge of Wildwood. What better time to test my new weapon. Bendi’s rifle used mana as energy rather than ammo. That was great since ammo was rare and hard to craft. Not to mention I used all of it to make a bomb earlier. I aimed down my sight, balancing the rifle on my icy arm and fired. A blast of blue energy erupted from the front. I could feel the heat against my skin. Several fish floated to the top. +5 xp.
“Sushi it is,” I said grabbing one of the fish. I stopped to get a drink of water.
+Double XP bonus (24 hours)
“I should have done that before I made dinner,” I said almost laughing. Bendi stared at me strangely. Another thing I forgot about this place. Unlike the real world everything here came with a cost. This water could have just as easily have been poisonous and I could be losing health right now. Luck really was on my side.
I spent fifteen minutes prepping my meal As I was eating I noticed a strange creature crawling in the distance. I used my sixth sense to immediately gain an understanding of it. I could see the words appear before me and disappear as they became a part of me. The creature was called a Chuhxi. ‘This amazing, but often seen creature is a type of reptile. It's about the size of a salamander, has four legs and two arms and a long, thick tail. They have a soft, delicate skin covered in small, smooth scales, which is usually either grey or silver or a combination of these colors. They live in high areas and are common. They're herbivores and their small, thin mouths, their teeth and long tongue are ideal for eating nuts. They're usually nocturnal and rely on their extra sense and taste buds to get around. They do have small, beady eyes, but their sight is not impressive. They have wide noses and small, bended ears. Their heads are fairly small in comparison to their bodies. They make sounds ranging from relatively low pitched to very low pitched and have a large range of sounds they make to indicate discoveries, dangers and otherwise communicate with each other. These creatures are very calm, but they heavily defend their personal space. Be careful to stay clear as their bite can be deadly.’
I thought about killing it. I could test out my double XP bonus but it didn’t feel right. I wasn’t hungry anymore. Killing fish for dinner was one thing, even killing the Nanook in self-defense but the Chuhxi was just going about its business.
I scanned the river bed again. Looking for another fish. I probably should have done so sooner since my stomach was nearly full of it. I found one. They were called a ‘Chunqush’. Their description read… ‘This lovely and nearly extinct creature is a type of fish. It's about the size of a pike, has two huge side fins, a short, streamlined dorsal fin and a long, powerful tail and small anal fin. They have a thin, delicate skin covered in thin, coarse scales, which is usually either light orange, light red, brown or grey or a combination of these colors. They live in the depths of the seas and are rare. They're herbivores and their fairly large mouths and rough tongue are ideal for eating soft corals.They're diurnal and rely on their hearing and sight to get around. They do have long noses, but their sense of smell is a bit poor.They have small, elliptic eyes and pretty much no visible ears. Their heads are long and narrow in comparison to their bodies.They make sounds ranging from relatively high pitched to fairly low pitched and have a fairly small range of sounds they make to indicate discoveries, dangers and otherwise communicate with each other.’ Not poisonous that was a win. The taste wasn’t quite so bland either. Maybe that was why they were endangered. The fact that it was nearly extinct made me feel sorry.
“Next time I’ll know,” I said to myself.
The sun has fallen. We were a few miles away from the fire shrine. I could already feel the change in the air. The smell of rot. When we finally arrive I finished the last of my sushi and climb up a fallen tree. A wide worn elven statue marks the entrance to this dungeon. The fire shrine lies just inside. Beyond the worn statue I can see a massive, broken temple. It's covered in rubble, dead vermin and dead insects. Explosives and mining equipment are scattered, aged and taken by time itself. Further ahead are two paths, but the right is a dead end. I know that from experience. What happened in this place? I guess I’ll know soon enough. Bendi is watching me. I ask him for some rope I could see him carrying. Studying me he hands it to over. Its small but wide enough. I tie it around my waist and the tree. I doubt he’s going to help much once we actually cross inside. Tomorrow I’ll kill 20 undead and slay an elemental but first I must rest.
Chapter 6
Day 3
Blood, there's blood everywhere. It's drenched my clothes, they're sticky and heavy and red. Red, everything is red, even the ground below me is turning red with blood. My blood. I should lay down, why am I still standing? I'm so tired, yet somehow I'm still standing. It makes no sense. Body, please, I want to rest. Lay down already, it's okay No, I refuse. I will not die today. I was strong. I am strong. I will make it out of this, you'll see. Somebody will find me and if not, I'll make it on my own. I don't need anybody anyway, I am strong. You'll see.
I'm tired. My entire body is shaking, I can't keep this up any longer. I must lay down. It's okay, I just need to make sure I keep my eyes open. Yes, that's all. This'll save me energy too, I just need to make sure I do not fall asleep. That can't be too difficult, besides, help will be here soon. I hope.
This is the end of the line for me, isn't it? Yes, I will die soon. Alone. Oh god, I'm going to die alone. Why hasn't anybody found me yet? What if they never find me? Oh god, I don't want to die like this, please find me.
I'm so sleepy. I guess I'll rest my eyes for a little while, just a little while. I may never open them again, but we'll find out soon enough.
It started of as a dull pain within my chest, but it soon spread across my entire body. I felt weak, sweat covering every inch of skin and hands trembling out of control. My mind raced, half panicked half determined. There must be an answer to this pain, there must be a way to make it stop. Several voices echoed through my head. Some telling them everything will be fine, others telling them it won't be. I let out a moan
ing yelp, part desperation and part determination. I had two options: fight or give up. On any other day they probably would've gone to bed and rested to make sure I’d heal well and fast, but not today. Today was a day of pushing the limits.
An hour earlier…
Killing the undead went down without a hitch. They were your basic ghouls, dead humans covered in decay and rotting flesh. All of them right outside the temple walls. Even with my senses dulled I could smell the rot as I fired blue shards of energy from my rifle. Bendi, to no surprise, did very little when the actual fighting broke out. When the last ghoul fell and I knew I had completed the first part of my objective.
I felt a shiver run down my spine. I made it to level 3.
I approached the temple with caution. Bendi appeared from out of hiding and walked side by side with me. As long as it had other potions it was vital to my survival. I felt like I was doing its dirty work. The witch had given Bendi this mission but it had failed. I had little doubt the creature was capable. Bendi was quick and a far higher level than the ghouls. The elemental would be the problem. We opened the cracked temple door and stepped inside a large chamber. The temple was burnt and ruined. It looked like there had been an inferno inside. In the center of the room there was a young girl. She couldn’t have been more than ten years old, short black hair. She looked frail as I approached her wondering if she was an NPC with another quest. Perhaps my elemental was in another castle.
Glimmer, A Throne of Souls (Convergence Book 1) Page 4
